When do babies start smiling?

Babies start smiling from about 6 weeks old.

At 2-3 months, your baby might follow you with their eyes and enjoy smiling at you.

By 3-4 months, your baby is starting to show more emotion and might smile when they see and hear things they like.

Why it’s important to smile back at your baby

You probably can’t help smiling at your baby. You’ve probably been doing it since they were born.

Smiling at your baby is great for your early relationship with your baby. It helps you bond with your baby, and it helps your baby feel secure and safe.

Also, when your baby gets plenty of smiles, it tells your baby a lot about the world – that it’s a safe, secure place where people are happy and friendly and respond to your baby’s needs.

Smiles are the first building blocks of warm, loving and responsive relationships. These relationships are fundamental to your baby’s development. Through these relationships, babies and children learn how to think, understand, communicate, show emotions and relate positively to others.

The science of a smile

Smiles and frowns are the first way your baby relates to you.

When you and your baby smile at each other, it releases chemicals in your bodies that make you both feel happy and safe. On the other hand, if a baby is feeling insecure or stressed, there’s an increase in the stress hormones in the baby’s body.

Different chemicals interact with a baby’s nervous system in different ways, and they even play a role in how the brain grows and develops. For example, high levels of stress hormones can interfere with a baby’s learning and affect their overall development and wellbeing.

No smile is wasted

It’s worth remembering that your face is where your baby looks for reassuring, comforting responses and attention.

Not every single response you give is vital, but the more often you smile at your baby, the better. So whenever you see your baby watching your face, a smile is a great way to tell them you notice, appreciate, love and cherish them.