As a parent, you're programmed to respond to every whimper and wail your baby makes — but while some of these sounds of distress mean serious business, other times it seems like babies aren't really sad, they just want you to think they are. (And in those cases, the "crying" can actually be pretty funny!)
In a hilarious video posted on June 24, a 1-year-old girl is showing off some pretty impressive acting skills with her fake cry. In fact, you'd be tempted to think she really was upset...except that she can't stop smirking and there are absolutely no tears to be seen!
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"Y'all see the little smirk. This only works on dad haha," wrote Kayla Kosuga . She literally could not be cuter! The way she kept looking back at mom to see if she was falling for it was absolutely priceless. Of course, as the comments proved, this behavior is pretty typical for toddlers.
"I work in a daycare, the amount of kids I've seen practicing their sad face in the mirror is crazy...it's hilarious though!" wrote Katie Kelleher.
"Heheh my daughter does this too we say she's complaining ," wrote Nayelli Glasgow.
Related: Toddler Boy Practices His Crying Skills in the Mirror for Maximum Effect
Hey, they're just getting in touch with their emotions ! (Or maybe trying to manipulate their moms and dads a little bit!)
Why Do Babies 'Fake' Cry?
Interestingly enough, "fake crying" isn't necessarily meant to be deceptive, according to Popular Science.
"The problem is with the name, says Tracy Cassels, a PhD candidate in developmental psychology at the University of British Columbia who writes a blog called Evolutionary Parenting. 'I would call it a calling cry. When I want to get my husband’s attention, I can yell down to him. These babies can’t do that, so all they have is the cry .'
Cassels says that people see the term fake crying, and assume that babies are out to manipulate their caregivers. 'It’s not malicious, they’re just trying to survive in a world where they are 100% dependent on other people,' she says. 'If we don’t allow babies respect, then we’re shutting down all forms of communication for them.'"
As psychology professor Darcia Narvaez put it, crying could be kind of a "last-ditch plan when subtler methods of getting attention aren’t working."
“In 99% of our history it would have been maladaptive for a baby to cry unless it was alone (to get help) because it would attract predators.”
One thing's for sure: Fake crying definitely does get babies the attention they want ...especially when they're as cute as the little girl in this video!
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