Baby not smiling - very worried

[ErickBroch]

FTM. Baby 8 weeks today, he was two weeks early if relevant but I don’t really think so. Health visitor said he should be smiling by 8 weeks and if not he might have a developmental delay. I’m in pieces worried about this and each day feel worse.

I just don’t think he’s a happy baby. He does babble and kick his legs and make noises when I play with him but he doesn’t smile at all.

we have had reflux issues ongoing but it’s been much better, I just think he’s unhappy and I don’t know what to do. Looking for positive reassurance I guess or if I need to accept a delay and look for support.

He sounds pretty normal and development is not a linear timeline especially if he was early. Give it a couple more weeks before going back to HV.

Social smiles are from 6 weeks and age correct your baby is just 6 weeks so I wouldn’t be concerned.

I agree with pp. Keep talking to him, smiling, singing. Holding him on your lap facing you is about the right distance. You will see it in his eyes before he does a proper smile.

I think it’s a bit early to be worried, especially as he was premature. I think the normal range for smiling is from 6-12 weeks (and that’s for non-premature babies) but honestly babies vary so much with milestones. My eldest didn’t walk till nearly 18 months so I guess she had a delay in that area but she’s totally fine now xx

DS3 didn’t smile till he was 6 months. I was convinced there were mental development issues, although he seemed happy and alert. He didn’t speak till he was almost 3.
By 5 he had been labelled as gifted in a couple of areas, and is by any yardstick, very academically and emotionally intelligent as a young adult.
Im just telling you this because I remember being so worried about him, but there was nothing wrong with him he just developed at his own rate.

8 weeks is far too young to be worrying, OP. Enjoy your baby while he is so little.

The two weeks early does count. Your baby is six weeks developmentally and I expect you will see a smile any day now.!

Way too early to worry. And there are so, so, so many reasons to worry about children, you need to leaen to take it easy a bit as you will spiral soon. The worries and reasons to worry multiply as the baby gets older, by the time they're 6 months you will lose your mind at this pace.

Awww he's only really 6 weeks old... Give it another few weeks month, as some babies are born "late" and won't smile til 6 weeks later, but really they're 8 weeks etc

I don't remember even knowing there was a developmental milestone for smiling or measuring when that happened.

Me neither. I can’t remember when DD smiled

It doesn’t switch on like a light- it develops gradually. Most parents have a prolonged spell of “is it a smile or is it wind”. HV shouldn’t be worrying you about it. Pretty sure they wouldn’t do anything about it (what could they do anyway?) until it is way later than this.