Social development 6 months

[Twiglets11]

Hi All. My son is 6 months old I’m really worried about his development , more socially.

I’ve seen similar posts and my son also avoids close eye contact. If he is on anyone’s knees etc , he will stare the other way, generally seems to be staring outside.

When we go out, sometimes he is fine and will stare at people and sometimes give a smile. When people come to our house he is better and more himself, playing, looking etc

However, when we go to gatherings / other people’s houses , he can be really zoned out. Today we took him to my in laws , and my brother in law was there with my niece / nephew, and there were a couple of other unexpected guests, friends of my in laws.

My son had fallen asleep in the car which was for about 15 minutes and when he woke up at the house he was crying hysterically / screaming for a few minutes. Then he really wouldn’t look at anyone or respond , including even me at times. I would call him and call him and he wouldn’t look at me. He made no eye contact and was generally just zoned out and crying. He did the same with my in laws who see him regularly. It was like he didn’t recognise us or just ignored / couldn’t hear us. Just completely zoned out.

I should add we have never been to my in laws house before ( they always come to ours).

I’m really worried about some of his social behaviour , and wondered if anyone can offer any advice especially about how their babies are or were in such social settings. Should I be pursuing with the health visitor or doctor

They sometimes don't make eye contact if they are tired or overwhelmed. Could this be the case if he's been with lots of people?

@BunnyRuddington thanks, yes, he was tired. Normally he naps about 3 hrs in total during the nap, and longest nap is late morning / lunchtime. He missed that as we were out and was awake. He fell asleep in the car on the way to my in laws and was sleeping for a bit in car seat then got woken up with the noise. Lots of people were really excited to see him, including my niece and nephew who are 3 and 6, and were being loud.

I also think I made mistake of letting lots of people hold him, my niece / nephew were a bit in his face too when he was in the car seat. As were others in general.

I just don’t know if this is normal that he cries and ignores people in these circumstances or if he should be able to handle such environment at this age. My little girl didn’t used to do this, I remember she would just adjust to the environment and people , noise etc

That was meant to say naps 3 hours a day in total

Hi @Twiglets11 wondering if you have an update. My daughter does the same zone out thing
She points and shows us things and has great joint attention but really struggles with strangers and new situations and I’m concerned

@worrrier my son is 3 now and I don’t have such concerns