You can tell the difference between a reflex and real smile by the timing and duration. Generally, reflex smiles tend to be shorter and occur randomly, when the baby is sleeping or tired.
Real smiles, on the other hand, occur in response to something, like seeing her mama's face or hearing a sibling's high-pitched voice, and they are consistent, Dr. Gettleman explains. When it's the real deal, you will see the emotion expressed in your baby's eyes. At first, your little guy's happy face will be in response to a mix of vocal and visual stimulation. Therefore, he may light up from watching you sing a favorite lullaby or talk him through a particularly yucky diaper change.
Later, when his vision improves, simply seeing the face of his two favorite people you and your partner! You'll be the recipient of most of your baby's smiles, but he'll also exchange grins with others that is, until stranger anxiety kicks in at around 6 months.
As your baby gets more smiling practice and enjoyment from seeing people's reactions, he'll start adding sound effects, Dr.
By 5 months, your babe may surprise you with full-out belly laughs and squeals of excitement. His brain and nervous system have matured enough to eliminate reflex smiles, and he's now aware that smiling lets him connect with others.
Your little one is also beginning to realize his feelings matter and have a direct effect on the people around him. Babies learn about the power of smiling early. As a result, babies quickly gain a remarkable ability to regulate the behaviour of their parents. If a baby keeps eye contact, blinks and smiles, their parent will likely smile back — making the smile rewarding. Unsurprisingly, studies on mothers have shown that they are deeply affected by the smiles of their babies — even on a neurophysiological level.
One study measured brain activity in mothers using fMRI scanning. When mothers saw their own infant smiling, activities in areas of the brain involved in processing emotions — including the amygdala and the limbic system — were enhanced. Dopaminergic brain areas , known as the reward system in the brain, were also highly active. Unfortunately, behavioural studies with neonates are still scarce and require elaborate analyses to interpret the meanings of certain behaviour.
While further studies are needed, it is plausible to assume that these early smiles have a social meaning. To many of us in the field, it is at the very least clear that these smiles are definitely more than just a reflex. 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.
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. 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. For a social smile, she'll use her whole face, not just her mouth — you'll notice the difference when you see it.
Early Signs of Autism. Her social smile will soon become another way for her to communicate with you and connect with the world around her. One study found that new mothers looked at their hour-old babies 80 percent of the time and smiled at them 34 percent of the time.
Sometimes newborn babies even smile back, creating a magical moment for the parents that is often ruined by someone pointing out that the smile can't be real.
Even textbooks tend to regard neonatal smiling as a reflex rather than an actual expression of joy and happiness.
But is this really the case? Up to the second half of the 20th century, the behaviour of newborns was considered mostly reflexive. Scientists assumed that newborns had a limited ability to feel and express emotions, and did not have enough social experience to interact with their caregivers.
It was even believed that newborn babies couldn't feel pain in the same way as adults—meaning they were sometimes subjected to painful surgical procedures without analgesia.
It wasn't until the s that medical professionals realised that the stress of the pain actually led to life-threatening shock and complications. Over the past 50 years, data has slowly accumulated suggesting that neonates are more than just reflexive beings.
They are competent enough to actively regulate their own states. For example, they can fall asleep to shut out stressful distractions, or fuss and cry if they need stimulation and more interaction.
They can also imitate smiles as early as the first 36 hours of life and can even learn from previous experience as early as the first day of life. However, when it comes to feelings such as happiness and joy, we have continued to question whether newborns can be socially competent beings.
Up until the early s, newborn babies were thought to smile only in response to muscle twitches, penile erections, bowel or bladder movements or for no particular reason at all.
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