Is my 10month old showing signs of autism or is it my anxiety

[MTMum]

Please help me with some insight on baby boy. I anxiety has been getting worst signs he starting showing what I think may be signs of Autism. He is now 10 months and started hand flapping/finger flicking movement at 8 months. Recently, he started slapping himself on the side on the head usually when he is tired. He caught him staring at the ceiling fans and his hand but not often. He loves to be held, has great eye contact, and
starting smiling early on. He interacts good with 2 brothers even loves giving them kisses. He interacts and smiles with family he is familiar with. He doesn’t smile easily with strangers but will of your play with him long enough. He notices when I leave the room and will start crying and try finding me.. he stands independent and walks with assist. He teaches but does not point or wave.

concerns:

hand flapping/finger flicking( I feel that he is increasing instead of decreasing)
sometimes stares at the ceiling
sometime slaps the side of his head
shakes his head usually laughs

he is easily distracted from all movements. When he starts hand flapping we call his name and he will turn,look at us and start smiling.

sometime stares at his hands

licks everything, floor, toys, refrigerator etc.
not pointing or waving bye

milestones
crawling
babbling
says mama and dada
interacts with brothers and familiar family members
stands independent
walks with assist
smiles
responds to name
gives kisses
likes music

good eye contact

please help me.. I’m not sleeping or really eating my anxiety is so bad…

It's your anxiety. He is a normal 10mo.

I’m worried because my older sons never hand flapped. I didn’t even know it was a thing until this pregnancy. I feel that his hand flapping is becoming more frequent. He will be 11 months next week and from what I read typical babies usually stop by 12 months. He also sticks his tongue out and rubs his spit on his face. He does frequent and will do it for a while if I let him. I am praying that he stops soon.

Thank you for commenting on my post!

I would say it's far too early to consider worrying about this. My little one is 18months and hand flapping. Will sit and watch the washing machine spin for ages and is also social. I've definitely no concerns of him having autism. My little girl is 5 and she hand flaps only when excited and jumps up and down. It's a form of stimming. She has no communicated skills and has never had them. It was 1st said to me when she was 3 months old that she was very clingy to me and she would cry as a baby if anyone looked at her or went near her. She is autistic. From my experience with all the professionals it comes down to how social they are. If you can call his name and he looks and smiles I honestly would not consider autism. Do talk to you HV if you are worried tho they can see the signs before anyone.

My son finger flicks (even against his cheek and head!) and hand flaps which started at 7 months and still does it at 9 months - stopped responding to his name and giving less eye contact/smiles - I got myself in a STATE (not about him potentially being autistic, but the challenges he could face in life), took him dr - turns out he's got blocked ears with wax which explained the no response! The hand flaps Gp said totally normal for this age and the finger flaps is common in 7-12 month olds.

community.whattoexpect.com/forums/july-2018-babies/topic/handswrists-constantly-rotating-77472709.html

Hope this link gives you some reassurance that hand flapping is typical behaviour 🥰

I spoke to his pediatrician and she said just to monitor for now. He started walking a few days ago so he is hitting milestone. He is 11months today. I will continue to monitor and pray that he outgrows it soon!

thank you for commenting on post.

Not sure if any help but since I commented my sons had a hearing test, turns out he has glue ear and the days he is more congested in his ears (teething/had a cold) he flaps a lot more and can't hear so turns out it's related to that. Amazing he's just started to walk, I bet he will soon grow it of the flapping as he will be able to explore more!

I’m glad you were able to get some answers!! Hopefully your little one feels better!!

I was the most anxious around the 10 - 11 month mark too. As it was when my son would clap hands, do this funny head shaking, rock etc and I posted here with my worries , and I was anxious.

its far too early for pointing . Please don’t worry. When I googled I realised about pointing and became hyper focused on it as every site and forum correlated it to autism. My son pointed around 14 months, and properly around 16 months. And waved around 11 months / a year.

he outgrew a lot of his quirks (and even if he didn’t , they were typical toddler behaviours I learned, but anxiety got the better of me at the time), he got new quirks too like tip toe walking and then stopped etc.

he sounds like a typical 10 month little boy, please don’t worry and enjoy him. I speak from experience

From another over anxious mum :)

@MTMum
Im another anxious worried mum
my son hand flaps, finger and hand twirl/toe twirls

He sticks his tongue out alot
he has some other strange quirks
but he is hitting milestones. Says a few things and copies me. Also interacts when I try to play like he pretends to feed me his cracker
but I still can’t help myself and worry

can you update about your little one. How are they getting on now?
has the hands stopped? X

Hey @Danielle1989x hows your little one coming along?