This article is theoretical in nature. Its aim is to review selected determinants of infant mental health from the perspectives of human development psychology and psychoanalysis. The combination of both perspectives allows for a holistic view of the developmental needs of infancy and a look at the beginning of a person's life, emphasising mental health as the basis of the “true self”. Recognising the developmental potential enshrined not only in the temperamental, neurobiological, cognitive, and motor dispositions but also in the emotional and social dispositions is possible through careful and sensitive observation of the delicate matrix of early bond formation in a supportive environment. The infancy period is a time of intense child development and the honing of many skills, including imitation and relationship formation. Research and observations to date indicate that depriving a child of proper and continuous care can negatively affect their development. It limits or inhibits the ability to form bonds, as well as to take further developmental steps in the areas of speech, motor, emotional and social development. The article attempts to identify the vital importance of an infant's mental health, biological endowment, individual way of experiencing reality, one's own subjectivity, emotional regulation, communication of one's own emotions, exploration of the environment and bonding with the caregiver. The developmental part of the article focused on the formation of the infant's psychomotor skills, attachment and communication. In the psychoanalytic part, reference is made to the factors of object relations theory that foster the installation of a good internal object and enable the infant's mind and ego to develop. The dance of intimacy and interaction between mother and infant is also described, distinguishing between the functioning of the healthy and sick infant. Particular attention was paid to the conditions that provide an opportunity to build a matrix of understanding conducive to the infant's emotional development and development in general.