Developmentally delayed baby but turned out okay?

[kathees8]

Hello Mums,

Our baby had her 6 month check last week and her pedia is worried she is not hitting important milestones for her age. He then called the pediatric developmental specialist who shared the same concerns after observing our baby.

Maddie is:

• not making eye contact with anyone
• not reaching out to grab toys
• not rolling
• not engaging with us (will not smile at us when she's smiled at, even when we're trying to make her smile by making silly faces or tickling her)
• not babbling
• not aware we are her parents

We then took her to another pediatrician this week to get a 3rd opinion. The new pedia also noted the same behavior and commented Maddie is "very passive" and acting like a 2 month old. She referred us to a pediatric neurologist. We are going tomorrow.

Is there anyone here whose baby was also significantly delayed at 6 months but turned out normal in the end? I hope I am just worrying to much but 3 doctors have said the same thing! Words cannot describe the anxiety and fear I am feeling right now.

bump

Hey! My situstipn was a bit different but didn't want your thread to go unanswered. My son didn't roll until around 7 months and wouldn't bear weight until almost a year. This really worried me but he's just been discharged from physio and although he's not walking he seems to have caught up in most areas. He's 13 months now. I know it's not exactly the same but delays often do turn out okay. That said, there are obviously multiple concerns with your baby and it's good they're on top of things. I understand why you're worried but all you can do is see what comes of the referrals.
Oh by the way we were referred to a paediatric neurologist too (he only used one arm at one point) and they assessed him and ask if he was neurologically typical so hopefully the same outcome for you too!

Really feel for you but it's excellent that the paedratirc team are so on the ball and referring early. Are you in the UK? I just hadn't heard of a 6 month check.

The neurologist has ordered an MRI scan for her brain. But yet another pediatrician (we went to another one for a 4th opinion) said MRI results for a 6 month old baby will not be reliable because their brain has not yet fully developed. If we will have to do an MRI, it's better to wait until baby is 1 year old. The first 2 pedias also share the same thinking. Only the 3rd pedia wants to go ahead with the neurologist's order.

Now we are confused as to how long we should be doing this wait-and-see approach.

The wait and see approach is probably (and realistically) the only option at this age as regardless of what they may or may not find there are no intervention therapies for a child this young (as far as I know), they tend to start from 12M onwards.

My daughter was born with health issues and a disability - as Aladdinmum says I don't think there's much they can do before a year as so many babies catch-up.

We said no to an MRI as we were concerned about our young baby having a general anaesthetic.

Hi, I realize this is an old thread but I wondered how things worked out for your babe?

@moita a general anaesthetic is not required. My daughter had an MRI at 6 mo ths for small head and they did a scan late at night while she slept. We had to keep her awake all day and give her milk before scan. She slept through the whole thing. Amazing. Obviously not possible with older babies

I guess an MRI can give some clues to why your daughter might have these delayed the paediatricians observed. They will be able to say how the brain compares to brains considered normal for her age.
Have they considered genetics?

How is she

She's fine. She is almost 3 now. Her head is still small but is growing, now on 3rd centile (up from 0.4th). She has a speech delay but developing well in all other areas. Her understanding is good and she communicates with words or 2 words sentences and is learning more every day.
Time will tell whether she has any extra needs but so far so good.
The MRI was mainly to check whether she had all the brain parts and whether they were developed as expected for a child at 6 months.
We are waiting for SALT. They have assessed her and we're not that worried but thought referral would make sense as waiting times are about a year or more. This was a year ago...

@kathees8 hi. May I ask how did it end up with your daughter?