There’s no greater sound to a new parent than their baby’s first laugh. Those early giggles are more than adorable. They signal that your baby feels safe, connected, and engaged with the world around them.
Baby laughter is an exciting developmental milestone during the first year. Most babies start laughing around 3 to 4 months, though every baby develops on their own timeline. Here’s when babies typically start laughing, why those first giggles matter, and simple ways you can encourage more laughter through everyday play.2,9
Key Takeaways
- Babies often start laughing around 3 to 4 months.
- The CDC and AAP list chuckling as a 4-month milestone and laughing as a 6-month milestone.
- Baby laughter can support bonding, communication, and social development.
- Peek-a-boo, silly sounds, tickling, and playful surprises may encourage laughter.
- If your baby is not laughing by 6 months, it is usually not a concern, but ask your pediatrician if you are worried.
When Do Babies Start Laughing?
Most babies start laughing around 3 to 4 months, with chuckling often appearing by 4 months and fuller laughter closer to 6 months.2,9
You may start to hear little laughs coming from your baby around 3 to 4 months of age.1 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) list chuckling as a 4-month-old milestone and full-blown laughing as a 6-month-old milestone.2,9
Some researchers report true infant laughter at much younger ages, between 5 and 9 weeks, in response to auditory stimulation such as singing!3 Regardless of exactly when babies start laughing, infant laughter follows a predictable pattern in response to different types of sensory input. Their laughs progress in duration, frequency, and variety as they age.4
Related: Baby Milestones Month by Month
Why Do Babies Laugh?
Babies laugh for different reasons as their brains, senses, and social skills develop. What makes them laugh changes as they grow.1,3,4,5
When babies start to laugh, it can occur for different reasons depending on their age and developmental stage. Here’s a typical pattern for why babies laugh:1,3,4,5
Here’s how those laughter triggers typically change as your baby grows:
| 3-4 months | Unexpected sounds and contact, such as tickling or loud singing |
| 5 Months | Social games like peek-a-boo |
| 7-9 Months | Rapidly changing visual events, such as a mother shaking her hair |
| 9-11 Months | Humor and silliness, such as an adult pretending to suck on a pacifier or bottle |
Just before their first birthday, babies may also start to laugh in anticipation of laugh-inducing or funny events, not just as those events occur. At this age, babies may also start participating in funny behaviors, trying to make you laugh as well.5
Related: 8 Easy Ways To Bond With Your Baby
Why Baby Laughter Matters
Sharing laughter with your baby offers many benefits. Some of them include:
- Bonding: Making your baby laugh (and laughing with them) may facilitate a closer bond, a stronger attachment, deeper intimacy, and a more satisfying relationship.1
- Cognition: Laughing babies demonstrate their ability to recognize that something is funny and express their amusement. This is a testament to their thinking and awareness.1
- Tension release: When a baby is exposed to a new stimulus, this can cause internal tension in their mind and body. Once the infant realizes the new experience is safe, the built-up tension releases, and they may feel relieved, which they express with laughter.4
- Communication: Babies typically start laughing long before they can use gestures or words to communicate.1 Infant laughter tells their caregiver that the baby likes whatever they’re doing, and they should continue to do it or do it again.6
- Pleasure: The simple experience of smiling and laughing can bring about positive and pleasant feelings of happiness that an infant will seek to reproduce. So, not only is laughter an expression of happiness, but a cause of one as well!4
When Do Babies Become Ticklish?
Babies laugh for many different reasons. But one of the most common ways to make a baby laugh is by tickling them. Babies get ticklish when they’re able to distinguish “self” from “other,” as you cannot tickle yourself.6 When babies start laughing, their first giggles are most often a result of positive and unexpected touch, like tickling.1,4 Therefore, babies are likely to become ticklish as soon as they begin laughing, around 3-6 months of age.1,4
In one study of laughter in 2- to 12-month-olds, parents were asked to make their babies laugh, and most parents started by tickling. Parents of 6- to 12-month-olds were usually successful in making their babies laugh by tickling them, typically by 6 months of age.3 Tickling actually becomes a bit less effective at making a baby laugh as they start to appreciate and understand other forms of humor, such as changing social and visual situations and things that don’t go together, between 7 and 12 months of age.5
Related: Fun Ways To Engage and Play With Your Baby
How To Encourage Your Baby To Laugh
While tickling might be your initial go-to for making your baby giggle, there are many other ways to make a baby laugh. For ideas based on your baby’s age, refer to the chart earlier in this article that explains why babies laugh. Here are some other ideas as well:
Tips for Making Your Baby Laugh
For a 4-month-old, you might try tickling them, blowing raspberries on their belly, blowing air into their hair, singing loudly, or making popping noises.
