How do babies assess danger? ⚠️
The ability to detect threats to one’s safety is an important survival mechanism. And your baby begins learning to do so almost immediately after birth.
But when literally everything is new to them, how do infants determine what should make them wary?
While there is some research to suggest an instinctual basis for the fear of certain stimuli (including potential predators), the primary way your baby assesses threats is social:
They learn by watching you.
Infants are keen observers of your facial expressions, eyes, body language, and tone of voice - and continually use this data to monitor and assess their own safety.
When you’re comfortable in a situation your baby typically will be as well. But if you express apprehension or indicate stress, that can all turn on a dime.
As they become more mobile and independent, toddlers begin a whole new process of assessing potential threats in comparison to their own growing abilities.
And while they need lots of supervision (and can sometimes wildly overestimate their own levels of skill), it can also be fascinating to watch their cautious navigation of the world.
Check out this new walker’s reaction to a large crack in the pavement.
As she spots it, she stops dead in her tracks. Her hands jerk outward with surprise.
She cautiously steps to the left, presumably to assess whether there is a way around the problem. (But alas, there isn’t.)
Look what she does next.
She turns her head over her shoulder to check in with Mom.
It’s a shame that the original audio here has been replaced with music, but it’s not hard to imagine that Mom offers a bit of verbal reassurance in this moment.
We don’t know exactly what she says, but its underlying message was almost certainly, “You’re alright.”
And with this vote of confidence she begins the process of crossing the gap - first squatting to touch the level ground on the other side, then tenderly placing her foot onto the crack itself and shuffling over to the other side.
The whole scene is a lovely window on her thinking as she assesses a potential threat - and a great reminder of the importance of trusted adult coaches as toddlers navigate a strange new world.
This video was shared to IG by kg_0773.