PDA: First Psychosexual Stage, Oral

• The Oral stage (0-18 months)

  Focus of libido is the mouth. The child is being breast fed and weaned and, because they are dependent on the caretakers who are responsible for feeding them, the child develops a sense of trust and comfort through oral stimulation.

  Conflict occurs during weaning when the child must become less dependent on the caregiver and receives less comfort by being passively fed.

  
• Freud proposed that if there is any thwarting of the infant's libidinal desires in the oral stage, i.e. if the child's breastfeeding is neglected or over-provided, or if he or she is weaned too late or too early, he or she may become orally-fixated as an adult.