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From the first smile to the bursts of laughter
The “first smiles” appear very early. And for good reason, a smile is an innate attitude. As the English ethologist Desmond Morris explains in his book “Baby revealed”, the smile is an instinctive mechanism of survival in the newborn human being, ensuring the safety and attachment of those close to him ”. At 2 or 3 weeks already, parents will notice small movements of the mouth appearing on their child’s face, especially during sleep. It is then said that children smile at the angels. In fact, these smiles that we call “endogenous” are natural. The smile does not respond to any external stimulation and is associated with moments of pleasure or satisfaction. From 1 to 2 months, these smiles will be more and more linked to more direct stimulation or to his environment (a hug, a face of a loved one, a voice or an object he knows…). The child gradually arrives at the phase of active or social smile. Indeed, the smile really becomes a means of communication.
From 4 months, Baby laughs out loud
Gradually, your baby’s smiles will be accompanied by throat noises. These are the premises of the first bursts of laughter, which begin between 4 and 8 months old. At this stage, they are only heard if one stimulates his senses by tickling his stomach or making faces at him for example. The so-called “social” laughter does not appear until 10-12 months. Baby then laughs spontaneously in the face of funny or unusual situations!
A sense of humor, from 3 years old
The older children get, the more sensitive they are to humor. And language acquisition is very important since it allows them to organize their thinking. In their book “The Guide to My Child in Daily Life”, Stéphane Barbas and Madeleine Deny explain that “it is especially during the third year that the child becomes sensitive to humor and comic situations”. He understands the incongruity because he knows the normal situation.
In preschool age, the little ones develop a humor that is mostly scatological, that is to say linked to “pee and poo”. It is a way for them to transgress the prohibitions.
Also, unlike adults, younger kids love to laugh at a joke they know well. They like to be told the same stories over and over again. The moment of the gag is known and expected.