Mental health in infancyMental health in infancy
All In The Mind
When a child's mental wellbeing is disturbed by stress or trauma it can have life long effects. How infant mental health is nurtured and what can put it at risk.
29:09•15 May 2016
Foundations of the Mind: Why Infant Mental Health Shapes a Lifetime
Episode Overview
- Infancy (roughly birth to three) is a critical period where psychological and neurological foundations for later mental health are laid down.
- High, unmoderated stress in early life can reset a child’s stress response on “high”, increasing vulnerability to mental health difficulties in adulthood.
- Secure attachment, where caregivers are warm, predictable and able to help babies regulate emotions, supports autonomy and resilience later on.
- Trauma in infancy can be stored as implicit memory in the body and behaviour, and may be more enduring than trauma experienced at older ages.
- Responsive caregiving that meets emotional as well as physical needs, combined with repair after relational ruptures, is key to healthy development.
“If we don't have good infant mental health, then the trajectory for the future can be very compromised.”
What can we learn from those who have battled addiction, trauma and mental distress across the lifespan? This episode shifts the focus right back to the very beginning, asking what shapes a child's mind from birth to three, and why those years matter so much. Host Lynne Malcolm talks with psychiatrist Professor Louise Newman, infant mental health specialist Sally Watson, and parent and child health worker Cathy Lu to unpack how early experiences influence lifelong emotional wellbeing.
Louise describes infancy as "foundational", explaining that stress hormones like cortisol can set a child's internal "thermostat" on high, leaving them more vulnerable to mental health problems later on. Her warning about babies born in detention is stark: "These effects are likely to be extremely long term." Sally brings the conversation down to the everyday realities of parenting, spelling out what emotional wellbeing looks like in babies: being responded to, trusting their caregiver, and gradually learning to regulate feelings.
She challenges the old idea that infants "don't remember", explaining that trauma can be held in the body and gestures through implicit memory and might last longer than trauma experienced later. Cathy shares honest, sometimes conflicted moments from parenting her son Thomas, from resisting controlled crying to naming his feelings when he can't have what he wants.
Her stories show how small, attuned interactions – like helping him re-enact a fall with a doll – can support a toddler to make sense of scary experiences. The episode also touches on cultural expectations, Indigenous communities, and families living with domestic violence, but keeps returning to one simple message: responsive, consistent relationships in the early years are the bedrock of resilience.
If you're curious about how your earliest years could shape your mental health, or how caring adults can support infants under stress, this conversation might leave you asking: what kind of emotional foundation are we helping the next generation build?
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