Stranger anxiety is the distress that infants experience when they come into contact with people who are new to them. Babies, generally starts showing sign of stranger anxiety when they are as little as six months old. As babies become older, they start to develop a preference for the people around them depending on their perception of who takes their most care. They start differentiating people and are more comfortable with people whom they are familiar with, generally, the close family members. The stranger anxiety is at its highest level among kids when they are 12-15 months old, it gradually decreases there on. During this period, they would play and let only a selected people hold them.

The common reactions which may exhibit when babies experience stranger anxiety may be crying, whining and babies may even hide from the person who is causing the anxiety. Parents should not treat stranger anxiety as a mental or emotional disorder rather it is a part of the overall development which every child goes through in one way or the other.

Parents must step up to the responsibility and try to lessen the stranger anxiety in their children. They should not pressurize their children to socialize and should give them enough time to get used to new people. They must reassure their child and should be present when they are being introduced to new people. Parents must introduce new people to their children at every possible opportunity.