BABIES as young as two months are being balanced on the psychiatrist’s couch as anxious parents seek early answers to relationship “issues” with their new-born children.

The infants are being subjected to as many as six weekly sessions in clinics to tackle problems which include constant crying or difficulty in sleeping.

The idea that babies might benefit from analysis sessions with psychiatrists is gaining ground among both doctors and parents who believe that a variety of childhood problems could be averted by early diagnosis and treatment.

Often the problem is in the parents’ minds: their expectations can exceed their baby’s natural growth and they worry their child is delayed or retarded if he or she is not sitting after six months. But other problems are more serious, such as hitting and biting other children.

The “baby shrinks” believe that new-born infants can communicate and express their feelings within five hours of birth. New research by psychiatrists shows that babies only a few hours old can focus on their mother’s face, track where their father is in a room and mimic facial expressions.

Psychiatrists say there is evidence to show that children who have significant behavioural difficulties at the age of three frequently go on to develop personality disorders as they grow older.

Much of the work being done by the psychiatrists is to improve bonding between parent and child.

Dr Shirley Gracias, a child and adolescent psychiatrist from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, who chairs the Association for Infant Mental Health, said: “When I work with parents and children, my main purpose is to help parents develop the relationship between themselves and the child.

“I see babies who are agitated, who can’t stop crying and are generally unhappy.”

She added: “When you see a mother and baby who have bonded very well, you will see a smooth sequence of turn-taking: the baby will coo, the parent will coo back, the parent will smile, the baby will smile back.

“It’s natural. When things go wrong and people become unattuned, either because of the baby or the parent, they need help developing that timing.”

Last year a project in Plymouth which provides professional support to infants with emotional and behavioural problems was given £400,000 by the Department for Health.

When babies are born they are often quickly taken away from their mothers, but doctors now recognise that the first few hours of a baby’s life are crucial for bonding.

Helen Elliott, 28, a policeman’s wife from Chippenham, Wiltshire, has a seven-month-old girl, Charlie Madison, who she took to a psychiatrist earlier in the year. “The therapy was all about understanding our relationship and realising why she was crying,” she said.

Eva Lloyd, senior lecturer in early childhood studies at the University of Bristol, emphasised that even if parents were finding a baby difficult, it did not necessarily mean that there was a serious problem.

“Children are very resilient. The deprivation would have to be quite extreme for it to be a big issue later in life,” she said.

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