Autism in 14.5 month old

[MummaHud]

My little boy is now 14.5 months old, I’ve been thinking this for a long time from previous threads ( id appreciate others not telling me to ‘just enjoy him’ and ‘seek help’ - I enjoy him every second of his life and I don’t need to seek help for just being a mother who is aware of her sons milestones )

I am most worried about the fact he still doesn’t point or wave, he finds it hilarious when I wave at him? He is also yet to make a clear word to something.

he makes lots of noises and babbling still, he responds to his name, will come if you ask him to come over, will clap his hands by copying or by you asking him too, he eats all foods of all textures, brings you toys, plays somewhat appropriately with toys, will make eye contact, social smiles, notices when someone’s entering a room and will follow his sister around and has an interest in what she’s doing.

but he is still not waving, pointing or making words. I know he’s still young and I shouldn’t compare, but many of my friends kids same ages and younger have been doing this for months

He sounds perfectly normal. He’s very young. My DD definitely wasn’t making clear words at that age. Comparison is the thief of joy! Don’t worry what others are doing. My DD was a very sleepy baby and missed all the baby milestones. I wasn’t worried and she just did it in her own sweet time, waaaay later than other babies at the groups I went to. I wasn’t bothered as she was happy and healthy. I was actually glad she was slow as it meant I got to enjoy the baby stage for much longer. I enjoyed sitting back and relaxing with a sleeping baby while others were having to monitor rolling and cruising babies!

I haven’t read any of your previous posts but if you’re concerned about anything, talk to your health visitor or GP, they’ll be able to put your mind to rest. If you’re a worrier, they can help you with that too.

He sounds delightful.

Please don’t worry because he is not ‘meeting milestones’ yet. They are just averages, not essentials like breathing and digesting food.

It does sound on the later end for pointing and waving, so I can see why you’re concerned.

I’m not a fan of HVs so would go to my GP for this, but you might have a good one!

Waving and pointing I don’t know about, but bring slower to speak is common in you get siblings. Some sensible explanations are that 1) the adults end up being more in tune with the kids by the time DC2 and 3 roll around, so the kids don’t “need” to speak as much; 2) the parents don’t speak to younger kids as much 1-1; 3) the younger siblings are more interested in their older siblings than in the parents, so first develop motor skills and other things that allow them to interact with the big sister/ brother.

I think I remember your previous post.
Autism is really hard to diagnose so young but there isn’t really anything in what you’ve said that would concern me. Waving is a little late but is it actually that important?
12-18 months for single words is within a normal range so 14 months is comfortably within that.

if you are worried about milestones speak to your hv or gp.
babies have a massive range, i had a baby at the same time as a group of friends- all boys within a few months of each other and the difference felt huge at the time. one walked at 9 months and another at 16 months. One said first words at 10 months and another closer 18.

If you don't want people to say ' enjoy your baby' or 'seek help' then what do you want us to say? Why did you create the thread?

At that age I wouldn’t be concerned yet. It sounds like he’s aware of others and is trying to engage how he is able to.

My youngest was slow to talk, didn't really point or wave, they would move their hands and feet in a repetitive manner. When they were a toddler they wouldn't play with a toy in a usual way but was more focused on how it moved, they did the lining up of toys and would show visual stimming such as running past a fence and side eying it, would do this over and over. I approached my HV and she said it was too young to be diagnosing. I was convinced they were ND as they were not the same as other babies their age.

Fast forward a fair few years and they are incredibly verbal (will talk your ear off), they are very sociable with a big group of friends and play appropriately.They do tend to get hyper focused on subjects and have to know everything about them but there are no concerns.

I'm.not saying that your child isn't ND, but it is still early days.