What Does Infantilism Stem From?

When a person exhibits infantile behavior this means that he retains mental, emotional and physical qualities of childishness in his adult life. The person behaves in a way that lacks maturity. Some individuals who are infantile wear diapers as adults, which may be the result of trauma or stress that was experienced and has not been resolved.

Paraphilic Infantilism

• Paraphilic infantilism means that an adult becomes sexually aroused when dressing or acting like a baby or when being treated as if he were a baby. It is possible that prenatal environment and genetics are responsible for paraphilic infantilism, according to Understandinginfantilism.org. Conditioning may have something to do with infantilism. Perhaps diapers are erotic for a baby because they are warm and padded and feel good against their genitalia. Thus, when a person gets older and needs comforting he resorts to that which made him feel good and safe as a baby, wearing a diaper.

Children

• If a child is under pressure to grow up and become a young adult and he isn't ready, his reaction may be to substitute and change his wants. He is replacing one desire with another. Rather than becoming mature beyond his age he decides, subconsciously, to become an infant again. He may start sucking his thumb or carrying around his "blankie" even though he'd given up these habits long before.

Abuse, Neglect and Trauma

• If a child is abused or neglected, he may believe that younger children get all of the attention. But he has a tremendous need for infantile attention due to the abuse, neglect and trauma. The child wants to be nurtured, diapered and cuddled. When a child becomes fixated on getting unconditional maternal love because it can damage his core development. When he grows up he may still revert to that which comforted him in times of trauma, such as a blanket or diaper.

Not a Fetish

• Clinical infantilism is not a fetish, according to Toddlertime.com. An infantile person regards a diaper, for example, as a form of security. The diaper is a transitional object, something that helps young children through the various stages in life. If the child is scared or insecure and his mother isn't available to comfort him, he may become attached to a bottle or blanket or even something that smells like his mother. The child perceives the object as something he has created and has control over. The transitional object helps comfort him as he transitions to becoming independent from his mother. It soothes and comforts him. Some adults aren't able to detach from transitional objects.

Mental Mechanisms

• When a person utilizes a mental mechanism, as those with infantilism do, this means he is coping subconsciously in an attempt to deflect certain pressures.