hi and thanks for joining us on amazing milestones I'm your host my name is Tara and today we're going to talk about the important milestone of smiling so I have to admit something that I'm really looking forward to as a first-time mom is gazing down at that little one's face and seeing him or her smile back at me I just can't wait but when a baby smiles is it a real smile or is it just gasps I have no idea so to help us figure this out we are going to meet dr. Haas and she is a pediatrician from Montreal Quebec let's go hello dr. ISM I'm Tara nice to meet you nice to meet you thanks for answering my questions today so when does a baby start to smile on average a baby starts smiling around 2 months of age and it's called a social smile and the social smile is considered the first communication between the parents and the child and what makes him smile what's going on in my baby spring usually what makes a baby smile is interaction between the baby itself and his parents so the more you interact by talking to the baby smiling to the baby cooing tickling anything to interact with the baby that will make her smile and the presence of a social smile means that the baby's brain is maturing ok and what if my baby starts to smile earlier than the norm what does that mean a lot of babies most babies in fact smile almost at birth but they're not a real smile there are reflex they're called angel smiles and they're they're just a reflex of the same kind as the suction reflex are the rooting reflex but they're not real smiles and they can last up until two months and they're called angel slam dangerous that's really adorable oh no I'm alternatively what does it mean if my baby hasn't started to smile by two months is there something I should do all babies do not develop at the same pace some develop earlier some develop later and the smiles can appear as early as five weeks and as late as twelve weeks but on average if a baby does not smile by 3 to 4 months of age parents should mention it to their pediatrician because it can be a sign of an eye problem an attachment problem or even a developmental problem well in talking about child's development what are the best ways to encourage my baby's development the best way to encourage the baby to smile is to interact with the baby so in order to do that you have to take the baby when he is very calm and quiet no colic no fuzziness in your arms face to face around 30 centimeters distance and start talking to the baby you have to cap his attention once you've done you will be rewarded with a nice and beautiful smile oh well I'm looking forward to that thank you doctor it's a pleasure and there you have it reflex smiles at the beginning but real smiles from as early as two months and we want to see those grits so head over to the Enfamil milestone memory section on our website you can upload a video or a photo of your baby's first grin I would personally love to see those so that's it for today's episode join us next time we are going to talk about the social side of your child's development until then keep smiling