What is Infant Mental Health?

Infant Mental Health is the development of a healthy mind in the infant.

An infant with a healthy mind will have the ability to:

• Establish and maintain rewarding relationships
• Express and regulate emotions
• Explore and learn about their environment

Mental health starts in infancy. A healthy mind is as important as a healthy body for a baby and it’s essential that a baby’s mind grows and develops just like its body.  Infancy is a special time for the growth and development of a healthy mind and brain.

Mental health for babies means having rewarding relationships with parents or carers; developing the ability to manage emotions; being interested and curious; and being able to explore and learn about their world around them.

The mental health of a baby affects their mental health in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. This means a baby’s mental health is not just important now, but also for their future.

The relationship between baby and parent or carer is a special one, but getting to know each other can bring many challenges. Many things can get in the way of love and understanding in parents or carers, and in a baby.

Supporting infant mental health means supporting this special relationship, and having a network of support. Sometimes partner, family and friends are enough, but sometimes they are not. Health Visitors or Family Nurse Partnership Nurses can often help, but sometimes the challenges are more serious, and the support that is needed requires something more.

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Who we are?

We are a small team with a mix of professionals from various organisations. This helps to bring different ways of thinking and to support organisations working together where necessary.

The team is made up of the following professionals: child psychotherapist, clinical psychologist, child psychiatrist, social worker and an early years practitioner. We offer a range of ways of working with infants together with their parents or carers.

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What we offer to infants and their parents / carers

Infants cannot speak for themselves and can’t ask for help. This means they need parents or carers to speak and ask for help for them. If you have concerns about your infant’s emotional development and well-being, or about their relationship with you, please discuss these with your Health Visitor or Family Nurse.

You and your Health Visitor or Family Nurse may feel our service would benefit you if:

• Your baby is under the age of 3 years, lives in, and is registered with a GP, in Lanarkshire
• You have concerns about your baby’s emotional development and well-being
• You are concerned about your baby’s relationship with you and your relationship with your baby

To access our service, you can ask your Health Visitor or Family Nurse to make a referral to our team. Alternatively, if your infant is attending nursery, you could ask the nursery to make a referral. Where a nursery makes a referral, it would be usual practice for the nursery to discuss this with your Health Visitor or Family Nurse first. The referral will be in the name of the infant you care for and you will be asked to add your views about your baby and your relationship.

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Referrals

We support infants referred up to their third birthday living in Lanarkshire with their parents or kinship carers.

We accept referrals from Health Visitors and Family Nurses or from Nurseries/Early Learning Centres, the Maternity and Neonatal Psychological Intervention Team (MNPI) and the Perinatal Mental Health Team (PMHT). If the Health Visitor or Family Nurse, Early Years/MNPI or PMHS Practitioner together with the parent(s)/carer(s), wish to access our service, they should complete an Infant Mental Health Request for Assistance Form.

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Resources for Parents / Carers

• Understanding Your Child Series: Publications by The Tavistock Clinic
  https://childpsychotherapy.org.uk/news-media-0/books-acp-members/understanding-your-child-series
• Wellbeing for Wee Ones-Parent club
  https://www.parentclub.scot/topics/health/wellbeing
• Getting to know your baby videos
  https://aimh.uk/getting-to-know-your-baby-videos/
• UNICEF BABY FRIENDLY RESOURCES
  https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/baby-friendly-resources/relationship-building-resources/

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