The age that social smiles in babies occur is around 2 to 3 months of age.
Around 2 to 3 months of age, babies have social smiles which are more purposeful and also involve recognition of a certain person, such as a parent or caregiver.
When a baby smiles at you a lot it means the baby is connecting with you and enjoying your presence around them and the baby is often also experiencing a sense of pleasure and contentment when you're around.
Smiles from babies can also mean that the baby is starting to recognize you and also understand you are a special part of their world.
When a baby stares at and smiles at you then it means that you have often established a connected with the baby and the baby thinks that you're a good person.
Around 6 to 8 weeks old a baby also has early reflex smiles that are often triggered by sensory experiences such as the sight of your face, the sound of your voice and the feeling of being cuddled.
While it's not entirely social, it's often a sign of the baby's developing nervous system and their positive response to stimuli.
Around 2 to 3 months of age, babies have social smiles which are more purposeful and also involve recognition of a certain person, such as a parent or caregiver.
The smile is also more symmetrical and lasts longer and often also involves the entire face, including the baby's eyes and this is when babies begin to engage with you and expect a response from you which signals the beginning of a social interaction.
And around 6 months babies have undiscriminating smiles and during this period of time, babies tend to smile at almost everything and anyone around them and they are simply enjoying smiling and finding pleasure in the experience of smiling.
And then around 9 months of age, babies have selective smiles as the baby begins to differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar faces, the baby becomes more selective about who they smile at and they may smile at loved ones but also show distress or even cry when they are approached by strangers.
And then around 12 months of age, the baby's smiles become a more intentional form of communication, expressing happiness, contentment, excitement and even a budding sense of humor.
Also frequent smiling from a baby, especially when the smiles are paired with eye contact, can be a sign of a strong emotional bond between the baby and the parent or caregiver, indicating that theirs a development of attachment.
Early smiles in babies are often a reflex, but social smiles later on are a deliberate response to stimuli and a sign of the baby's growing social awareness and emotional development.
Autistic babies also can and do smile although the smiling behavior of an autistic baby can differ from the smiling behavior of other typically developing babies without autism.
Autistic babies can and do smile but may exhibit less social smiles, which are smiles in response to social stimuli and they may also smile more often at objects or during periods of self stimulation.
In addition, an autistic baby's smiles may even be shorter in duration and less frequent than typical smiles.
Sensory sensitivities in autistic babies can also impact their smiling.
For example, a loud or a visually stimulating game such as peek a boo, may be overwhelming for a baby that is autistic and make it difficult for the baby to smile.
Even challenges with the autistic baby's communication and social interaction can also affect smiling patterns.
And social smiles may be delayed or less frequent and they may even be directed more at objects than people.
It's also important to note that every person and baby or toddler, child etc with autism is unique and the way a baby with autism smiles can also vary significantly .
Signs of autism in babies include unusual or repetitive behaviors, delayed or lack of babbling, lack of interest in social interaction and limited eye contact.
Babies that are more focused on objects than they are on people and who may not respond to their name or familiar voices can also be early signs that your baby is autistic.