Baby rarely smiles at dad

[fawkner]

My DS is 15 weeks old and he has a tendency to not smile at me (dad). I can occasionally get him to smile but it takes a lot of effort and they are few and far between, he tends to stare at me with a very serious face despite me smiling and laughing to him. He is very smiley with my wife (mum) which is expected I know, but it’s a little depressing as he will smile with her so readily from her talking to him or smiling. He’s also quite smiley with MIL too.

We spend lots of time together. Playing, bath time and bedtime routine, and as he is FF I do half of his feeds.

Obviously I’m glad he’s happy and smiley and that mum will always be #1… but can anyone relate? Hopefully it will just pass!

All I can think is that it might be that your voice is on the deep or sombre side naturally? Can you try to take note of the tone your wife uses when talking to the baby?

If you make your voice a bit silly or higher, it may change things.

Also, as babies get bigger, they do warm up to Dad a lot more. Once mine got to about 6 months old, they worked out that their Dad was a better bet for more silliness and as they turned into toddlers, then he was the fave as he'd do things like be a pony or throw them up in the air.

Young babies tend to show a preference for higher pitched voices. But that all changes very quickly. Hang in there!

It will pass

It'll pass. DH is the sillier one of us and he gets all the laughs now. Don't copy the mum, find your own thing.

Be squeaky and sing song, that will help. Do you have a beard? You’ll have your turn as favourite don’t worry. One of mine didn’t smile at all till he was 3 months, just scowled at everyone !

Don't change anything about yourself, it will come in time. Also, the attitude that 'mum will always be #1' is a bit sad really

You get your turn when LO starts talking. Despite me caring for my young DCs for majority of time it was only 'Dad dad dad' for weeks

Oh it is so hard not to feel rejected by these tiny little brand new people who don't even know what they're doing!
My eldest was like this. But worse. He used to scream blue murder when dad would step into the room. Dad, his uncles too. I think it's the deep voice. I don't know.
I was the light of his life! I got ALLLL the smiles. Go me!
But it all passes and changes.
My son goes and visits his uncle in California (the one he screamed the loudest with... honestly, my brother stopped coming over for a while because it was too traumatic! ) and they hang out and go mountain biking and climbing together. He spent 3 weeks at his uncle's this summer. He also calls/texts dad WAY, way more than he does me.
I still get those beautiful smiles and hugs, but now everyone gets them. He's 19.
The baby you have at 15 weeks is not the boy you'll have at 15 months or 15 years. It really will be ok, OP. You'll be part of the love club soon. Hang in there! If it's of any comfort, my daughter, from birth, was just totally disappointed in me. She cried when I held her. She wouldn't nurse. I felt like a pariah at times. Dad was her universe. She's 11 now and we're sooo close. If I leave the room she misses me! If she goes to the corner shop next to our house, I miss her!

Thanks all for the reassurance I know that it will change over time but it's a bit sad in the moment! Looking forward to the smiles to come.