Every mother constantly watches her baby’s growth and the changes that happen to him. Every change that happens to the baby makes her feel it’s worth the sleepless nights. Smiling is one of the first signs that indicates baby’s growth physically and socially, and believe it or not, a baby might have already started smiling even before birth.

when does a baby’s first smile appear

To answer this question, we must first differentiate between your baby's reflex smile and his real one, according to the timing and it’s nature:

A reflex smile occurs while waking up or sleeping. It happens randomly and suddenly. A real smile occurs as a reaction to stuff that makes the baby happy, like seeing his mom, or playing with him. You can notice a real smile in the baby’s beautiful shining eyes.

The reflex smile disappears around two months after birth, while the real smile starts anywhere from 1.5 to 3 months. When the baby is five months he’ll already have learned laughing by his irresistible cute voice.

how to encourage my baby to smile earlier

A baby starts to smile within a certain period of time as mentioned before. The good news is that there is a lot you can do to encourage your baby to smile earlier:

• Interact with your baby
• Play with him and talk to him.
• Look at him in the eyes
• Smile at him and show facial expressions
• When he smiles smile back.

A baby’s first smile spreads the joy around, and makes the best memories. Picture these moments and make your little one smile every single day.

What are things you noticed that get your baby to smile?