HELP! 1 year old stares at hands while they open and close

[nzmum604]

Hi all,

Driving myself crazy the past few weeks googling why my 1 year old is staring at his hands while he opens and closes them - usually one hand at a time and is happening more frequently lately. Anyone else going through this? Everything I’m reading online says autism.

Bit of backstory… he has had terrible eczema almost since birth and for the first roughy 7 months of life was almost always wearing scratch sleeves to prevent scaring. Could this just be late development discovering his hands?

Booked in a couple days to see GP for 12mth checkup and will raise it with her but curious if anyone else has dealt with something similar.

It's normal development. It used to be in the red book as a developmental sign to look out for.

if you want to see something fun, pop gloves on them when they're asleep. The excitement of these funny new things that are in front of them and move when they try to grab them.

Thanks for your message. I just haven’t seen any other 12mth old doing this, and with it happening more frequently it’s been very concerning. He does still nap and sleep with scratch sleeves on mostly every night/day.

Nursery practitioner here, this is completely normal development, it's what we'd expect to see at this age. Your little one has discovered his hands and is learning how to move them at will. Please be reassured that you have nothing to worry about with this behaviour. As a side note, as a mum, make sure you video all these developmental milestones, they're lovely to look back on when they're older. My eldest is ten now and I really miss the "discovery" stage of development when they're so curious about everything and delight in the littlest of things.

My LO does this especially whenever he’s going through a developmental leap - he’s absolutely fascinated by these things on the end of his arms!!

try not to worry, it’s a good thing!

Hey, my son also had eczema since birth and wore mits until 6 months old, he’s now 10 month old and still stares at his hands. Did your son stop , would love an update on development as I’m worried.

hi wondering if you have a update my little girl is looking at her hand constantly and it’s worrying me so much any update would be amazing x

Hi
any update on your DD ? ☺️

Hello,

I know this is a bit of an old thread, but any updates on your little ones? I have a 12 month old who is staring at his hands while they open and close. Been trying to teach him to wave which he now does (when he feels like it), driving myself insane on google.

Thanks x

Please don't worry, it's completely normal for older babies to stare at their hands and watch them move, they are discovering how their body works. If you notice any complete loss of already established skill, or speech (for a prolonged period. It's normal for some skills to make a temporary disappearance whilst they work on learning another), take them to the GP to check, but otherwise, just enjoy watching your little one learn about themselves.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me. It's so easy to fall into a rabbit hole with these things. Thank you again, really appreciated x