if you acknowledge an alter of a young age, and give plenty of reassurance to it then regularly plan things into your weekly routine to keep it happy, it can sit back and relax, by this i mean it can stop bothering you and stay quiet in the depths of your mind. i am not saying it goes away, just relaxes enough that you 'forget' about it for a while. obviously when you do the planned things it will surface but will be a happy alter rather than anxious/sad/angry etc