Children’s Mental Health Starts Before Childhood

Children’s Mental Health Week 2026, founded and led by Place2Be, invites us to reflect on how we support children’s emotional wellbeing. At the 1001 Critical Days Foundation, we believe this conversation must start earlier than many people realise, long before a child starts school, or even begins to speak. 

Babies may not yet have words, but they experience the world through relationships. During the first 1,001 days, from pregnancy to age two, the foundations of emotional and mental health are being laid through everyday interactions and care. 

The term ‘infant mental health’ was coined to describe a baby’s social and emotional wellbeing. When babies are loved and experience ‘good enough’ care (remember that babies don’t need perfect parents!), they develop good infant mental health. Although we don’t want to diagnose babies, we do want to be able to understand and nurture their emotional world.   

This is why we are proud to support charities such as OXPIP, which works with parents and babies to strengthen early relationships and support mental health from the very beginning. Its work recognises that early, relationship-based support can make a profound difference, not only for babies and parents now, but for children’s mental health in the years – and decades – that follow. 

As Children’s Mental Health Week reminds us, promoting good mental health is not just about responding to difficulties later on. It is about investing in the early relationships that build the foundations of lifelong mental health. 

“As a clinical psychologist, I’ve been fortunate to experience the magic of supporting parent-infant relationships first-hand. Babies can’t talk, but they can communicate. When you look carefully, you can see a baby becoming calmer and more relaxed as they are comforted by their parent or carer. It is these small moments of love and responsive care, added together over the 1,001 critical days, that lay the foundations for good mental health in childhood and throughout life.” 

- Dr Matt Price, Director of Research & Grants