Newborns primarily experience two core emotional states: Interest/Contentment (attraction to pleasant stimuli like comfort, faces) and Distress (withdrawal from unpleasant stimuli like pain, hunger, or overstimulation), which manifests as crying, with more complex emotions like joy, anger, and fear developing in the first few months.
At birth, infants exhibit two emotional responses: Attraction and withdrawal. They show attraction to pleasant situations that bring comfort, stimulation, and pleasure, and they withdraw from unpleasant stimulation such as bitter flavors or physical discomfort.
The birth of a baby can start a variety of powerful emotions, from excitement and joy to fear and anxiety. But it can also result in something you might not expect — depression.
But thanks to an explosion in research on infancy in the last 30 years, we now know that babies and toddlers are deeply feeling beings. Starting in the earliest months of life, well before they can use words to express themselves, babies have the capacity to experience peaks of joy, excitement, and elation.
Infants typically develop basic emotions in a certain order, with joy often being one of the first emotions expressed. Joy arises from positive experiences, such as being held or fed, and is commonly observed in infants as they smile and coo.
Some of the first emotions that babies express are fear, anger and joy. Around the age of 30 months, children start to express emotions that relate to the way they see themselves. They may feel embarrassed, guilty or proud.
Conclude that the emotions most likely observed in infancy are basic emotions such as joy, anger, and fear, as these are innate and do not require advanced cognitive abilities.
By the end of the first year of life, infants can typically express a variety of emotions such as joy, sadness, anger, and fear. An infant may have a relatively stable and calm temperament or mood, but they can still experience a variety of emotions in a short window of time.
The newborn 5-5-5 rule is a postpartum guideline for new mothers to focus on healing and bonding in the first 15 days home, dividing rest into 5 days in bed, followed by 5 days on the bed, and then 5 days near the bed, encouraging minimal chores, visitors, and activity to prioritize recovery from childbirth and establishing the new family unit, drawing on traditional postpartum rest practices.
Somewhere around 2 months of age, baby will look at you and flash a full-on smile that's guaranteed to make your heart swell. Doctors call that kind of smile a “social smile” and describe it as one that's “either a reaction, or trying to elicit a reaction,” Stavinoha says. In other words, baby is interacting with you!
But most babies grow emotionally and socially in certain predictable patterns.
Babies can feel interest, distress, disgust, and happiness from birth, and can communicate these through facial expressions and body posture. Infants begin showing a spontaneous “social smile” around age 2 to 3 months, and begin to laugh spontaneously around age 4 months.
At birth, infants exhibit two emotional responses: attraction and withdrawal. They show attraction to pleasant situations that bring comfort, stimulation, and pleasure. And they withdraw from unpleasant stimulation such as bitter flavors or physical discomfort.
Why do babies make an O shape with their mouths? Babies often make an "O" shape with their mouths when they're feeling content and relaxed.
“The first cry is critical to initiate successful transition from fetal circulation, where the baby is completely dependent on the mother and placenta for gas exchange, to life outside the womb where the baby must use its own lungs to sustain life,” Dr. Wyckoff stated.
The 2-hour rule for babies means they shouldn't stay in a car seat (or travel system seat) for more than two hours at a time, whether in or out of the car, because the semi-upright position can strain their developing spine and restrict their breathing, increasing the risk of low oxygen levels, especially for newborns and preemies. For long journeys, parents should take breaks every two hours to take the baby out, allow them to lie flat for a while, stretch, and feed, ensuring they get proper head/neck support and circulation.
The 7 key danger signs for newborns, often highlighted by organizations like the WHO, are not feeding well, convulsions, fast breathing, severe chest indrawing, lethargy/unconsciousness (movement only when stimulated), high or low temperature, and jaundice (yellow skin/soles) or signs of local infection like an infected umbilical stump, requiring immediate medical attention.
10 Steps of Essential Newborn Care:
Although there are potentially a limitless number of crying causes, they typically fit into one of five general categories: hungry, upset, overstimulated, overtired, and in pain.
They are: Anger, Contempt, Fear, Disgust, Happiness, Sadness and Surprise.
The first sign of emotional behavior in infants is general excitement due to strong stimulation. The general excitement becomes differentiated between distress and delight by about three months of age.
Your baby can feel and express emotions like distress, disgust, interest, and contentment.
The Beginning of Emotional Development
Babies are born with natural instincts that help them show their feelings. Right from the start, they express emotions like crying, fussing, smiling, and laughing. These actions are very important for their health and to get the care they need.
If we use facial expressions as a guide to what emotions infants might feel, the first and most reliable emotion that newborns show is distress. They cry, wail, and flail their arms and bodies, alerting caregivers to their need for attention.