Worried - ten month old won't respond to name or being called at all

[Sittingworriedinthenursery]

Our wonderful DD is ten months. She's always been so smiley and seemed really sociable but never responded to her name which we thought was because we never used it much.

Lately we've been using it a lot and have noticed when we call her she almost never looks up, unless we surprise her. It doesn't matter what tone we use. I've also found she looks at me a lot less although she does make eye contact from time to time when she wants to. She does however make loads of eye contact with strangers and still smiles a lot!

She plays "games" with me and giggles, claps, waves and says a couple of words albeit repetitively. She is crawling, pulling up and cruising and has pincer grasp. She does point but only to objects in books

There's nothing wrong with her hearing. Please could anybody share stories of their DC being the same and then starting to respond?

Sorry I don't have experience of that, but what I would say is that if you have any concerns please speak to your health visitor that's what they're there for and they'll take your concerns seriously and give advice.

I do wonder if she's just too interested in everything to bother with boring old mummy, she makes a lot more eye contact when she is somewhere like her cot or car seat and nothing else to be getting on with!

Are you certain about her hearing? Has she had a test? Babies are surprisingly good at adapting if their hearing is compromised.

She sounds totally normal.

Sounds normal to me.

@CandleConcerto I will ask health visitor but she looks up at other sounds, even quiet ones, and waves when we tell her to wave so she can hear that ok! It's just her name she is completely oblivious to (just won't look up at all from what she is doing. Tried pet names too - all completely ignored!)

She does seem to engage, just on her term!

I will mention it to the health visitor

If she's pointing and using eye contact then she has the basics of communication.

We found that we called our DC1 "baby" a lot so he didn't know his name - by the time DC2 came along we had to distinguish.
I assume she passed her newborn hearing screening (and they probably won't test further unless she's had an infection or something).

Does she e.g. look at the door when you say "daddy's coming"?

Oh I missed the last post.
She can respond to words - she's absolutely fine - she just can't be bothered to listen to her own name.
Selective hearing, you'll have a lot more of this to come!

My daughter had significant hearing problems for a couple of years because it was intermittent. So we’d think she was fine because she usually passed a whisper test. However, she’s probably just really absorbed in what she’s doing. Worth a mention though.

When should babies start pointing? My son is just turning one and doesn't point. Doesn't clap either.

Return usually around a year - give or take a few months - but if he's doing other gestures (nodding/waving etc. or pretending to drive/talk on the phone) those are also good at this age.

@drspouse I bet you are right there 😂

Out of interest is it the recognising/responding to language per se that is the development point to look for rather than actual name recognition? So if a baby ignores their name every time but consistently responds to another word like "wave" (when she'll wave without being shown) then she's showing that development and the name bit is more of a red herring?

He waves occasionally if I wave at him but he doesn't do any of the others :(

Babies are quite variable in which words they learn - my DS' first words were Mama, Dada and Ama (Some more). Greedy guts.
DH's mum insisted his first word was Esso.

Return he's still quite young - does he look when you point, and does he understand some words?