Which stage of self-awareness is described as babies seeing themselves as individual and separate?

The stage of self-awareness that is described as babies seeing themselves as individual and separate is characterized by the existential self. This stage typically occurs in early development, where infants begin to recognize that they exist independently from their environment and other people. During this stage, they start to understand themselves as distinct entities, separate from their caregivers and surroundings.

The existential self is foundational in forming a sense of identity and plays a crucial role in later social and emotional development. By recognizing their own existence apart from others, infants lay the groundwork for more complex self-awareness in the future, which includes aspects like the social self or the emotional self that develop later. The ideal self, on the other hand, refers to a more advanced concept where individuals envision who they aspire to be, which comes in later stages of development.