babify

baby +‎ -fy

babify (third-person singular simple present babifies, present participle babifying, simple past and past participle babified)

1. To encourage another to behave like a baby; to infantilize.
   • 2000, David Kowalewski, Deep Power: The Political Ecology of Wilderness and Civilization, →ISBN, page 21:

     Civilizational elites infantilize nonelites to keep them powerless. By letting elites babify us, we lose power.

   • 2006, Mary-Elaine Jacobsen, chapter 3, in The Brat Stops Here!: 5 Weeks (or Less) to No More Tantrums, Arguing, Or Bad Behavior, →ISBN, page 61:

     If you continue to indulge you child, babify him, or take away the consequences for her irresponsible behavior, you can rest assured that in the long run you will not produce a respectful, dependable adult.