Smile. There’s nothing quite like that first gummy baby smile – it’s a sweet milestone that feels like a reward after those sleepless nights and long days at home with your newborn.
A smile is also a sign that your baby is starting to develop social communication skills, and before you know it they’ll be babbling, laughing, and clapping.
The smiling milestone varies somewhat from baby to baby. And since newborns also smile as a reflex, it can be hard to know the difference between a “real” smile your baby is choosing to make and one that you catch by chance.
When do babies smile?
You can expect to see the first real smile when your baby is around 8 weeks old. This is a “social smile,” which your baby makes to engage with others. By about 2 months old, most babies have started smiling, but some may take a little longer to flash a grin.
Your baby also has a “reflex smile” that you may see in the early weeks. Babies have the ability to smile in the womb before they’re even born. After birth, you might witness a little smile as your newborn sleeps or even as they wiggle around trying to pass gas. The reflex smile isn’t considered a real first smile because it happens randomly, not because your baby’s feeling happy or trying to connect with you.
A social smile is different: It signals that your baby is trying to engage with you and imitate your facial expressions. This level of social connection takes time to develop, which is why it takes a while before your baby is able to smile at you.
Even though your baby isn’t serving you social smiles right from the start, they’re still learning social skills thanks to your interactions with them. You may notice your baby experimenting with making faces at you, trying to mimic what you do. In fact, even newborns can imitate facial expressions such as opening their mouth or sticking out their tongue.
By about 2 or 3 months old, you’ll notice your baby intently watching the people around them and maybe even starting to “smile talk” – flashing a grin while gurgling at the same time. This is your baby’s way of having little conversations with you.
The more you engage with these attempts, the more your baby’s brain development will advance. Plus, “chatting” with your little one as they’re learning how to engage with others is arguably one of the best parts of those first few months with your infant.
How babies learn to smile
Babies are social creatures from birth, but to effectively smile as a form of connection, a few other factors need to click into place first, like their eyesight developing enough to be able to focus on your face.
Here’s a timeline of how babies learn how to smile and engage in social communication:
Newborn
Babies respond to other people and use crying as a way to communicate wants and needs. But if you try to gaze into your newborn’s eyes, it might seem as though they aren’t really seeing you. And chances are, you likely appear a little fuzzy to them. Newborns generally have poor eyesight and aren’t able to focus beyond six to 10 inches in front of them.
1 to 2 months
As your baby grows, their eyesight will improve and they can focus their eyes on you and follow your face. At this age, your baby also has more control over their movements so they’re better able to mimic your facial expressions, from sticking your tongue out to raising your eyebrows.
2 to 3 months
Most babies will smile by about 8 weeks old, but smiling may not become a regular occurrence until your baby’s closer to 10 to 12 weeks. At 3 months, babies are becoming more socially active and looking for opportunities to engage with you. They may try to grab your attention by “smile talking” or wait until you make the first move by smiling and talking to them before beaming a wide grin back at you in response.
3 to 4 months
Your baby will gradually start holding your gaze for longer periods of time and you may also notice they reserve their best smiles for you. Babies at this age begin showing preferences for familiar people and your little one may take a few minutes (or longer) to warm up to someone new.
5 to 6 months
By 6 months old, most babies will smile readily, babble, and laugh. They may delight in games of peek-a-boo as they begin to learn they’re separate from you. You’ll also see glimpses of your baby’s personality emerge as they begin to get more assertive and curious about the world around them.
Why do babies smile in their sleep?
Watching your baby smile in their sleep as they snooze in your arms is right up there on the cuteness scale. But these sleep smiles are different from social smiles.
In babies, sleep smiling is usually because of a reflex. Some babies also smile as they work out gas bubbles in their bellies. These reflex smiles are much shorter than genuine social smiles and aren’t a response to something external like your voice or eye contact.
What if your baby isn’t smiling?
As with all things in child development, there’s a range of normal when it comes to when babies smile. But if your baby doesn’t show a social smile by around 2 months old, talk to your child’s doctor. This could be an early sign of a developmental delay that may need attention.
After your baby starts smiling, what’s next?
Once your baby starts smiling, it won’t be long before you see their social and emotional development grow by leaps and bounds. Here’s what to expect:
- By 3 months old, your baby will attempt to smile talk with you and initiate their version of a conversation.
- By 4 to 6 months old, most babies will enthusiastically smile, laugh, squeal in delight, and start to babble.
- At around 7 months old, your baby may respond to their name.
- By 9 months old, your baby may be able to clap.
- By 10 months old, your baby’s short-term memory has improved so much that they can remember a few things at once, but still only for short periods of time.
- At 1 year old, your baby will have likely mastered waving hello and goodbye and saying “mama” and “dada.”
Smiling is just the beginning. Each new developmental stage brings more opportunities for engagement, connection, and fun with your little one.
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