Base camp in a busy room

Wariness around strangers is usually one of the first of these big feelings to arrive, which makes a room full of unfamiliar faces a great deal to take in. So this is the version where nothing gets tested: they stay on you, everyone else stays at their own distance, and looking is the entire job. You are somewhere to watch the world from, not somewhere to be coaxed out of.

🛡️ A baby facing out from your lap reaches further than you expect, and the risk in this one is the table rather than the crowd. Keep mugs, teapots and anything hot at the far side of it or behind you, never passed over their head and never held while they are on your lap, and watch for a tablecloth or a trailing napkin that brings the lot down when it is pulled. If they are in the pushchair instead, the brake goes on and the harness is done up.