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Behaviour/development

8wo won't make eye contact

9 replies

bettydraperswardrobeelf · 03/01/2011 10:27

Hi there,

I'm a first time Mum so not sure if this is normal or not. I have an 8wo DS who will not make eye contact with me at all (or with anyone else). He spends all his time staring at weird things like a blank space on the wall. I have tried putting my face in his eye line but he seems to be deliberately avoiding eye contact. Very occasionally he'll look me in the eye but he'll look away straight away. Is this normal? I've seen other babies just gaze at their parent's faces for ages.

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vintageteacups · 03/01/2011 11:54

They will look at this (or mention it to the GP) at the 6/8 week check.

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AMumInScotland · 03/01/2011 12:03

Sometimes small babies like to look at things with a lot of contrast, and will look at the edge of your face rather than straight at you. But I'm not sure what age they're supposed to move from that to liking eye contact etc. Do mention it to HV or whoever, presumably you see them for weighing regularly.

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mamaloco · 03/01/2011 12:08

8 weeks is still small, and as Amum said they still are looking at the edge of the face, or glaze over you. DD2 liked to stare at light and walls and pattern.
Talk to your HV orr GP if concern, I would guess it will pass soon.
Was your DS born early? It can delay development for a bit too. (i.e. if born 3 weeks early he will be like a 5 weeks old instead of 8 weeks that he is, IYSWIM)

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bettydraperswardrobeelf · 03/01/2011 19:07

Thanks for the replies. Ds was born a little early but only a week. He does look at other things, generally seems very alert and will follow an object if you move it in front of him. The eye contact thing does concern me though.

Amum, sometimes he does seem to stare slightly to one side of my face - DH and I joke that I must have an invisible parrot on my shoulder, but it could easily be that he is looking at the edge of my face.

Thanks for the feedback, has given me some stuff to think about. He has his 8 week review with HV on Wed so will ask about it then.

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lurcherlover · 03/01/2011 20:27

My DS was like this but started making eye contact at 8 weeks (now 10 weeks) so yours may be about to start. Does he smile?

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WhatTheDeuce · 03/01/2011 20:37

My ds1 was just like this, I got paranoid that he was autistic, hated me, had a sight problem.

However, he eventually (probably only a couple of weeks) was making eye contact quite happily and used to track me around the room constantly (from quite a distance too!)

Think you can only take developmental milestones as a guide, unless they are disparate by months rather than days/weeks

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Mena1 · 03/01/2011 21:19

Congratulations!

Our DS is 11 weeks now and only just before christmas was when he started making eye contact. I'm sure its nothing but speak to HV.

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mammamia25 · 04/01/2011 13:10

My dd was like this too, and like WhatTheDeuce I was paranoid it was a sign of big problems. Got her booked in for an eye examination at 10wks but by then she was fine. Wish i'd known then that some babies just dont gaze at faces all day long, despite what the books would have us believe!

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bettydraperswardrobeelf · 06/01/2011 17:42

Just thought I'd update - DS has now started making eye contact - WhatTheDuece, I felt just the same, I have been convinced that he is showing very early signs of autism (crazy paranoid mother? Moi?) or that he simply couldn't see properly, but now he is spending short periods of time looking right at me, expecially when he feeds. Thanks everyone for the help and reassurance.