When Will My Baby Smile for the First Time

This type of smiling isn’t the real deal yet. You’ll have to wait a little longer before you see your baby flash her first real smile, sometimes called a social smile.

When Do Babies Start Smiling?

Seeing your baby look up at you and smile for the first time is a moment that will melt your heart and stay with you forever.

If you’re wondering when your baby will smile for the first time on purpose as her way of showing you just how happy she is to see you, you’ve come to the right place.

Although your baby’s initial smiles are reflexive, be patient and soon enough you’ll notice that first true smile. Next thing you know, your baby will be smiling all the time in response to the entertaining sounds and faces you make, and even just the sight of you as you smile at her.

Read on to find out what’s behind your baby’s first smiles, to discover a few ways you can encourage your baby to keep smiling, and to learn what to do if you’re concerned that your little one isn’t smiling yet.

Your Baby’s Initial Reflexive Smiles

During your baby’s first month, you may notice her smiling during her sleep. This is called a reflexive smile.

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Although no one know for sure what triggers reflexive smiling, experts think it might happen when babies respond to an internal stimulus during sleep.

This type of smiling isn’t the real deal yet. You’ll have to wait a little longer before you see your baby flash her first real smile, sometimes called a social smile.

Your Baby’s First Real Smile: A Sign of Development

It can be quite rewarding to see your baby smile during sleep, but the real smiles will likely come a little later, and you’ll absolutely adore the sight of these tiny grins.

These true smiles happen when he’s awake and alert — not in his sleep.

Although your baby may experiment with grins and grimaces in the first month, especially in response to others smiling at him regularly, it’s actually in the second month that these typically turn into genuine smiles that signal pleasure and friendliness.

This will be a memorable moment in your life as a parent, reaffirming all your hard work and reassuring you that your baby is happy.

Your baby will start to realize that moving his lips and grinning will bring him more attention from you and others. As he becomes more in tune with you and more socially engaged with other adults and children, his brain development will advance. This increasing engagement may also help him become more distracted from everyday internal sensations like hunger, gas, and fatigue.

By about 3 or 4 months old, he’ll be socializing with almost everyone he sees by mirroring others’ facial movements. Of course, he’ll still have his favorites, that is, you and the people who care for him most often.

The more he socializes, the more he will appreciate these new experiences. This early form of socializing is all important to his ongoing social and emotional development.

Every baby develops in his own way and at his own pace. However, if your baby doesn’t start smiling at people by 3 months, tell your baby’s healthcare provider.

How to Encourage Your Baby to Smile

Your baby’s first smile will likely happen in the second month. Until then, be patient and know that eventually you will see that first smile.

Here are some tips to help encourage your baby to start — and keep — smiling:

• Smile regularly. The more you smile at your baby, the more she’ll smile back. This type of give and take is sometimes known as smile-talking, and it usually begins in earnest when your little one is around 3 months old. By responding to your baby’s smiles and engaging with her by smile-talking, you will be encouraging her development. Responding to her lets her know that she’s important, that she can trust you, and that she has some control.
• Play along. Your baby may start a “conversation” with you by flashing a wide smile or a big grin to get your attention. Sometimes she might wait for you to smile at her first, before responding with a matching smile. This is her way of imitating you. Her whole body might also reflect her happy face, as her arms might reach upward and her legs might move in excitement. Although it might look as if she is simply being playful with you, imitation is actually an important step in her social and emotional development. So, go ahead and play along with your baby.
• Make eye contact. Try not to interrupt or look away from your baby when she’s smile-talking with you. Your concentrated attention lets her know that you are interested in what she has to “say” and that you value her opinion. These interactions will help nurture her self-esteem and communication skills, and teach her about body language.

If you haven’t seen your baby’s first true smile yet, you’re probably waiting with bated breath. Keep on smiling at your baby, and eventually, when the time is right, he’ll smile back. Once it happens, it will be an unforgettable moment, and you can be sure that from that point on your time together will be filled with lots of smile-talk, giggles, and grins from ear to ear.

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When Will My Baby Smile for the First Time?

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on August 9, 2021

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Your little one’s first baby grin will melt your heart sooner than you think — and soon come accompanied with a just-as-sweet laugh.

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In This Article

• When do babies smile for the first time?
• When do babies social smile?
• How can I encourage my baby to smile?
• What if my baby isn’t smiling yet?
• When do babies start smiling and laughing?

The first time your baby smiles at you, all the sleepless nights, morning sickness and newborn stress will suddenly seem worth it, a million times over. There’s just nothing sweeter than an infant’s face lighting up with happy recognition or delight.

Smiling is also a welcome sign of baby’s growing social skills, now that your newborn is making the transition from sweet sleepy lump to a sociable, irresistible little person.

When do babies smile for the first time?

Babies start smiling quite early on — while they’re still in the womb, in fact. You may have caught baby working on her smile on a second-trimester (or later) ultrasound, or seen it for the first time on her sleeping face soon after she arrived.

But you’ve probably also heard — from your mother-in-law, your pediatrician and all your friends with kids — that a newborn’s smiles aren’t “true” smiles. The truth is, they’re right in that these reflexive smiles differ from the social smiles yet to come. (But if you prefer not to care, that’s just fine!)

Newborns may smile when passing gas, falling asleep, feeling comfy or peeing. 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.

When do babies social smile?

Your baby’s first true smile will most likely occur sometime between weeks 6 and 8 (and usually not before weeks 4 to 6), and it will most likely be in response to recognizing someone very special, like you! For a social smile, she’ll use her whole face, not just her mouth — you’ll notice the difference when you see it.

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Her social smile will soon become another way for her to communicate with you and connect with the world around her. And by 3 months, she may even start up a “conversation” with you by gurgling and smiling to catch your attention. You can “answer” by smiling (and cooing or speaking) in response!

How can I encourage my baby to smile?

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).

What if my baby isn’t smiling yet?

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.

When do babies start smiling and laughing?

At around the same time your baby first smiles, she’ll likely also practice her first coos — putting her well on her way to another thrilling social development: baby’s first laugh. Expect to hear that joyous sound when she’s around 3 or 4 months old, although it may come a little later on too. She’ll love hearing it just as much as you do — and may even laugh “just because.” Enjoy it all!

From the What to Expect editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect When You’re Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Learn how we keep our content accurate and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial policy.

View Sources

• What to Expect the First Year, 3rd edition, Heidi Murkoff.
• WhatToExpect.com, How to Promote a Baby’s Social and Emotional Development, October 2020.
• WhatToExpect.com, Early Signs of Autism, November 2017.
• WhatToExpect.com, Your Baby’s First Laugh, November 2018.
• American Academy of Pediatrics, Emotional & Social Development in Babies: Birth to 3 Months, April 2021.
• American Academy of Pediatrics, Movement Milestones: Birth to 3 Months, July 2020.
• American Academy of Pediatrics, When Do Babies First Smile?, April 2021.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Milestone Moments.
• Infant Behavior and Development, Smiles in the Fetal Period, June 2012.