She's smiling!
At six weeks, more or less, babies begin to smile. And in general, they start practicing diverse facial expressions.
Long-term studies have shown that these early smiles are not conscious expressions yet [1]. Your daughter is simply working on new muscles and imitating your facial expressions. As she develops she will use these skills to express emotion and communicate with you — usually around six months.
Even though her smiles may not be conscious attempts at communicating, it doesn’t mean you should stop smiling, winking and cooing at her. With every interaction with her parents, she is taking in information and learning more about what it means to be human.
At six weeks, she’s able to focus her eyes, turn her head to follow mama’s movements. She also has a new object of interest to study — her hands! She will hold them up to her face to get a better look and put them in her mouth to evaluate the taste. This is an important stage in development, and it can be calming too!
Your baby may also be crying — a lot. Perhaps even more than usual. Hold on! Statistics show colic reaches a peak at about six weeks and then starts a gradual decline [2].
