To see a baby’s laugh or hear a baby giggle is the happiness of every parent. Do you know how to make your baby laugh? We will tell you 20 ways to make your baby smile.
During pregnancy, most people often tell you how much your baby will cry, how many times she will wake up at night, or how many diapers a day will need to be changed. But few people describe happiness when seeing children’s smiles.
Do you know that besides being uncomfortable and crying, children also love to laugh? So, how to make the baby laugh? How to make a toddler laugh? Should you use funny things like videos, memes, songs to make your baby laugh? Let’s check out our tips here!
Understand Your Baby Laugh
0-1 Month Old
Newborn’s smiles appear from the time a baby is born until they get one month old. And this smile does not show emotions. At this time, your baby only laughs spontaneously and reflexively when they are drowsy.
This kind of smile decreases with your baby’s growth and development and disappear after about ten weeks.
1-2 Month Old
Between one and two months old, your baby will gradually learn to respond to the surrounding environment. Your baby’s first real smile, when fully awake, will appear after about 8-10 weeks.
At this stage, your baby’s brain is developing, your baby’s vision is improving, and he can recognize your face. What part of the baby brain is responsible for the laugher? Your baby will easily laugh to respond to hearing-related stimuli like a parent’s voice or music. Then it will be replaced by laughter in responding to both auditory and visual stimulation.
2-6 Month Old
Around 2-3 months old, you’ll notice that your baby starts looking directly into your face when smiling. During this period, your baby will increase face-to-face interaction with the people around you.
At 4-6 months, your baby will laugh and look away. It’s time for your baby to learn how to control emotions, and sometimes your baby can be confused because he doesn’t know how to express it adequately. Let your baby look away and remember to respond enthusiastically to your baby when they smile at you.
6-12 Months Old
Most babies grow at their own pace, some laughing more than others. At six months old, your baby will laugh more with other peoples. And their smile becomes more and more meaningful. Your baby can smile when he learned a new skill. And he can happily laugh when seeing parents.
At nine months old, your baby laugh is selective. This stage is when babies begin to realize that mom and dad are different from others, and they will laugh more when being with you. Besides, babies start to feel the invisible object, so it is an ideal time for peekaboo.
From 12 months old, a sense of humor also appears because it is time for your children to develop language skills. Babies at this stage laugh excitedly if their mom does something weird. When a baby discovers something funny, he wants you to follow him and laugh with him.
20 Ways to Make Your Baby Laugh
Tummy Raspberries
Tummy raspberries or belly raspberries are a very classic method that parents use for many generations to please their children. Tummy raspberries is not a very difficult skill but an instinct that parents will always have when having a child.
It refers to the activity of blowing on children’s tummy or feet to produce a sound like flatulence. Tummy raspberries is a type of tickling, but it is more gentle and also more comfortable. You can apply this method for newborns to toddlers but not for older kids.
Play Peekaboo
If you ask what the best way to make a baby laugh is, I will answer with no hesitation: peekaboo! Every toddler loves peekaboo. And it is also one of the most popular ways that parents always play with their children to evoke laughs. You don’t need to learn to play peekaboo, and you don’t need any tools.
It is the ideal way to make baby laugh, which appears for so many years. Peekaboo is suitable for children from 6-9 months old. And it could be best if you have a brightly colored blanket which is red and yellow because children love this color.
Funny Faces
To make your children laugh, mom can make jokes or funny faces with strange noises. It is beneficial to stir, stimulate your babies, and make them laugh. All kinds of funny faces can become an excellent inspiration for your baby to chuckles.
Some children will laugh when you stick your tongue out at them, while some will laugh when you pretend to sneeze, and some are happy with a clown mask. Making a funny face is an excellent way to interact with your baby, but it is for home use only. Don’t overdo it in public, or people will think you are stupid.
Let’s Them Make Friends
Children have their way to interact and communicate with each other that sometime adults can’t understand and can’t do. Young children often love to see other children. So you can take your baby to a place where families with young children often go. It will increase your baby’s social interaction.
Young children know how to make others laugh even when they can’t talk. They do it unselfconsciously and correctly. So don’t hesitate to let them make friends with other children at the same age. You can also think about giving birth to your baby, a sibling.
Let’s Children Teach Children
Your baby will be very excited when older children fascinate them. So, it also good to let your toddler meet older kids and give them time to play together. It could be neighbor friends or an older brother.
All children think their sibling is very funny. They love to see the older jumps around or throw things to them. They love to see their sibling to sing and dance, and they can’t stop laughing when viewing it. As mentioned, children have their way to communicate with each other, so you can let your babies make your toddler laugh.
Chasing game
If your baby starts crawling, it’s time for a chasing game! What you should do is chasing around after your kids on your knees and hands. You can also say funny words like “mommy is coming to get you!” It could be best to make weird voices and wear a bizarre outfit to pretend animals or things like this.
The chasing game is developed together with your baby development. Once your baby can walk, you can also pretend that you are chasing him. Just remember to walk at a slow pace, saying funny words, and use all of your hands to play the game. Your child can’t stop laughing when playing this game.
Bed Bouncing
Children love to be hugged and carried around. And that’s why they like vibrating cradles or chairs. So you can create the same environment even when your baby is lying on the bed. It does not take much effort but can satisfy your little ones and make them laugh.
So, lie your babies on their back on your bed. Then you should gently jiggle the bed to let your babies bounce around. You can also simply let them lie on cradles and wiggle. Every toddler loves the sensation, and they will laugh continuously.
