Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
DC
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Top parenting stories this week
Why Babies Smile
Is your baby happy to see you, or does she just have gas? Find out what your baby's smile really means.
by: Nancy Ripton
In This Article
Smiling Babies
- Babies smile during sleep from the day they’re born.
- Infant smiles have nothing to do with gas.
- Your baby will respond to, and smile at, auditory stimulus (such as your voice) before visual.
- At two to three months, your baby starts to look right at you when she smiles.
- By six months, your baby will have different smiles – open mouth smiles usually indicate more joy than closed.
t’s hard not to feel overjoyed when your baby gazes adoringly into your eyes and flashes a brief, but unmistakable smile. But is she really trying to communicate her joy at seeing you, or does she simply have gas?
Babies usually don’t start social smiling until about eight months, but their smiles can still say a lot before then. “In fact, babies smile when they’re asleep from birth,” says Dr. Daniel Messinger.
Baby smiles at 0-1 months
Neonatal smiling occurs from birth to one month of age and shows no emotional content. Smiles are spontaneous and often occur while the baby is drowsy or during REM stages of sleep. Baby smiles are subcortical in origin and will actually decrease with maturity (so premature babies smile more than full-term babies). And, contrary to popular belief, baby smiles have nothing to do with gas.
