How can I stop being awkward toward babies?

I have a confession to make: I feel uncomfortable around babies. It’s not that I hate them – quite the opposite – it’s just that I just don’t know how to behave around them. I try baby talk, but it sounds fake and I run out of things to say real fast. I want to cuddle and stroke them, but I don’t know how to do that the normal way. It gets to the point that I’m scared of situations involving babies because I fear that I would freeze in place and people would see what a horrible person I am.

There isn’t a single day that I don’t wish I could know what to do around babies immediately and naturally like any normal person on Earth. I often question myself why I am such a monster. I am a teacher, I am supposed to be great toward children, and yet I can only handle old children. I can handle younger children fine, as long as they are cooperative. As the age goes down, so does my anxiety go up.

What is wrong with me? What should I do?