I am going to sound stupid, but I am worried about my 11mo's behaviour.

[Gincognito]

My ds is a lovely boy but I'm concerned that something's a little awry with him. I must point out straight off that I do tend to worry too much about health issues, so do please be gentle!

He's always been very unsettled and a bad sleeper. He is very clingy and I've basically been carrying him around since birth. That's all well and good though - what I'm really concerned about is a few things:

• He flaps his arms and hands a lot, both when his hands are empty and when he's holding something. We joke that he thinks he is a baby bird.

• He is fascinated by birds and will stare at them for a long time. He often spots them before we do.

• He is also very keen on fans and wants to stare at them too. It just feels odd. He will clock a ceiling fan immediately, and if I want to entertain him while folding laundry in the bedroom I just have to stick the fan on.

• He's not crawling yet and seems slow to hit physical milestones when compared to his peers. They're all crawling/walking.

I'm probably working myself into a lather over nothing, sorry in advance...

Not sure if it helps but my DD is absolutely fascinated by light fittings and peas - if she spots either, I lose her attention entirely. She has no interest in more conventional things such as toys, flowers, trains, animals etc. I actually quite like that she's not following the traditional route but it can get a bit worrying. I'm sure your little DS is absolutely fine so please don't worry too much. Have you spoken to your HV about it?

hand flapping at this age is normal, completely, as is the wonder of spinning things (why the washing machine is a great babysitter).
It could be the darkness of the birds he likes, as babies sight is better in black and white colours.
And as for crawling, I really wouldnt panic just yet they all do it in their own time. I take it he can sit unaided?

however, Im only a mum (and an outreach family worker), not a health proffessional, so might be worth noting concerns with your HV, and put it in your book, just incase your still concerned ina few months.

Completely normal

I take DS3 out for a walk everyday just to see the birds. Today, down a lane we found a turn off into a garage. The owners have a lovely garden and some sort of plant growing over the garage and a huge bird box nestled in the top. It was full of sparrows and DS was enchanted. Trees and birds, DS idea of heaven.

He also has an obsession with light fittings and uses us as a sort of human ladder to get closer to light shades. All of my glass ones have little fingerprints all over them.

Thank you!

Janoschi, arf at peas. That's a great interest!

lisad, yes, he can sit unaided. I know theoretically that he will crawl in his own time - it would just help if we knew some other babies who were similarly unhurried :) I guess.

Buckbuck, yes, trees are another great favourite. As are the decorative plates my parents have on the walls at their house. When we enter the room they're in his eyes are on stalks!

Ds is nearly two and still flaps his arms when exciting and finds lights fascinating!

On the crawling front dd was 15 months before she got around to it, and still can't walk independently at 19m . I sympathise with the carrying all the time, but at least I have one fabulously toned arm!

Flapping very normal at that age. As is fascination of birds/fans/spinning things.

DD never learned to crawl. She bum shuffled then stood, then eventually walked without doing the crawling.

She could stand before she could sit, strange child.

She is 9yo now and champion climber, hardly sits down.