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Original poster

7 weeks 3 days not smiling - autism

29 replies

Mococo1 · 05/05/2021 04:31

Hi all

Wanted to know when you first got a smile out of your baby?

My son is 7w3days and has not cracked a smile other than the usual wind smile- I'm also finding he doesn't maintain eye contact for long but will happily track objects and move his head when you walk away from him! He's quite a sleepy baby too 😕

Reason I'm worried is could this be an early sign of autism? Or am I just not giving the bubba a chance to smile yet- at what stage should I worry about lack of eye contact/smiling? And are there other tell tale signs to indicate autism at this stage?

I have two sisters who have three sons between them (all diagnosed with some form of ASD) and my husbands sister has just been diagnosed with adult autism so ASD runs on both sides of the family...

I don't want to seem like that crazy mum who is watching her sons development but if he is on the spectrum I want to know as soon as possible in order to help make his life easier when navigating this big scary world- would the HV/GP even take me seriously at this stage if I called them? I just wish he would do something to reassure me he is ok, I know they say not to compare with other babies but he is my first so how do I know what he is doing isnt normal!? X

OP posts:
YarnOver · 05/05/2021 07:31

Absolutely not ASD at 7+3 and your HV wouldn't be in the least bit concerned. Babies smile from 6 weeks not bang on. Enjoy your baby because these early days don't last long and they're precious. It's not possible to diagnose anyone with ASD until 2+ and any concerns would have started from about 18 months and that is at the absolute earliest. 7 weeks is impossible. I'm an SEND teacher & specialise in ASD

Foreverbaffled · 05/05/2021 08:39

Oh goodness far too young to worry. My first DS smiled at 7 weeks but had dreadful eye contact until he was about a year. I worried myself sick but he's a totally NT 3 year old now. My 5 month old didn't smile until 8 weeks, that's still in the range of normal. I don't think professionals worry about social smiling until after 12 weeks.

Enjoy your lovely baby Smile

Jannt86 · 05/05/2021 08:42

Agree with pp. It's impossible to dx ASD until at leaet age 2 really as they're developing and changing so much in this time. And even if he does turn out to have ASD you can rest assured that there will be NOTHING you can do for him at 7 weeks that you shoulrn't already be doing with any baby that age. Just concentrate on meeting his needs and making him feel safe and loved (which I'm sure you are) and almost certainly it'll come. A baby massage class or similar would be lovely for him. Enjoy him. They really do grow fast xx

EgSk · 05/05/2021 13:19

That sounds absolutely normal for a newborn

Original poster
Mococo1 · 05/05/2021 16:47

Thanks for your responses- clearly I am being an overly cautious mother given our family history

Spoke to health visitor today and voiced my concerns about being crazy! She also said since my bubbba was born at 37.5 weeks to give him an extra two weeks to do things- If he was born at full term he would be about 5 weeks old right now and I wouldn't even consider him smiling! so I'm going to keep it in the back on my mind and try to enjoy my bubba as much as possible before he grows up too quickly

Thank you for your advice!

OP posts:
Foreverbaffled · 05/05/2021 21:05

It's always such a worrying time. I've had (have) horrendous post natal anxiety with both my boys so I know how it feels to worry from this early on.

My second son was born at 37+5 and has definitely met milestones a good month later than his older brother who came at 42 weeks. Definitely allow some extra weeks before worrying Smile

Original poster
Mococo1 · 13/05/2021 11:29

He's still not smiling everyone 😭

OP posts:
YarnOver · 13/05/2021 18:07

@Mococo1

He's still not smiling everyone 😭
OP, you've given the poor wee lad only 8 days!
Lolalovesmarmite · 13/05/2021 21:48

My DD didn’t smile until 14 weeks. She’s 3 now and smiles all the time and shows no signs at all of being autistic. Babies do things at their own pace and there’s a really wide spectrum of what is ‘normal’ for these early milestones. My 1 year old isn’t waving or clapping yet but is doing lots of other things so I’m not at all concerned.

Please don’t let these worries get on top of you or you will start seeing things that aren’t there. Maybe have a chat to your HV or GP about how you are feeling.

landofgiants · 13/05/2021 23:09

My autistic child was smiling at 3 weeks old. Your baby will smile when he's ready to.

RolloTomassi · 17/05/2021 18:52

I remember being horrified to realize one day at 8 weeks that my son hadn't yet smiled. Think it started about 9 weeks, and then he was truly the most smiley, responsive, engaged little thing! Much much more so than DD who smiled at 5 weeks. He actually laughed earlier than her too, and a lot more. Don't worry yet!

DadAManger · 17/05/2021 21:35

It’s is too early to say...but even if he is sitting somewhere on the autism spectrum (which is a very long spectrum), you will learn that he is still “perfect” and amazing and able to change your life in 1000 amazing ways.

(from a proud Dad of an 11 year old that is on the spectrum and doing brilliantly).

