• Question: how do babies know to laugh when they are born

    Asked by Illuminaticonfirmed69 to Shikha on 20 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Shikha Sharma

      Shikha Sharma answered on 20 Nov 2014:

      Hi Illuminaticonfirmed69,
      It is a part of natural human behavior regulated by the brain. They do not learn it.Neonates(0-1 month) may smile from the day they are born to about one month, but at that time they show no emotion. At the age of 1-2 month babies gradually respond to stimulation. Their first smile when they are awake usually appears at 6-10 weeks. This is because their vision improves and they start to recognize faces. They respond to sounds, like music and parents’ voices. Finally, they will smile because of visual stimulation.

Comments

  • Photo: Kevin

    Kevin commented on :

    In the womb babies will actually “breath” the amniotic fluid and their diaphragm gets a full workout moving the fluid and out, so when they are born the fluid is all expelled and they take their first breath of air, as she in the womb they get oxygen from their mother via the umbilicals chord. All the movements, smiles, grimaces are happening all the time in the womb and when they are born it’s just a continuation of that. Babies even get hiccups in the womb! So they’re not arriving as a bla slate having to learn everything, they’ve been doing a lot of it for months already. But when they do smile a lot of the time it’s for not reason, they may just have wind. But there also an evolutionary thing that human children have a very long childhood and need their parents. If you haven’t slept in days looking after a sick child, just that smile can sleep you going. It s a primeval thing when your child smiles at you and it refreshes that feeling that there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for them.

    So next time your looking for credit for your mobile, get those pearly whites out!