Children start laughing at an early age, expressing their positive emotions in this way. There are many opinions about the age at which a child should normally start laughing.
Most sources believe that babies start laughing between the third and fifth months. Positive emotions trigger this reaction, and the child is well aware of the source of these emotions. The child may be frightened at first by his laughter, but as soon as he understands what himself is the source of this strange sound, the process cannot be stopped. Every day he will laugh more and more confidently.
It is important from early childhood to develop a sense of humor in your child, starting with the simplest things.
Smiling kids
Newborns can smile right from birth, but scientists consider this a reflexive and unconscious response to satisfying important needs for warmth, caress and food. Such a smile is called a spontaneous, gastric or endogenous smile. Such a smile appears on the face of a child during a nap, it is often accompanied by a chaotic movement of the eyeballs. An endogenous smile can be induced by stroking the baby's cheeks or lips.
The first conscious expressions of positive emotions appear around the second month of life. Usually they are caused by gentle touches, a cooing voice or caress. This deliberate smile that appears on the face of a child in response to expressions of care and tenderness causes a storm of emotions in parents. Such a smile is called exogenous, since its cause is external.
On many parenting forums, you can find information about children who can laugh from birth. More often than not, in situations like this, parents simply wishful thinking.
When do children laugh?
Most often, babies start laughing and laughing around four months old. It is very important to support and develop your first attempts at having fun and laughing. Very little kids are amused by simple games and fun. You can play hide and seek with them - closing your or children's eyes with your palms, saying "cuckoo", swing them on your knees with funny sayings like "We drove and went to the forest for nuts" or "Over the bumps, over the bumps."
It is imperative to actively interact with the child - a variety of grimaces, tickling, tossing cause a positive reaction in most children. Very young children can be amused by unfamiliar, long words. Their repetition by a small child is amusing enough in itself. By the way, children often start laughing after adults, so it is very important to set a good example.
From about four months to one year, children react with laughter to external stimuli. Closer to the year, they start to be amused by improperly worn or used things, for example, a frying pan or a saucepan used instead of a hat. After a year, children begin to rejoice in their actions. For example, they are amused by self-invented words or imitation of relatives.
