Your baby’s smile can be interpreted differently with every baby separately and this mainly has to do with the relationship between the mother and the baby and with the communication between the two. There is a unique relationship which is set between the mother ad the baby and this relationship starts even before the birth itself. However, it manifests itself even more once the baby is born.

The smile is the first step towards the baby’s attempt to define their own sensations and senses, to admit and recognize what they feel, to create their own identity. This is one of the first ways of expressing themselves and of expressing their state of comfort. You, as a mother, know if it is an expression of joy, of satisfaction or of love. How do you know that? This is your sixth sense, which is the maternal instinct. After the first six or eight weeks, your baby’s smile is no longer a reflex, but a reaction to the things that make them feel good, such as their mother’s voice, her caresses and even her face. It is even said that the baby’s smile is a proof of affection and of love towards the mother.

In the Navajo culture, the baby is a gift brought by nature, a gift which must be respected. The event which sets their name and place in the society is actually the ceremony of their first smile. This event involves the baby always being under the strict supervision of their parents. Also, he is always protected in the stroller or in the bouncer until they smile for the first time. This is what marks the baby’s birth as a social being and this special ceremony celebrates their first smile.

The first smile is a very important moment for the mother because it represents the way the baby develops a relationship with their mother, the way they recognize her existence, her presence, a way of expressing what they feel and give. Seeing your baby smile is definitely a very good feeling, but it is also a stimulus for the brain, activating the dopamine, a substance which is responsible with activating the pleasure centres in your brain. Thus, a smile is also a reward for the mother, for everything she does and for bringing up the baby. This proves that mothers are biologically designed to care for their babies and to care for everyone in general. It has been demonstrated that a baby’s smile can make you feel better and that it resembles the state you have when you are on drugs. The baby’s smile activates those nervous centres in the mother’s brain which are characteristic and activated in a person who is constantly on drugs.