6 month old stimming? Is this normal?

[mongo123]

My baby is 6 .5 mths old. I know its said that there are no signs of ASD at this young age but some people report on looking back that signs like this were present. Since about a month ago she started turning her palms in and out like like a kind of pageant wave and looking intently at them. It happens allll day long. When she nurses, while shes playing, for no particular reason such as tiredness etc. She does it day and night. Thats why its concerning. It seems to be a stim. Also she does a grabby raking thing on surfaces which some describe as early hand flapping. Its not the presence of these things that worry me but the frequency.

She is fine in other areas per the ASQ except that she doesnt babble back and forth (conversationally) or imitate much.

Should i be worried as much as i am or could this be a phase?

I well remember both of mine studying their hands! It's normal. Babies like to look at what they've got. Part of learning.

How frequently did they do it? She honestly does it every few seconds unless really engaged...like she cant help it

If you're really concerned record it on video and contact your GP. Might be nothing but maybe worth gettibg the foot in the door in case it is something that needs attention.
Stimming is normal in such young kinds as far as I'm aware...but not a paediatrician...

My 10 month old does those things. I think they’re just examining their hands and discovering what they can do with them.

Honestly, sounds perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. Sometimes people look a bit too hard at normal baby behaviour and see things that aren’t really there. Hand flapping, staring at and chewing their hands, refusing eye contact etc are all the behaviour of an entirely typical baby at various points.

It's normal. 6MO is wayyyyy too young to notice autism and when people say they noticed their ASD children doing things aa babies it's probably things that lots of NT kids did too. My dd almost 3 is NT I'm pretty sure but I could think of plenty of things she did as a baby and even now that I might view as a trait of ASD if I looked hard enough. Just enjoy your baby xx

6month is way too young to describe normal baby exploration of their body parts that they have just discovered

Hi there, I was wondering how your little one is now? My baby is hand clapping/clapping and my HV said that it is normal at this age (8 months) but to monitor it as it can be a sign of autism. She smiles, laughs and has started babbling so I didn’t initially think it was but now I’m worried incase it is

Sorry @AmieMcKennaX I’m just wondering how clapping would be associated with Austim my baby is 9mo and just before 9m she has started clapping - I thought this was as good thing?!

Hi there @theresaplaceforus
I mentioned that my little girl clapped when she was both happy and upset and she told me to monitor it as if she is still doing it then it apparently can be a sign of autism. Autism didn’t even cross my mind as she smiles, laughs, makes good eye contact, has started babbling, rolls in both directions, sits unaided and is making attempts at crawling

Hi there...its awesome your baby is clapping. My baby stopped the hand movements after starting to crawl. Most of these little repetitive movements seem normal to all babies. App its concerning if it continues very repetitively when they are much older. So you should not be worried

Can I ask...what age is "much older"? Xxx

@AmieMcKennaX hey can you please update?

My little girl is now almost 20 months old and no longer does this. She still claps when appropriate but no hand movements that would “concern” me. Just a baby being a baby clearly ☺️

Totally normal to 'stim' as such a young baby. Mine is 4 and still does every so often but I'm not concerned as she's otherwise developing very much as expected.

I know it's important to diagnose ASD as early as possible but tbh the things they need at such age are the same regardless of whether they have any additional needs (stimulation/comfort and physical bonding/eye contact and joint attention) The more you worry about 'normal development' the less natural and easy it's going to be to provide the above so just try to enjoy your baby for now. I wouldn't even be thinking about development or ASD unless they're glaringly behind until they're at least 18MO. Xx

How is your baby now? My 7 month old is the exact same at the moment. Thank u in advance

hi can i ask how your girl is doing now my little 6 month is doing this constantly and am driving myself mad as she’s doing it more and google isn’t the best place to look any update would be amazing thanks x

Hi there. It was a phase that lasted for a couple months and stopped. I would say do not worry about it. Just focus on her development and enjoy her. They change a lot and after 2 can be so different from all the worries in infanthood. IF, by 18mths she still has this or more stimming, is failing the MCHAT (you can take it online but fromn18 to 24mths), doesnt really engage, is speech delayed, has fixations/obsessions, rigidity, meltdowns and sensory issues then you can take her to your pediatrician and request an evaluation. But for NOW. This can be totallllllllly normal so relax! Please. Enjoy her and its likely just a phase

my girl is tongue thrusting with it now and doing the arm wave finger hold with one hand am stressing myself out we have been living in hospital for 7 months as my girl got a transplant she was ventilated for 4 weeks so am a nervous wreck i thought the had action was a side affect from weaning sedation medication but she seems to be doing it more now than before and she’s coming off the meds

do babies tend to stim at this age when you google it’s the worst things that come up my anxiety it through the roof as it is in hospital this isn’t helping can you upload a video on this at all ?

I know its hard.believe me. If you find the anxiety debilitating, reach out to your doc. I took medicine to help when i was constantly spiralling. Just keep an eye on it but yes they can do lots of little things like arm and foot twirling etc at this age. I know other kids who did little things like this and grew out of them also. If it continues by 18mths then you can see a dev ped. Also, there are many kids with asd that i know and they are doing amazingly well. Mainstream school, chatty, brilliant etc. So dont stress too much k.

thankyou going to see if i can get some help can i ask did your girl gardually start doing it less or did she just stop completely? xx

i think she went on doing this for 2 months. it was often during that time. i rem being worried about it for that whole time. However after that 2 mths it just stopped completely. in a couple months I am sure these worries will be far behind you:)