8 month old development

[mommie]

Hello; I am new to this site and wondered if anyone had any advice. My dd is eight months old, and was born 3 weeks premature. She is v.happy and babbles for Britain but she cannot sit without support, she does not roll over and she hates being on her tummy (so her neck is not very strong). My doc says there is nothing to worry about, but she also does not bear weight on her legs and I am fed up passing developmental milestones in the book 'what to expect in the first year' and trying to ignore them. Anyone in a similar position? (please?!)

[Bellie]

Hi mommie welcome to mumsnet!
As your dr says please don't worry - all babies develop at different rates. From my ante-natal class of 6, one of the babies is crawling and another has not yet sat up - and funnily enough it is the youngest who is crawling and the oldest that hasn't sat up yet!

[biglips]

yeah thats true as not all babies sit up, or crawl as they just get up and walk . mine is 8 months and only just started to crawl (pls see in oct 04 - 8 months already" thread and we can help you there if you want

and welcome

[biglips]

(oct 04 - nearly 8 months)

[mommie]

thanks Bellie. I feel so down today; must stop worrying about it. it's just that i don't like to see her lolling around like an old man and when i see things like 'some babies can pull themselves to standing at this age' i think 'standing? i would pull her poor little arm out of its socket if i tried to have her standing'.

[Bellie]

mommie - we all get really worried - the books are about 'average babies' and one thing that I have learnt from being on here is that there is no such thing as an average baby.
As biglips says come and join us on the Oct 04 - nearly 8months already thread and you will find that we all worry about different things !!

[mommie]

sorry to be a bit dim - how can i find that thread?

[Bellie]

Its in the post natal groups section of parenting - If I was technical I would be able to do a link but I'm not so sorry that I can't

[frogs]

None of mine rolled over at all, all hated being on their fronts. They could sit at 8 months but no more than that, and none was even vaguely mobile until after their first birthday. They didn't weight bear on their legs either -- dd2 will still hold her legs out in front of her like a little plastic dolly, unless she wants to pull up herself. The older two are now completely normal 5 and 10 year olds; dd2 is 18 months and still not walking (see my other thread ).

The milestones are just guidelines. If your doctor says not to worry, and you have confidence in him/her, then don't worry. Luckily for me my oldest was born before the "What to panic about in the first year" books came out. Bin it. Btw, age of walking etc. is highly heritable, so it might be worth finding out at what age you/dh did these things.

hth

[Orinoco]

Message withdrawn

[stringbean]

My dd is 8 mo too, and cannot sit up without support either (compared to her older brother who was crawling well before this age)or roll over (well, she can manage front to back on a good day, but not the other way), or bear weight on her legs. All babies are different, and its very tempting to compare yours with others (I've stopped looking at 'What to Expect the First Year' as dd is so behind their milestones too!). They all develop skills at different times, so you may find your dd babbles more than other babies her age, or has better hand/eye coordination or whatever; other babies develop physical skills earlier. Did you sit up/walk late? Some books suggest that if the mother walked late/early then her babies are more likely to follow suit (didn't ring true with ds though, as he was on his feet at 12 mo, whereas I just sat until I was 16 mo - looks like dd takes after me then!).

My dd is actually deaf, but terribly observant visually and babbles with her hands (we've started signing with her to try and make the most of this), so my own theory is that she's a bit late with the physical stuff as she's concentrating so hard on everything she sees. For what its worth, she had lousy head control as a smaller baby and hated lying on her tummy. I took her to a cranial osteopath, as she also has glue ear, and I'd read that CA can help to clear it. The first thing the osteopath commented on was how tight the bones were around the base of her skull. After one session dd was happy to lie on her tummy; after two sessions her head control improved noticeably. Don't know if it was the CA itself or just coincidence, but I feel it helped.

Don't worry about your dd; enjoy her while she's small and make the most of her immobility; once she's on the move there will be times when you'll long for her to be still again!

[haven]

hello and welcome, you definetely hit the jackpot with this sight...

everyone has advice and most of the time better than the doctors.

my ds is going to be two next week. he was 11 weeks early and i also went through, "when is xoxox going to do this". or "that"

i see that alot of mom have said don't worry and enjoy, and i agree, but on the other hand stay intuned with your baby. if your dd isn't holding her weight next month or hasn't improved in "any" area bring it up with your ped. again. at this age you should see something different from month to month. in my case ds was developing gross skills at his adjusted weight but not even close to that in social skills.(he is o.k. now )sooooo, to end this gracefully. go with it for now. she will only be this way once.

[mommie]

thanks for all the messages. this site is addictive! I was very comforted by yr messages stringbean and orinoco. I wish hv's had more of a sympathetic manner when putting crosses in yr baby's personal health book. I felt sick afterwards and like I was on a conveyor belt. Surely these women have some personal skills (and, while i am on my high horse, doctors can give working mums some leeway in appointments, so we can actually get to work before midday)