Worried about 8 month old developments

[ByOpalPoster]

Hi,
First time Mom here and anxious person in general. I’ve loved spending time with my LO but at the same time it makes me anxious and upset to think she might be behind in some milestones.
At the moment she is pushing up during tummy time and sometimes gets into a crawling position, pivoting on the mat, sitting up for a couple of minutes, following/reaching for/grabbing and transferring objects, squealing, making eye contact, smiling and laughing when being played with, eating very well and loving different foods and sleeping and napping well.

I really think her communication is very behind and wondering if anyone else had a similar experience? She doesnt babble, sometimes oooohs and ahhhhs only but mostly squeals, she doesn’t imitate sounds or gestures and she doesnt follow any simple commands.
I have contacted the HV and awaiting a response but in the meantime should I be worried?
otherwise she is a happy baby who is quite content every day.

I’m just so worried and when I’m on my own with her all day I can over think too when I’m seeing these things all the time.

Any advice or similar experiences would be appreciated.

She sounds very normal. Just remember that all babies develop in different ways and at different rates. It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong.
It sounds like she’s making a lot of effort with the physical side of things. When I saw my HV at about 14 months my son was ‘behind’ with speech, compared to other kids of a similar age. But, he walked independently at 9 months and was just super into developing his physical stuff rather than communication. She said that often babies will put their effort into one thing and then move onto another. There will be babies the same age as yours who can communicate better, but perhaps physically won’t be as far along. There will be babies who are doing more physically but won’t be making as much communication effort.
I also wouldn’t expect an 8 month old to really be understanding simple commands just yet.
It’s great to keep an eye on her development and make note of things that you notice, but it does sound like you’re allowing anxiety to take over your enjoyment of her.
It might be worth talking to your HV about how anxious you feel as she may be able
to offer you help so you’ll be able to enjoy time with your daughter more.
The milestone ages are just general averages. There will be plenty of healthy babies who do things earlier or later than the suggested milestone age.
Also remember, comparison is the thief of joy. So just be careful how much you compare her to others.

She's only 8 months give her chance. Do you go to any mother and baby/toddler groups? It does help to mix with other children. A change of scene and different toys for them to play with. Mine used to love going. There's a lot more going on now for little one's now than when my DC were small. Find out what's on in your area.

Thanks, I completely agree in that it’s interfering with my enjoyment of her. It’s true that all babies develop at their own rate, it’s just from what I’ve read she should be babbling and I feel like I talk to her a lot during the day and so does family etc but she will probably get there in her own time.
I’ll keep an eye on it but try and not let it take over as much.

No I’m not in any baby groups but that’s a good suggestion, we’ve moved to an area where I don’t know anyone so it can be hard to hear about these things. Thanks for idea

I would say she's maybe a little behind the average – but half of children are, by definition, behind the average, and it does sound like she's been focusing on other things.

You would generally looking for babbling (ba, da, ga type sounds, followed by the classic repeated ba-ba-ba, ga-ga-ga type) to be emerging around now, but plenty of babies won't be babbling quite yet.

I think a lot of your other concerns, it's a bit early. A fair number of babies will have a gesture or two by about 10 months – but 2 months is a lot at this age, and it really usually is they can clap or they can wave, maybe both, not that they imitate a range of gestures. Following a simple command (again, one or two), probably 10-12 months (and a bit personality dependent!).

She can't really imitate your sounds at this point because she hasn't figured out how to make most of the sounds you do, but if you repeat her sounds, she might repeat them back. (Or she might not – I had two early talkers who never played this game. They would 'answer' me, but not with the same sounds on repeat. They were the same when they started having a few words, zero interest in saying 'duck' just because I said it, but would exclaim it enthusiastically at real ducks, ducks in books, etc.)