This volume was written to help parents understand what their baby is likely to be feeling in the first year. It describes how the baby's sense of self develops, with intentionality, empathy, and recognition of the self. Babies want to be enthusiastically enjoyed and come into the world with a functioning mind, primed to communicate and learn quickly. These ideas are of fundamental importance for understanding babies. The main developmental achievements of the first year are considered, such as coping with separations and how thinking, self-esteem, and concern for others develop.
This book is important because it synthesises insights from working therapeutically with babies, children, and adults with those from infant research and infant observation and is illustrated with examples. It is written by a clinician who has had nearly two decades of specializing in work with distressed babies and their families. It focuses on the baby's subjective experience of the world, viewing the baby as a subject in his or her own right, and in this way makes a unique contribution in the area of understanding the early non-verbal experience of the tiny infant.