Babies arms.. any advice?

[Toffeecoffeee]

My little boy since he was born has always held his arms out and back when being held.

He is now 8 months and still does this, he doesn’t hold on to me when held, his arms are always straight and pointing behind him.

He also doesn’t put his arms out to be picked up, when I try to clap his hands together his arms go stiff and he pulls them away from me.

Same applies when I try to pass him a toy or food his arms go stiff and he pulls away.

If let with toys/ food he will pick them up eventually on his own but it worries me why he goes so stiff :(

Is he able to bring his hands together when playing or when he chooses to? My son wasn’t dissimilar to yours and only started reaching to he picked up at around 10-12 months. He still doesn’t hold on when I carry him and does feel quite stiff generally (strong core, doesn’t lean in for cuddles much etc.)

I don’t think the pulling away is an issue particularly as long as he is able to bring his arms forward when he chooses to. Otherwise might be worth a GP visit to establish what’s just his choice and what might be an issue with high muscle tone.

I worried about high muscle tone for a lot of my sons infancy but any issues have been ruled out and most of what I described above was due to his personality and not being a massive fan of close physical contact.

Thanks for your reply!

Yes he can bring his hands together when playing/ picking up a ball etc. He picks up toys fine and passes them between his hands but just doesn’t take things that I offer him.

What age is your little boy now? X

It’s hard to know whether the lack of interest in taking things from you is physical or not but if he can move his limbs freely and open/close his hands that’s encouraging. If you have any worries about high muscle tone then I’d speak to your GP so they can assess his range of movement.

It might just be a personality thing. My son really didn’t like much physical contact as a baby (would lean his body and arms away from being held closely etc - as an aside this was a big factor in my PND as I found this very difficult to get my head around) but he’s just wired that way I think and finds comfort in other ways.

My son is 22 months now and physically has met all his gross and fine motor skills with no issues (despite all my fears!) and is very warm and affectionate. Still not a cuddler but that’s just him 🙂