Original poster
Mococo1 · 18/05/2021 05:35

Still no progress really hoping he smiles soon as he's over 9w now

OP posts:
Musication · 20/05/2021 13:55

My DS didnt smile till 11 weeks. I never thought he was autistic but I did think it was a little unusual as my DD had done so at a few weeks old. Turns out he had bad eyesight (astigmatism in both eyes and worse in one) that got picked up when he was 3. The optician told me his eyes would have been really weak as a baby so he just wasnt able to focus on me till 11/12 weeks.
Might be worth checking out if its anything related to his eyes, autism isnt super likely and do remember that there is an average but some babies have to be much earlier or later or there wouldn't be an average.

Diggo83 · 20/05/2021 16:31

I wouldnt worry, in our NCT group there is 8 babies, first smile was anywhere between 3 weeks and 3 months, all babies develop differently, all are now around 9 months and are fine

Confusedpapoose · 21/12/2021 19:20

Hey OP, I know this is an old thread so no idea if you’ll see this but can I ask when your son did smile? If at all? I only ask as I’m in the same boat now and found this thread whilst trying to see if this is common or not :(

Bizawit · 31/12/2021 18:00

Same! My baby is 7 weeks tomorrow and she’s not smiling 😔

newmama721 · 01/01/2022 23:31

My baby was born 3 weeks early and didn't really start social smiling until 10 weeks, now at 12 weeks she is always smiling! Try not to worry & also try not to judge against the google milestones, every baby is different
Xx

theadoory · 20/02/2025 16:54

My DS is seven weeks today and still has not smiled and has no interest in faces or eye contact. Can anyone advise? Should we be worried?

MargaretThursday · 20/02/2025 19:02

theadoory · 20/02/2025 16:54

My DS is seven weeks today and still has not smiled and has no interest in faces or eye contact. Can anyone advise? Should we be worried?

As you can see by the above replies, it isn't a worry.

Do they track with their eyes? Light or anything else.

Ds loved faces and smiled at just over a week. Yes, real smiles with eye contact which I wouldn't have believed (he was #3) if you'd told me. He has ASD.

Dd1 smiled with eye contact at exactly 6 weeks. We always said she did everything bang on when the book said.

Dd2 didn't smile. She glared. Even at 6 months she'd not done a big open mouth smile with or without eye contact.
At 2yo people always talked about her smile and how smiley she was.

theadoory · 20/02/2025 19:26

Diggo83 · 20/05/2021 16:31

I wouldnt worry, in our NCT group there is 8 babies, first smile was anywhere between 3 weeks and 3 months, all babies develop differently, all are now around 9 months and are fine

That's reassuring :-)

Bizawit · 21/02/2025 07:59

theadoory · 20/02/2025 16:54

My DS is seven weeks today and still has not smiled and has no interest in faces or eye contact. Can anyone advise? Should we be worried?

Please don’t worry!! I’m one of the posters who posted on this thread worried that my baby wasn’t smiling at 7 weeks.
She’s now 3 and the most personable, emotionally engaged/ precocious /
smiley/ chatty little thing. She’s very advanced for her age with language, social and interpersonal skills etc.
Not smiling at 7 weeks is totally normal and means absolutely nothing . Also at 7 weeks they have very little focus and no eye contact is totally normal too xx

dogmuminsurrey · 12/03/2025 03:50

@Mococo1 anu change? My LO born at 37 weeks is 7 weeks tomorrow and only gassy smiles too. He doesn’t track objects or follow me/turn his head to me (he happily will stare at the wall when I change his nappy).

I’m also so concerned about developmental delay and autism. I struggled with my mental health in pregnancy and worried it hurt his development..

Original poster
Mococo1 · 16/03/2025 19:15

Hiya just an update for you all! Im not sure what it was but i shouldnt have been concerned at this age regarding his smile as i look back and think why did i worry? But i had a gut feeling and thats why i made the thread

Turns out i was right..My little one has just turned 4 and was diagnosed autistic at 2y5months. I was gaslit every step of the way by doctors, health visitors and was told everything was in my head but when all of a sudden he never grew out of his behaviours they paid attention

I also suspect he has adhd but despite this - he is thriving, verbal (delayed and a gestalt language processor but can hold a convo) social, has friends and is happy- weve changed our lifestyles upside down for him - diet, toxin free etc and he does have quite repetitive play, loves the ipad, gets tired easily and i can see he is different from his peers but he is such a laugh, extremely intelligent and just an all round lovely child with zero issues at nursery. I would just say trust your gut mommas!

@dogmuminsurreyplease do not blame yourself all children develop at different rates, just love your child for them and try to help them along the way, i was very anxious about the future but my little boy is beyond anything i could have dreamed of, i stuck to my guns, didnt wait it out to see, did at home therapy and its really really paying off so far! X

OP posts:
dogmuminsurrey · 16/03/2025 19:19

@Mococo1 youre such a strong mama. Thank you for writing back! Your little one is so lucky to have you! Xx