Strange voices
The easiest way for moms to inspire baby giggles is the sound. On the basic level, you can change your voice to a lower or higher tone. Children love parents to talk with them, and they will be pleased to hear your weird voice. You can combine it with a funny face or peekaboo.
Besides, you can use funny things to make babies laugh like open a video, a song, or audio works. It is also the right way for your baby to become strange with different sounds and encourage them to talk. But please don’t let them look at the screen for long because it is not suitable for their eyes.
Be Close with Your Child
Newborns and toddlers love to be cuddled by their parents. Babies often smile when being hugged or cuddled. So if you want to see their laugh, you should be close to them. Let’s pick your baby up, hold her gently, and kiss her on the check. You can also cuddle your baby’s round tummy and make tummy raspberries.
This activity will not only help your child to get a happy smile but also help them to develop more completely. And of course, it will help you to build a healthy bone with your little ones.
Horse Riding
Lie on your back with your leg and your knee at 90 degrees. Then place the baby at your lower leg. Hold your baby with your hands to make sure he is safe and stable. Then you can gently lift the baby up and down.
You should perform this action when your baby is nine months old – when they know how to sit. Children love this activity.
Animal Antics
Children love animals as much as you do! If you have pets at home, let your little ones play with your pet. This activity is also an effective way to make them smile. You will find them laugh more often when playing with pets.
And this activity is also good for your baby to learn to take care of animals and people around them. Your pets will love playing with your kids too!
Use your Laugh
If you want your baby to laugh, at least you should laugh with them. Every time your baby laughs, let show them your smile back to encourage their positive emotion.
Besides, you can also express a smiley face while singing a song or making sounds. Your voice will become more fun when you smile. The more positive you are, the happier your baby will be.
Unusual Sounds
If you don’t want to make a funny face or chase your baby, you can use the available stuff at your house to make your baby laugh. Baby loves hearing sounds, especially unusual sounds. So you can use funny things to make babies laugh like a video or a song.
Or you can simply tap on the bottom of the milk bottle, clap your hands, or use dice to create the sound. Please remember not to make too loud sounds because your baby will be startled.
Make Funny Movements
Besides, you can make funny movements like pretending to drop somethings to make your baby laugh. However, you should not worry about creating something new to find a smile from your baby. Sometimes, repeating your child’s routine is enough.
You only need to do anything strange like a weird expression to make children laugh. And they will laugh easier when they are in a good mood.
Singing Songs
How to make a toddler laugh? Let’s sing a song! Singing is one of the best ways to make a baby laugh. As mentioned above, your little one love hearing and seeing the sounds and vision around them. So if you want to see their smile, you can give them a beautiful rhythm.
Moreover, when singing for your baby, you help them to develop the hearing skill. Also, your baby will get familiar with your voice, and you guys will become more close.
Show Your Baby Interesting Object
In the first year of life, your baby will interest in sound and vision. If you don’t want to use sounds, let’s give your baby some moving objects. It could be best if you have a funny balloon or something with bright colors like a picture or a huge blanket.
Although they are little things, they can still make your little ones happy. Remember to set up the object in the right position, so your baby doesn’t need to look up or look down to see it.
Physical Games
Physical games are also the right way to make babies laugh. In the morning, you can start your baby’s day with about 15-minutes massage. It will help your children to develop the bone system while increasing the relationship between kids and parents.
Also, you can play some physical games like chasing, crawling, and more. By performing these games, your children will release the energy, and that will make them happy.
Remove Negative Emotions
The first and the most important step that parents need to pass is removing negative emotions. You can do it by removing everything that annoys your child and make them unhappy. Each child will love and hate and scare different things, so you should do it based on your child’s personality.
Baby will feel happier and always smile when they have a good night’s sleep, a bed warm enough but not too hot, a full stomach, and a clean diaper. Moms need to check all of these things before you want your baby to laugh.
Eyes Contact
Your baby always likes to stare at your face, especially from six months old. Babies don’t care what you look like as you still think. For them, you are the most beautiful person in the world. So whether you are losing sleep or not combing your hair for a week, don’t worry.
You only need to look into their eyes and smile and talk with them. And they will smile back to interact with you. Remember, no matter what you want to do, let’s do it with eye contact!
Gently Tickling
The most common way parents around the world often do to make babies laugh tickling. However, parents should pay particular attention when tickling your baby. You should stimulate gently and combine with funny faces or funny voices to make your little one happy.
Never misuse tickling because it can lead to a lot of emotional consequences for your baby. Also, if you use too strong force, you can scratch their skin.
Notes for Parents When Making Your Baby Laugh
- It is not always good to have an early development, but parents should take your children to see a doctor if they haven’t laughed after three months.
- Do not force your child to laugh, but when he or she smiles, be happy, and respond to your baby enthusiastically so he can develop emotionally and linguistically.
- Never take advantage of tickling your children to find a smile. Tickling children can lead to so many physical and mental problems for your baby.
- In the first month, your baby’s laugh is only reflexive laugh, so there is nothing you can do to let them laugh. You can talk to your baby, but don’t waste your effort and bother your baby with tickling.
Final Words
Your baby’s first smiles are just a reflex. But after 12 months old, your baby’s smile is a way to express joy and communicate with you. We understand that all parents want to see children laugh. But you first need to understand the meaning of the laugh of your baby at each stage to have the right interaction.
We hope that our information of 20 ways to make your baby laugh in this article is helpful. And please don’t forget our notes. There is always an activity that is harmless in your thinking but can lead to many severe problems in reality.
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