infantilization


in·fan·til·ize

I0125800 (ĭn′fən-tl-īz′, ĭn-făn′-)tr.v. in·fan·til·ized, in·fan·til·iz·ing, in·fan·til·iz·es 1. To treat or condescend to as if still a young child: "The Victorian physician infantilized his patient" (Judith Moore).2. To reduce to an infantile state or condition: "It creates a crisis that infantilizes them—causes grown men to squabble like kids about trivial things" (New Yorker).
in·fan′til·i·za′tion (-ĭ-zā′shən) n.

infantilization

(ɪnˌfæntɪlaɪˈzeɪʃən) or

infantilisation

n (Psychology) psychol the act of infantilizing, the act of prolonging an infantile state in a person by treating them as an infant