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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

a few niggly development worries in a 6.5 month old

54 replies

flubberdubdub · 04/05/2007 11:00

He's a smiley, giggly baby but reading development milestone charts (I know, I know...) gets me a bit paranoid. For example, he doesn't and never has put his arms out to be picked up. He has never copied noises or facial expressions. He is easy to get a laugh out of but isn't fussed about peekaboo or hiding games. It's the lack of imitation which really worries me. What does anyone else think? According to the books, he should have started basic forms of mimicry at 5 months old.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

nickytwotimes · 04/05/2007 11:02

DON'T WORRY!
my 9 mo has just started with mimicking and even now it's farily basic. no hands up yet either.
charts are a load of.....!

WigWamBam · 04/05/2007 11:03

They're all different, it all happens at different times, and the best thing you can do with the books is throw them in the bin.

The smiley, giggly bit is far more important than hitting his milestones bang on target - and he's still much too little to be worrying about them yet.

NotanOtter · 04/05/2007 11:03

my 14 month old does not put his hands up yet!

Original poster

flubberdubdub · 04/05/2007 11:09

Wow, thank you - instant reassurance! Think will definitely throw out the books, they will just send me mad.

OP posts:

Original poster

flubberdubdub · 04/05/2007 11:16

Although [paranoia creeps back in] isn't it unusual for a baby of this age to not enjoy peekaboo?

OP posts:

hana · 04/05/2007 11:33

god
I haven't played peekaboo with my nearly 8m old yet
better get busy!!

WigWamBam · 04/05/2007 11:44

No, not unusual.

The thing is, your son hasn't read the books so he doesn't know he's "meant" to do these things. He'll do it when he's ready - to his own timetable, no-one elses.

These milestones are based on averages anyway - which inevitably means that some babies will be doing them earlier, some will be doing them later.

Give yourself a break - at 6.5 months old, this is not a problem. As long as he's happy and healthy, nothing else matters just yet.

kels666 · 04/05/2007 13:35

I don't think my 2 yr old has ever put her arms up to be cuddled, nine month old certainly hasn't

pudding77 · 04/05/2007 14:28

agree with other posters,

not unusual, my ds (14months) has only just started putting his arms up to be picked up, I think he only started enjoying peekaboo at about 10months!

Don't worry, will do it in his own time!

pudding77 · 04/05/2007 14:30

in fact, I think we had to stop playing peekaboo for a while when he was 8mo after a particularly energetic PEEKABOO by dh led to tears

nappyaddict · 04/05/2007 14:37

ds is 10 months. he copied his first sound today. never put his arms out to be picked up.

barbapapa · 04/05/2007 19:57

Things my daughter/s never did
rolled over (both of them)
played with hands (dd2)
dd2 also didn't start mouthing toys till 8 mths and didn't hold out her arms to be picked up as a baby , only as a toddler - 16 mths +.
Throw the books away - your baby hasn't read them - I am sure everything is fine, don't worry about mimicry yet it will come .

funnypeculiar · 04/05/2007 20:00

fwiw ...

ds (my first)spent ages trying to get him to play peekaboo. He really didn't think it was a very interesting game.

dd is little-miss-peakaboo - picked up on it early & has always loved it.

Your ds sounds lovely to me

LynetteScavo · 04/05/2007 20:04

Not all daffodils flower on the same day

nappyaddict · 04/05/2007 20:06

i often wonder why ds doesn't get bored of peekabo. surely after 10 months he knows what's coming!

whomovedmychocolate · 04/05/2007 20:09

Not mimicking you? He's waiting till you leave the room and mocking you, you know?

Seriously my DD is the same age and she has just in the last two days started to roll over and sit up properly and she doesn't lift her arms up to be picked up either. I was worried but then all of a sudden she went from lying on the floor looking bored to rolling over and scooting along at high speed.

She doesn't copy things directly, but she does learn them and now and then she'll do something she's seen me do. Like when we go in the kitchen she'll look at the kettle because I always turn it on. When DH goes in she looks at the bottle opener .

I recycled all my parenting books a few months back. Perhaps you should too?

SkinnyLiz · 05/05/2007 00:20

great to see this post. my ds is 7 mths, and he's only rolled over once and has no inclination to do it again! also no arms up to be picked up, which i think would be so lovely..... anyway, he's fine, and so is yours. i agree with all the others, milestones are rubbish. if he's happy and healthy, love every minute of it

bewilderbeast · 05/05/2007 00:30

al babies are different throw the chart in the bin

DixiePixie · 05/05/2007 00:32

Another voice agreeing that milestones are rubbish! I reckon that babies (like most people) are more inclined to do what interests them - some 'milestones' may not seem very interesting to them, so then why would they bother? - after all, they have the luxury at the moment of not understanding the language when they are told what to do . Hurrah for individuality I say!

Gemmitygem · 05/05/2007 03:54

flubberdub, my DS is also 6.5 months, he has never put his arms out or actually mimicked. he cooes and gurgles etc. He also can only get from back to front and not over again, and can't sit unaided or anything.

I really really wouldn't worry, specially if he's making little noises and stuff and is laughing and responding to you, to be honest I would only be worried if he didn't react at all or something like that, but he sounds totally the same as mine!

SofiaAmes · 05/05/2007 05:23

At 6.5 months your child will not yet be able to read the books that tell him what to do and therefore will not know that he is supposed to be doing a, b and c. Therefore I wouldn't worry if he is not following the books.
But seriously, my ds produced his teeth 6 months late and in all the wrong order. And my dd was a terror....she was crawling before she would turn over....hv could never understand that maybe she just wasn't turning over because she didn't want to, not because she couldn't. And dd didn't start walking until 19 months (she was perfectly able to, she just didn't want to) and she was speaking in full sentences at 12 months....All kids are different. Enjoy it as it is.

ScottishThistle · 05/05/2007 06:29

Step away from the book very slowly!!!

twentypence · 05/05/2007 06:58

Film him for a couple of hours at home just doing normal stuff on the floor. Put tape in drawer - watch it back in a month. I guarantee you will see him doing some of the stuff you have talked about here - only you won't have noticed it at the time.

The reason I say put it away for a month is that he will be starting to do these things, but the gestures will be so small that I don't think you will spot them until you see the bigger version later on, and think - oh look that's become xxx.

I get paid to notice when babies imitate - and am very good at noticing things their mother and father don't. Largely because they imitate what interests them - which could be something you don't even know you are doing - like a raised eyebrow. I wouldn't even get a bit bothered about no peekaboo at 6 months, though I would continue to play it.

nappyaddict · 05/05/2007 14:13

thats interedting, whats your job?

gess · 05/05/2007 14:16

Does he reach for toys???? So if you put a toy (that he likes- a favourite one!) will he reach for it. If you're in a swimming pool and there's a ball say out of reach will he reach for it. Not 100% of the time, but often.

I do think that is an important skill.

Imitation is very difficult to spot in a young babay (believe me- I was watching for it obsessively with ds3). But reaching is easier, and should be in place by now.

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