To ask how much eye contact your NB makes?

[Cardiffclare88]

DD is 6 weeks, saw Gp for a skin rash this week and GP asked about eye contact and smiling. She’s only just begun to really look at me and smiled/cooed when looking at a teddy a few times. But it’s not at all consistent and most of the time she’s still looking at my forehead, over my shoulder, a lamp, scanning round room, etc. GP told me to keep an eye on things and see how she gets on. Thought she was normal (Google says 6-8 weeks is normal for eye contact?) but now GP has got me worried. How much eye contact did your LO make as this age? How much smoking/cooing?

*smiling, hope no one’s 6 week old DC is smoking 😂😂😂

That sounds fine to me, if she's starting to smile and coo. My DD2 is nearly 11w but wasn't doing more than that at 6w. Easy for me to say, but I wouldn't be worried!

My DS used to look at me, look unimpressed and then gaze at the front door and grin away.

I have no idea With DC2&3 I was probably too busy to make eye contact with them

They were all really early smilers though, 3-5 weeks.

Thank you. Yes she will gaze at her teddy or her pram toys (high contrast) and coo and giggle and smile but only does the smallest coo smile when looking at me Shell also only gaze at me a few times each day but can stare endlessly at te teddy or the shapes. She was a emergency caesarean, might te GP be worried about ceraebral palsy? Or is eye contact more worrying for autism?

There is no way any doctor would flag up concerns for autism at 6 weeks old.

Babies of this age have very poor vision and it's normal for them to get more excited by high contrast patterns than people. DS2 absolutely did. We would joke he loved our black chairs/white table cloth combo or the stripy wallpaper more than us.

She sounds totally normal to me :) They all discover things and gain skills at different times. Keep exposing her to different things and see how she reacts, I loved that bit. DS2 loved music as a newborn more than looking at things. He's 4 months now and less interested in music now he has worked out how to grab things.

Thank you @BertieBotts. Feel like a nervous worrying mum but the GP really seemed quite concerned!

I baby can take up to 3 months to look at you and 4 months for smiles.

Also don't worry if your child doesn't constantly look at you. Bright lights, colours and bold shapes catch their eyes.

This is all normal development.

GPs are not experts in child development so if there is anything flagging up it will just be that - a flag up to say sometimes this can be a sign of something serious but in most cases it won't be. The fact you've been told to keep an eye on it backs this up as well. I would ask your health visitor if you're worried, as they carry out developmental checks and will know what's expected by various age points and can probably tell you what the GP was concerned about and whether it applies to your baby. But I really expect it is nothing at this age, 6 weeks is very early for smiles and eye contact being infrequent is normal too.

Possibly the GP just has a naturally concerned-sounding voice - a bit like a voice version of resting bitch face? :o

At 6 weeks it was hard work to get a smile out of my baby. I remember being thrilled when she woke me up (while cosleeping) aged 10 weeks and was suddenly full of smiles for me! I really wouldn’t worry too much about what they are/aren’t doing at 6 weeks. It really is so little and they will change so much in just a few short weeks.