When do baby social smile start

Babies spend more of their second month awake and paying attention to all they see and hear around them. They learn that their family cares for them when they are hungry or fussy or tired. They likely feel excited and loved when people smile at them, and one day their own smile breaks out in return. Then, the captivating "smile talk" begins.

I often borrow a tactic from pediatrician and author T. Berry Brazelton, who wrote about watching babies try to catch their parent's attention during office visits. The parent may be cradling the baby while talking to me. Meanwhile, the baby watches the parent's face intently, as if waiting for their chance to engage. The baby may vocalize or wriggle around in their parent's arms. Then, when the parent pauses our adult conversation to look down, the baby will break out into a proud, wide smile.

Her smile caught her parent's attention, and she got a warm smile back in return. In this way, the baby starts to feel good that she knows how to control her own little world in other ways besides crying and fussing. Some babies may not be ready at first to watch a parent's face for a long time.

It may be just too overwhelming for them to look directly into their parent's eyes. By looking just past a parent's face, a baby still is learning about the parent's touch, gentle voice, and facial expressions. With more practice, they will be able to hold their gaze for longer periods. In addition to all the warm fuzzies the social smile brings, it is also an important part of a baby's social and emotional development. When you reliably respond to your baby's cues about when they are ready for play and when they need a break, you let them know that their thoughts and feelings are important.

Because a baby's smile gets such a predictable response from a parent, they start to feel confident that they can exert some control over their world. The child's self-esteem starts to grow, even at this young age. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Please enable scripts and reload this page.

Turn on more accessible mode. Top of the page. Emotional and Social Development, Ages 1 to 12 Months. Topic Overview Emotional and social growth during the first year of life can be both fascinating and exciting. At 1 month of age, infants express their feelings with alert, widened eyes and a rounded mouth. The bond grows between parents and their baby during this stage. Around 2 months of age, your baby will have a "social" smile. That is a smile made with purpose as a way to engage others.

Around this same time to about 4 months of age, babies develop an attachment to their caregivers. They more readily stop crying for familiar caregivers than for strangers.

They draw people to them by making and keeping eye contact, moving their arms, and smiling. By about 4 to 6 months of age, babies become increasingly social and love to cuddle and laugh. They become expressive and may "flirt" with their doctor or people across a room. Feel free to revel in those sweet first smiles, no matter what their cause. Who could blame you? Before she launches her first full-fledged social smile, you may see your baby doing lots of smile trial runs, practicing and exploring how her mouth moves.

For a social smile, she'll use her whole face, not just her mouth — you'll notice the difference when you see it. Her social smile will soon become another way for her to communicate with you and connect with the world around her. To help your baby along, smile at her, cuddle her, play with her and talk to her often. You can't spoil a newborn, and numerous studies have shown that babies who receive lots of parental care and affection early on develop faster, have larger brains and are more sociable.

So if you can't wait to see those first real smiles, snuggle away, and smile at her like she's the best thing since sliced bread which, really, she is. Just as some adults are quicker to smile than others, some babies are too. If your 1-month-old still isn't smiling, don't be alarmed.

That first "real" smile can seem frustratingly elusive, because for even some of the happiest babies, it can happen any time between 4 weeks and 4 months of age. You may have heard that a delay in smiling is considered an early indicator for autism spectrum disorder.

And while this is true, a delay in smiling is very rarely the only symptom that a child on the autism spectrum will exhibit. If your child hasn't smiled by 4 months but vocalizes, makes eye contact and responds to verbal and visual cues from you, she just might not be a naturally smiley personality — at least, not at this early stage in her development. Of course, you can always discuss any concerns you may have with your pediatrician.