Several states have developed or adopted a compendium of competencies that chart training trajectories, articulate sets of skills, and determine experiential thresholds for practitioners in the broad-based interdisciplinary field of infant and early childhood mental health. As a burgeoning service delivery approach on the continuum of infant and early childhood mental health services, consultation calls for specific capacities and knowledge domains. This article reviews emerging national efforts to define mental health consultation competencies and suggests additional possibilities as to the perspective and abilities a mental health consultant must possess. (author abstract)