8 week old does not smile yet, should i be concerned?

[vgahdmi123]

My boy is born at 38 week. He is healthy overall, gained 2kg in 2 months, he is looking to my eyes when i talk to him 90% of time, he is reacting on sounds, looking at toys, when we talk to him he is having some reactions like moving arms and legs with excitement, making O with mouth, cooing, etc, but he is still not smiling to us.

He is smiling when sleeping or eating sometimes, but I cannot bring his social smile yet as a reaction to something i do or talk.

should I be concerned because I read many articles that says that baby should start laughing at 6 weeks, and by 8 weeks showing even signs of shame in front of unknown people.

thanks

6-10 weeks is perfectly normal.

I am reading some books about baby development and it says that in week 8, baby should show signs of shame and turn head away from uknown people. I know it is weird, but i literally quote the book

Social smiles are FROM 6 weeks but this is normal considered to be 6 weeks from a 40 week birth. So I wouldn’t have expected any smiles yet.

Signs of shame????? Wtf???

Your baby can not feel shame. And if by 12 weeks there are no smiles, speak to your health visitor. Baby sounds like they are doing fine

No need to worry at 8 weeks. Will probably smile soon. But some people are smilier than others. Good that he's responding well and seems fine on everything else.

Is 'shame' perhaps a mistranslation of 'shyness'?

I think you mean shyness not shame, but no worries. None of mine did that at that age, although dd2 did a deadly glare from about 4 months if anyone tried to engage her and she didn't know them.

6 weeks is the average to smile, if I remember rightly, and your dc is 6 weeks adjusted (as was born at 38 weeks). So your dc would be dead on average if they smiled now, and some will always be later.
When you feed them, hold them and give them eye contact and chat and smile, it might be that encourages them too.

Smiling was very different for my three.
Dd1 smiled for the first time during a night feed. Really big clear smile, full eye contact, and then didn't want to feed because I was so excited. I then spent all day trying to get her to smile again, and she didn't-only to do exactly the same the next night. She obviously liked my reaction.
Dd2 didn't do a definite smile like that. I can remember getting past 10 weeks, and not being sure if she'd actually smiled, and worrying. She'd do these closed mouth smiles, which looked more like wind. I can't remember when I stopped worrying about the lack of smile, but I think it was really when she started talking as she clearly then had no issues. She turned into a very smiley toddler though.
Ds smiled at anything that had a face. Pictures, soft toys, anything he thought had a face. I put it down to being poor neglected #3 that he had to do anything to get attention.

Honestly, ditch the book. Children do things in their own time, in their own way. DD1 was dead on average for everything, dd2 was either very early or late. If you start worrying about everything then it really won't help you. Just enjoy them as they grow and learn and don't worry about comparing.

Hi @vgahdmi123! I wondered how your LO is getting on? Hope everything is well with you. After some reassurance as I am having similar worries about my baby also born just before 38 weeks. x

My dd was referred to a paediatrician as she wasn't smiling by 12 weeks. To be clear though she had a few other more worrying signs indicating delayed development, but the HV said the not smiling at 12 weeks in itself was justification for referral.

My dd was born at 37+3, the HV said it wouldn't be corrected as 37 weeks is term, but when we eventually did go to see the paediatrician they did correct it. I will say that some babies just aren't very smiley and you have to work very hard to get one out. I certainly wouldn't be overly concerned at 8 weeks though.

I find the approach to correcting age slightly misleading because dc1&2 were born at 39 weeks and were a different kettle of fish altogether in terms of feeding, staying awake, gaining weight, etc.

Would you mind sharing what other concerning signs your DC had and how you are doing now? X

She's a late teen now so I'm not up to date wrt correcting now, things might have changed. My 20 week scan showed a small head and talipes, so there was a question mark before she was even born as to whether or not this was syndromic and we should expect other issues. As this was in her red book the HV took the not smiling very seriously. It turned out she did have a syndrome and some delays, and is autistic too. I hasten to add that 8 weeks is only the average, and AFAIK on its own would not concern any HCPs. My sister is a HV and has confirmed this.