8 month old, hand clapping/flapping, autism?

[AmieMcKennaX]

Hi there,

I have a beautiful 8 month old and about three weeks ago she stared clapping for the first time. At first I was amazing till I realised that she does it sometimes when she is upset. Today we had our 8 month review with the HV and she was impressed at how she was developmentally as she is sitting unaided and rolling in all directions. However she did ask us to keep an eye on the clapping when she’s upset as it can be a sign of autism. She also said that it is normal at this age to be doing this but tends to go away at about 9 months so she will call me next month to see. She makes eye contact very well, laughs and smiles. Has anyone else had babies who have done this?

What a bizarre thing for the HV to say. Honestly what does one month difference make. Sounds like she's doing it to self soothe. My baby shakes his head to do the same. Totally typical in babies.

How old is your little one? Lily shakes her head too sometimes but that I think is due to her teething cos she did it and then stopped and then did it again. Apparently at 9 months is when they stop doing that according to the HV. This is my first baby and I know they do strange things so I’m hoping it’s nothing serious

My baby is 8 months old too. My first DS did loads of weird baby things (head shaking, leg tensing, leg slamming) for ages (probably up to a year) and he's perfectly typical. Babies self soothe in lots of ways. The stimming your HV is probably referring too only becomes a sign of autism if it continues way beyond babyhood (please someone else correct me if I'm wrong.)

I thought as much too tbh. Like I said she smiles and laughs loads and has good eye contact. Sits unaided, rolls over in both directions and is en route to crawling. On the 8 month check up checklist we were given, she’s doing everything right. Starting babble abit more aswell, more one syllables than two but she has given a “dada” which made my boyfriend rather cocky 🙄

She sounds perfectly on track! And my 8 month came out with his first dada yesterday. We need to get them practicing mama immediately

Hi,

How did it go in the end? Is your worries gone?

Hey,

Yeah they’re gone for sure. Have a very happy and clever little 19 month old with the best personality! The clapping in that circumstance did stop so I was very relieved.