Pregnancy & Baby Index: Baby Newborn: A timeline for baby's social milestones
A timeline for baby's social milestones
By Mary Fetzer
New proud parents are eager to believe that their brand new baby is smiling because she’s such a brilliant, happy little being. But wiser heads prevail, and we realize it was just gas. Or was it? Read on to find out when you can expect baby to reach social milestones such as smiling, making eye contact and talking.
It’s scandalous! How could Little Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt – a mere three weeks old – be smiling on the cover of People magazine? New York magazine even accused People of using Photoshop to create that so-called smile.
Baby’s first month is filled mostly with crying or silence. Even so, she is absorbing everything around her, particularly the sound of your voice, your face and your touch. She’ll draw comfort from them and soon learn to mimic them. Before you know it, you and your baby will have no trouble communicating with each other.
Here are the big social and communication milestones to anticipate:
Eye contact
Between six and eight weeks, your baby will begin following you with her eyes. It’s more than just a physical accomplishment -- this milestone assures you that she’s on track neurologically, and her brain is registering and recalling a familiar face.
If your baby hasn’t met your gaze by the end of her third month, don’t panic. You may just be trying to make the connection at the wrong times. If she’s tired, hungry or simply not in the mood to interact, she may avoid making eye contact. While it’s possible that she’s just a little late on this particular milestone, consult her doctor just in case. It’s important to rule out other causes for the delay, such as eye disease or attachment problems. But don’t automatically assume the worst.
Smiling and laughing
Around the same time she makes eye contact, your baby may reward you with an honest-to-goodness smile. This social smile is the real deal: your baby is responding to you with one of the first forms of communication you’ll share. The smile is a good sign that your baby is maturing neurologically. It indicates that she can see short distances, make sense of what she sees and smile in return. Giggles and laughs are not far behind.
As with eye contact, if you’re not seeing smiles by the fourth month, don’t despair. You may just be catching her in an unsociable mood. But talk to the pediatrician if you continue to have concerns.
Pictured is Quinn, the son of SheKnows co-founder Nancy Price. Not knowing that he is supposed to wait until he is a few weeks old to smile, he decided to treat everyone to a grin on the day he was born. It just goes to show you, some babies have their own timeline!
Cooing and babbling
Around the eighth week, you may hear a lovely non-crying sound emerge from your baby’s mouth -- her first coo. She’ll be just as thrilled and surprised as you are the first time, and it may take some time before she figures out how to do it again. She’ll keep trying to imitate you, so keep talking!
In the weeks following, your baby will move on to babbling. This baby talk is fun for you both – she’ll find a sound – ma, for example – and go to town with it: ma-ma-ma-ma-ma. Using different parts of her mouth and throat than she used for cooing, babbling is yet another indication that she is growing and maturing appropriately.
After several more weeks – at about six to eight months of age – the baby will respond to your voice with her own. This reciprocal babbling is the first step in early language skills. Keep talking to her about anything and everything, and before long, she’ll add her two cents to every conversation.
A delay in cooing or babbling should be brought to the attention of the pediatrician to rule out hearing problems.
Gesturing
Starting around the baby’s first birthday, gesturing is a good indication that the baby has an understanding of language. Whether she’s waving, pointing to a favorite toy or imitating others’ gestures, it’s a sign that she knows what she’s thinking and knows that she can tell you about it this way.
If you ask her where something is, she should be able to point to it. This means not only can she communicate by gesturing, she also understands the meaning of different words.
You can have a lot of fun with this: she’ll imitate just about any gesture you teach her. Until she’s able to say what she’s thinking, gestures will help her communicate with you without getting too frustrated by her inability to verbalize it.
The first word
Most kids begin talking around 12 months. All of the communication milestones up to this point have been building blocks for the formation of speech.
By 15 to 18 months, children may be saying anywhere from five to 50 words. It also becomes apparent that they understand words. They should be able to follow simple commands.
You can help your child add more words to her vocabulary by talking, singing and reading to her daily.
Your newborn baby depends on you to initiate social interaction. Just because she’s not doing much in return doesn’t mean she isn’t taking it all in. She’s learning to recognize your voice, face and touch and associates them with comfort. For now, just knowing you’re there is enough for her. It won’t be long before she’s engaging you with her gurgles, giggles and gab.
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