Infants and young children go through a stage of fearing strangers during their growth and development!

Why do infants fear strangers? After six months, an infant's cognition gradually develops the ability to distinguish between the unfamiliar and the familiar. Emotional development also differentiates into fear and excitement. Therefore, when a baby is in a familiar environment, they will exhibit a stable and natural home state. If a familiar person appears, they will show excited expressions and movements—states that caregivers look forward to seeing every day.

In addition to positive expressions, the negative emotional expressions of infants are actually more important. In human evolution, the emotion of fear carries the significance of staying away from danger, which is one of the reasons humans have survived to this day. Because babies are shy around strangers, they stay close to their caregivers (mom, dad, teachers, etc.), preventing them from getting lost or facing the danger of being mistreated by strangers. This is all due to an innate "protection switch." Around the age of three, when children can express themselves more completely, run faster, and possess a certain level of self-protection, the shyness switch gradually turns off, replaced by a choice of whether or not they want to say hello.

Next time you encounter a baby under three, please be a polite adult and understand that babies have their own unique way of getting to know strangers. To get a smile from them, here are three steps as the best advice:

• 1. Test the waters with eye contact from a distance:
  There is a safe comfort zone in human interaction, and the same goes for little ones. No matter how cute the baby is, your first interaction should only be through eye contact. Some babies may look terrified or even hide in their caregiver's arms just from eye contact. In this case, simply converse naturally with the caregiver; the baby will judge your relationship with the caregiver and slowly relax.
  
  
• 2. Observe if their body and facial expressions have relaxed a bit:
  What does a relaxed state look like? When the baby stops staring at you like a leopard watching its prey and starts looking around or even playing with toys at hand, it means they aren't "too" nervous about you. Only then can you prepare for the next step.
  
  
• 3. Try making small gestures, like waving at the baby:
  After passing the first two stages, at least three minutes should have passed. Now you have a chance to build a connection. The relationship is still fragile; if you aren't careful enough, you can easily ruin the "relaxed moment" built earlier. If you want to go further, start by moving a bit closer and waving in a friendly, gentle manner. You might get a smile at this point. As for whether to get even closer, that depends on the situation.

Babies are shy around strangers because they feel insecure with unfamiliar people. This has absolutely nothing to do with whether the child is polite or generous. Never try to force an infant to be "outgoing." Wait patiently for them to adjust. Repeated successful experiences of meeting strangers will help the baby become naturally confident and poised in the future.

Teacher Pei-Yi’s Mirror Relationship Theory | Stranger Anxiety | Confident Babies