A 5- or 6-month-old might be likelier to laugh at games with a social and surprise element, like peek-a-boo.
For 7- to 9-month-olds, you can encourage your baby to laugh by using changing visual cues, such as shaking your hair or flailing your limbs.
As your baby approaches 1 year, they may start to understand things that don’t go together, like adults and pacifiers, and they might laugh at the silliness of you putting them together.1,3,4,5
Right around 9 months, I remember my baby laughing so hard at me as I jumped off the bed onto the floor! You never quite know what will make them laugh. You might have to get creative, but it’s fun, and sometimes a bit embarrassing, to try!
Just remember, you can’t be self-conscious when encouraging your baby to laugh. In one study, mothers struggled to make their babies laugh in a lab because an observer was watching them. Babies were more likely to laugh at home, possibly because they were more comfortable and familiar there, but also because the caregiver was more comfortable and uninhibited.3 If you’re struggling to get your baby to laugh, keep these simple efforts and elements in mind:3
- Games: Games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake incorporate multiple elements of humor that often make babies of varying ages laugh.
- Surprises: Try unexpected, strange, or sudden sounds, sights, and movements like thrashing or jolting.
- Anticipation: As a baby waits for something funny, happy, or exciting to happen, they may laugh in anticipation of the pleasure. For example, try tickling the air as you reach in to tickle their belly. They may laugh before you even touch them!
Related: Fun Ways To Engage and Play With Your Baby
Why Do Babies Laugh in Their Sleep?
Sometimes, you might catch your very young baby smiling or laughing in their sleep. This is considered spontaneous and not in response to an outside stimulus.7 Sleep-laughing most often occurs during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and it may be a reflex. During REM sleep, babies are very active and may almost seem awake.7 Researchers aren’t quite sure why babies laugh in their sleep, but it’s a phenomenon that happens in infants 0 to 2 months old. Sleep laughing in babies typically lasts around three seconds and involves both a smile and a vocalization.7
What If Your Baby Isn’t Laughing Yet?
While most babies start laughing around 4-6 months of age, they don’t all laugh at the same time or at the same things.2 There are many reasons why a baby might not be laughing yet or in certain scenarios, including:
- Temperament: Every baby has a different personality and temperament. Some may laugh more easily and appreciate humor early on. Others may be more serious, and they may laugh less easily.1
- Development: Laughter signifies more than just making a facial expression and a sound. A baby must be able to sense a stimulus, recognize it as different, and express that it’s funny to them. They may simply still be developing the skills needed for laughter.4
- Hearing or vision impairment: These sensory difficulties can prevent a baby from seeing or hearing things that might make them laugh. However, one study reported that deafness didn’t impair non-speech sounds, such as crying and laughing.8
- Fear: A particular stimulus can elicit a baby’s laughter in one setting and crying in another. For instance, a baby may laugh when their parents tickle them, but cry when someone new does it. If a baby is already fussy, something that usually makes them laugh may instead frustrate them or cause them to cry. A baby may also not laugh at times, depending on their environment and feeling of safety.3
- Hypotonia: Low muscle tone can make it difficult for a baby to laugh. One study found that babies with the lowest muscle tone didn’t laugh until 13 months of age.5
When To Ask Your Pediatrician
If your baby is under 6 months old and not yet laughing, there’s usually no need to worry.² Babies laugh at different ages and in response to different things. Children with special needs may smile and laugh later than typically developing babies, but they often follow the same pattern of laughter development once they begin.3
If your baby is not smiling, making eye contact, responding to sounds, or showing interest in interacting with others, it’s a good idea to talk with your pediatrician. You can also check in if your baby is older than 6 months and you’re concerned they haven’t started laughing yet.
