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Expert Q & A

Top : Child Development and Behavior : My 10-week-old still isn't smiling much. In fact, she's pretty non-interested in social interaction. Should I be concerned?

Question:


My 10-week-old still isn't smiling much. In fact, she's pretty non-interested in social interaction. Should I be concerned?

Answer:


A social smile is a form of communication between parents and their infants that emerges at about 6 to 10 weeks of age. Smiling is a complex process that involves several areas of the brain and thus serves as an indicator of an infant's level of social and language development. It develops as a response to adult smiles and interactions. As more and more environmental stimuli are recognized by an infant, smiling occurs in response not only to parents but to a variety of things such as toys and strangers.

Milestones such as a social smile involve many interactive processes, each of which needs to be evaluated if a milestone is not attained. Because the social smile is an interactive process, adequate vision – and to a lesser extent, hearing – is required for the baby to process a parent's smiling and/or talking.

In this case, it appears that the infant has the ability to smile but seems disinterested in social interaction. He may be easily overloaded by stimuli. Such an infant may become frustrated and shut down in response to playful attempts. Try introducing only one stimulus at a time. For example, hold the baby without speaking or making eye contact. As he becomes more comfortable with each stimulus, introduce another stimulus (i.e. speaking softly to the baby and allowing time for him to process the stimulus.)

Although smiling at 10 weeks falls within the normal range of attaining this milestone, it falls at the far end. Discuss this with the baby's doctor. Make an appointment separate from a normal well-baby check so you can focus on this concern and your pediatrician can perform a full evaluation. In fact, often the initial detection of developmental difficulties occurs as a result of maternal concern that her child is not attaining age-appropriate expectations.

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