[snaps]

We are new parents to a 5 week old and have been with her since birth. Developmentally she is right on, but she is not yet smiling much. She does occasionally smile and maybe occasionally it is directed at us, but she is certainly not smiling at us all of the time. She smiles the most when drowsy or asleep and in fact will laugh a little while sleeping. She is really a pretty happy baby and doesn't cry much. She coos and makes all kind of noises when happy, but the smiling thing bothers me. Everything I read says so much varied stuff about when they should smile, should social smile, etc. At last weeks check up the pediatrician didn't seem too concerned.

When did your children really start smiling regularly at you?

Thanks,
Snaps
(neurotic new mother)

[tomandcate]

Hi Snaps,

Congratulations on your daughter!

Our son's first "real" smile - when we knew without a doubt it was aimed at us - was at almost 5 weeks. He did it twice in the same day and then it was hit or miss for another week or two. By 8-9 weeks we could make him smile easily, by laughing or smiling at him, tickling him, playing with a toy with him, etc.

So...don't worry! I'm sure you can't wait for her to start smiling a lot, I can so understand that...our son just turned 14 months and the best part of any moment of any day is seeing that happy, beaming face of his. His smile lights up the universe, much less whatever room he is in. (No bias here.)

So laugh and play with her a lot, be as silly as you can, as often as you can...and I bet that very soon she will be smiling and laughing with abandon, and her smile will bring you great joy for days and years to come!

Cate

[momofmykids]

Cate is right...it can take 6-9 weeks before they really start smiling.

[jheald]

Consider yourself lucky you've seen smiles that early. With our son we didn't see smiles until 3 months! He really held them back on us.

Janet

[SchmennaLeigh]

Our seven week old didn't really blossom into smiles until the six week mark... and still mainly only at my Husband. Me? He really couldn't care less about smiling at me.

[brookeinpa]

Our DD is almost 4 months old and she still doesn't smile all that often. She is a very content baby. She coos quite a bit and is always very alert. She laughs every once in a while. We're convinced she's just a 'serious' baby!

Brooke

[beatrix]

My mother says I didn't smile until I noticed our little dog. Visited the animal shelter lately?

[mamacrina]

We got the "oh-it's just gas"/reflex smiles a little when she was 2 wks, but the "real" smiles didn't come until 2 months. Now, she wakes up smiling. It's great. Whenever they come, they are most certainly worth waiting for!

[AdrienneG]

I got a real smile minutes after birth...it was confirmed that he smiles when he hears my voice because later on when I was talking he smiled again...and now that he is 4 weeks old he smiles when he hears me or sees me and laughs.

Maybe your child just is shy. She will smile for you later I am sure. I am sure you are smiling at her all the time.

[TraceyG]

My son really smiled at about 6 weeks. He smiled before that, but it wasn't the real thing. It was occasional after that until about 8 weeks and then we could do things to make him smile. She'll being smiling before you know it. Try to relax and enjoy her, they change so much and grow up way to fast!

[jennifer m g]

Don't worry so much about it. I LOVE when I run across baby's that are about five months because that is the age that they smile at EVERYTHING...and EVERYONE. Before then it is not as often as you might like and after that you have to "earn" a smile. I mean you will still see it but not the way you will at four/five months.