All parents wait for the moment when his/her baby smiles a real, meaningful smile, revealing a tiny mouth without teeth that expresses pleasure and fun.
At the same time or a little later, the first laugh comes, and it can be rolling and surprising and most importantly it warms the heart.
So when does all this happen and what to expect?
Shlomit Schuster, an infant development specialist, family counselor, developmental guide and infant massage instructor, explains:
The first smile
Even before the real smile, the one that comes with real intent, you’ll notice a certain smile on your baby’s lips. In fact, from birth to 6-8 weeks, the baby will smile an involuntary reflexive smile. This charming smile is due in part to internal nerve pulses in the brain stem and therefore often appears during sleep. Very soon, towards the age of 8 weeks, a voluntary, natural smile should appear.
A natural smile stems from an external source and mainly in response to the stimuli of a voice, for example the voice of a mother, father or music, or in response to eye contact. This is an exciting moment and there are studies that say that the effect of such a smile on parents is very similar to the effect of drugs. It’s easy to become addicted to these smiles!
The first laugh
A baby's first laugh is definitely unforgettable, and it usually follows the baby's first unforgettable, natural smile. Laughter will appear at about 4-5 months of age, sometimes later. One of the most effective ways to provoke laughter is to surprise the baby, such as hiding from him/her, then appearing and saying: “koo-koo” or chattering in gibberish while making funny faces.
Did you hear a sweet laugh? Maintain eye contact and accompany chatter with touch. This way there is a greater chance of sustaining the laughter over time. Note that tickling, even if accompanied by laughter, can be an over-stimulant and then the transition from laughter to crying will happen quickly. You should hold off until the child can agree to be tickled.
The JAMA app was established with the aim of addressing moms and dads of babies from birth to age three, and includes content, activities, tips from experts and videos that will accompany them throughout this challenging period. All the content in the app "grows" together with the baby and is precisely adapted to his/her developmental stages, so that moms (parents) receive only what’s relevant to them and will interest them at any given moment.
This app is the place for parents in Israel to meet and get to know others in their area, which will help them develop new and meaningful friendships for this fascinating journey, parenthood.