The Baby (1973) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

The Wadsworths keep Baby in an infant-like state primarily to maintain control over him and exploit his disability payments as their main source of income. Mrs. Wadsworth has been overprotective since her husband left after Baby's birth, and she refuses to let any caregiver interfere. Baby is never permitted to speak, walk, or do things for himself, and is punished with beatings, restraints, and electric shocks when he tries to act like an adult. This systematic abuse has kept him dependent and trapped in infancy since his actual infancy.

Foreshadowing: Early scenes show the family treating Baby like an actual infant, hinting at the deliberate nature of his condition.

• wadsworth family
• baby
• disability payments
• infantilism
• abuse
• control

Ann's husband was severely injured in a car accident that left him with the mental capacity of an infant. This accident is the source of Ann's guilt, which drives her to take on the Wadsworth case. The accident's consequences become crucial at the film's end when Ann's true motive for taking Baby is revealed.

Foreshadowing: Ann's guilt over the accident is established early, suggesting her motivations may be more complex than simple professional duty.

• ann husband
• car accident
• mental capacity
• infant
• brain damage

Ann's interest in Baby was not altruistic. She took him from the Wadsworths not to rehabilitate him but to use him as a playmate for her husband, who has the mental capacity of an infant after his accident. Under Ann's care, Baby remains trapped in his state of dependency and infancy, but now with Ann's husband serving as his 'brother' in a twisted, improvised family unit.

Foreshadowing: Ann's unusual attachment to Baby and her refusal to turn him over to professional facilities hint at something beyond professional concern.

• ann motive
• baby
• husband
• playmate
• possession
• rehabilitation

During the confrontation at Ann's house, Ann stabs Baby's two sisters to death. She then, with help from her mother-in-law, buries Mrs. Wadsworth alive beneath the floor of a swimming pool that Ann was building in her yard. The sisters' corpses are also placed in the grave, making the pool area their macabre tomb.

Foreshadowing: The Wadsworths' attempt to dispose of Ann during a party establishes the violent confrontation that becomes inevitable.

• wadsworth sisters
• death
• mrs wadsworth
• buried alive
• ann
• killed

Ann buries Mrs. Wadsworth alive as a way to eliminate her permanently while concealing the murders. By burying her beneath the pool's foundation, Ann creates a hidden tomb that serves as both a grave and part of her home construction project. This act ensures the Wadsworths cannot be found or blamed for any crimes, allowing Ann to keep Baby without legal interference.

Foreshadowing: Ann's construction of the pool is shown earlier as an ordinary home project, making its darker purpose a shocking revelation.

• mrs wadsworth
• buried alive
• pool
• concealment
• murder
• ann

Ann sends pictures of Baby performing 'adult' tasks such as standing to the Wadsworths. These photos provoke them into believing they can reclaim him and restore their control and income source. Outraged that someone else is getting Baby to do things they forbade, the family breaks into Ann's house with murderous intent to take Baby back by force.

Foreshadowing: Ann's decision to send these photos seems curious given her previous caution, hinting at a deeper psychological game.

• wadsworth break-in
• pictures
• baby standing
• rescue attempt
• murderous intent

Baby is fully capable of speaking, walking, and performing normal adult tasks, but the Wadsworths have systematically prevented him from doing so since infancy. He is forbidden from speaking, forced to wear diapers, and beaten or shocked with an electric cattle prod whenever he attempts to break out of his assigned baby role. His apparent inability is a result of enforced dependency, not any actual physical or mental disability.

Foreshadowing: Ann notes early on that Baby seems to understand more than he lets on, suggesting hidden capabilities.

• baby
• speak
• walk
• abuse
• forbidden
• electric cattle prod
• dependency

Ann kills the two sisters during the violent confrontation when they break into her home to reclaim Baby. Faced with attackers who threaten to take away the 'playmate' she wants for her husband, Ann defends her position aggressively. The stabbing represents how far Ann is willing to go to protect her twisted version of family and keep Baby under her control.

Foreshadowing: The Wadsworths' earlier attempt to kill Ann during the party establishes the lethal stakes of the conflict.

• ann kills sisters
• stabbing
• self-defense
• possession
• baby
• wadsworth

Even after Ann 'rescues' Baby from the Wadsworths, she has no intention of helping him develop normally. Her goal was never rehabilitation but to keep Baby as a companion for her husband. Under Ann's care, Baby continues to be trapped in perpetual infancy, dependent on caregivers, just as he was with the Wadsworths. The cycle of abuse continues, albeit with different caretakers.

Foreshadowing: Ann never discusses rehabilitation methods or professional help for Baby, only his care needs.

• baby
• infancy
• ann care
• rehabilitation
• cycle of abuse
• dependency

The Wadsworths depend on Baby's disability payments as their main source of income. Without Baby, they lose their primary financial support. Additionally, Baby represents the family's identity and the mother's obsessive need for control. Their 'entitlement' to Baby drives them to commit murder when they believe they can reclaim him, revealing how deeply intertwined their survival is with keeping Baby dependent.

Foreshadowing: The family's reliance on Baby's payments is mentioned early, establishing their economic motive.

• wadsworth
• baby
• disability payments
• income
• control
• reclaim

Ann notices several warning signs from her first visit: the family's eccentric behavior, the unusual emphasis on the youngest member, and Mrs. Wadsworth's extreme protectiveness refusing to let another caregiver interfere. Ann senses something is off from the beginning and focuses her investigation specifically on Baby, recognizing that the family's dynamic centers entirely on his care and their dependence on his disability payments.

Foreshadowing: Ann's intuition that something is wrong establishes her as a perceptive observer of the family's dysfunction.

• ann
• warning signs
• wadsworth family
• investigation
• protectiveness
• eccentricity