Babies have a very peculiar sense of humour and, therefore, may find something completely strange to make them laugh. If all the methods you have tried do not result in the slightest giggle, here is a guide on how to make your little one laugh.
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3 months
Babies usually start laughing at three to four months of age. Since they are not yet mature enough to understand humour, their laughter is more a response to imitation or a physical stimulus.
The best jokes: sing-a-longs, children's songs with certain movements or dancing.
Why it's funny: At this age, children unconsciously copy you. If you recite something joyfully with a smile on your lips, it will start to smile and giggle and soon start to laugh.
Also, when babies see their parents in a non-serious and funny way, they may burst out laughing, simply because they have never seen mum or dad act like this.
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6 months
At this age, children are more likely to laugh at something unusual or unexpected - especially when people around them are also laughing.
The best joke: Do the monkey.
Why it's funny: Apparently the parents are crazy, but at least they're having fun. When you make faces, act weird or make weird faces and weird noises, children laugh because they think it is funny. The main thing is not to get too involved in the role and show your child that it's a game, fun, pretend - so the baby is sure not to be scared, but laughs with you.
9 months.
As the brain develops, the baby learns to recognise events that are untypical of his or her usual life. So the best joke is to put a shoe on your head like a hat.
Why it's funny: It's absurd. Your child has to perform a difficult exercise to become aware of what's going on.
By the way, don't forget that small children are capable of laughing at the same joke a huge number of times - even when you are already bored.
12 months.
Children grow up and stop relying on adults as providers of humour and instead start looking for sources of funny jokes themselves.
Best joke: The cat meows.
Why it's funny: At this age, children are amused by all kinds of sounds. Meowing cats, squeaking toys, dad talking in an unusually high-pitched voice - it's unclear why it's funny, but infants just roll with laughter when they hear something unexpected.
15 months.
At this age, you may notice that you've switched roles - now your child is trying to make you laugh.
The best joke: The toddler tickles you.
Why it's funny: Babies are interested in finding things that make others laugh. Already at 7-8 months of age they can repeat the same funny facial expression that once made their parents laugh. By 15 months, they can sense the audience, so tickling is a guaranteed way to make others laugh.
18 months.
By the age of 1.5 years, children are generally pretty good at navigating the world around them - enough so that they can deliberately make mistakes and laugh about it.
The best joke: Doing something wrong
Why it's funny: When children sing the wrong words in a song, colour the sun green or wear a jacket backwards, for example, they show that they recognize the illogical nature of the action. That is the joke - they know how it should be, but they do it differently.
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