ABSTRACT
This chapter describes two main ways in which babies are observed. First is the normal observation made by parents and others as part of the process of understanding a particular child and trying to bring it up as best they can. Second is observation undertaken, usually by outsiders, to see what can be discovered about babies in order to make or test hypotheses which may be important for theoretical purposes, for analytical or therapeutic purposes, or for evidence about what kind of care is best for babies. The chapter discusses the kind of baby observation undertaken by many people with the Tavistock Institute's Baby Observation Seminar. Such observations, taken in conjunction with other sources of information, have deepened many people's understanding of babies and adults. Making observations about people in everyday life can be extremely hard, and sometimes this is because of feelings involved.
