At around 6 months, your baby begins to realize that you and he are separate, which means that you could leave him. He’s also capable of “representational thinking” now, which means that he can picture objects (like you) in his mind after they’re no longer visible. In other words, out of sight no longer means out of mind.
Separation anxiety reaches its peak in babies aged 14-18 months and typically childhood.
Separation anxiety disorder is defined as occurring when the:
- anxiety interferes with the child’s life, and subsequently the parent’s life
- severity of the anxiety is inappropriate for the child’s developmental level
- characteristics of Separation anxiety have gone on for at least four weeks.
