When does a social smile typically develop in infants?

The social smile is an important developmental milestone in an infant’s emotional and social maturation. Typically, this behavior begins to emerge around 2 months of age. At this stage, infants start to engage more with their caregivers and surroundings, and the social smile reflects their growing awareness and interest in the social world. It is often characterized by smiling in response to seeing familiar faces, making eye contact, and interacting with people.

Infants at 1 month are still focused on their basic needs, primarily reflexive actions, and may not smile intentionally in a social context. By 3 months, while babies may smile more frequently, they are usually refining their social engagement skills that started at 2 months. By 4 months, a social smile is well established, but the key point is that it typically develops around 2 months, marking a significant step in infant development.