Baby development: sense of humour

You’ll do anything to bring a smile to that little face and before long your tot will have you in fits of giggles, too    

0-6 months

From the day he’s born, you do everything you can to make your baby happy, so it’s a wonderful moment when he repays you with that first gummy smile at around six weeks.

He loves it when you pull funny faces, make silly noises and blow raspberries at him, and at around three or four months, he’ll show his appreciation with happy gurgling noises and even a proper laugh.

Physical humour goes down well at this stage – try tickling games such as This Little Piggy and Round and Round the Garden. Build up the suspense with a big pause before the tickling ‘finale’.

Wiggling his legs around, squidging his chubby thighs, bouncing him on your knee and ‘flying’ him through the air, playing peek-a-boo – and lots of tummy kissing – will all get him chuckling with delight.

6-12 months

Although he loves making you laugh and spends a lot of time smiling and laughing himself, your little one doesn’t really understand humour at this stage – he knows something’s funny because he sees you laughing, but he doesn’t fully comprehend what he’s laughing at. So, he’ll constantly check your reactions to things to know whether he should laugh or not.

As he starts to get a sense of what’s ‘normal’ and how things around him usually function, he’ll enjoy jokes that turn things on their head – if you put teddy’s tiny hat on your head, or pretend to chomp on his toes – you’ll have him in fits and a bit of slapstick – silly walks, or balancing a carrot between your lip and your nose – will also get him going.

From around six months, your baby will start to get the hang of teasing. He’ll offer you his teddy or a piece of toast, then laugh at your exaggerated disappointment as he snatches it away again. Dropping things repeatedly on the floor will also amuse him for as long as you’re prepared to keep picking them up.

12-18 months

Children learn by imitation, so he’ll enjoy copying you and trying to make you laugh the way you do with him. He may enjoy dressing up in your clothes or playing at talking on the phone, too.

As he gets more independent, he’ll also start testing boundaries, using humour as a handy scapegoat. However infectious his hysterical giggles may be, though, try hard to keep a straight face when he feeds his dinner to the dog, or smears your best lipstick all over his mouth, unless you want a repeat performance.

Now that he’s crawling or walking you can involve your tot in more physical humour. Play hide and seek from room to room, hide behind trees in the park, popping out with a big ‘BOO!’ and pretend to chase him, roaring like a tiger, as he crawls up the stairs.

18 months +

As he approaches his second birthday, you’ll really start to see your toddler’s unique sense of humour emerging. While the Teletubbies’ slapstick humour and repetition may have him roaring with laughter, his same-age pal may find it more amusing to try and cover the cat in glitter – by now, you’ll probably have discovered what tickles your tot’s own particular funny bone.

As your toddler’s language develops, he’ll begin to appreciate verbal humour more and more. He’ll find it funny when you tell him a monkey says ‘Moo’, and he’ll love action songs and animal noises.

Toddlers have a huge capacity for fun and laughter, and are impossible to embarrass. It won’t be long before they’re cringing at the sight of you boogying at a family wedding, or your partner’s lame jokes, so make the most of this unselfconscious age, when you’re your child’s favourite comedian, entertainer and playmate, all rolled into one.