Worried about my 7.5 month old

[Ktd123]

I have a beautiful little girl who would brighten up anyone’s day but I have been concerned about her for some weeks now I feel like it is taking away from enjoying her. I have been prescribed medication to help with my anxiety around this but it still plays on my mind quiet abit.

the main concerns I have are around her speech development and affection, she is not yet making any consonant sounds , she makes vowel sounds, screams and has been blowing raspberries constant for months now. She has never been a cuddly baby , didn’t like being held much from around 3 months and will nearly arch away from you if you try to. Family members have also commented on this. On the other side if you ask her for a kiss she will reach into you with her mouth open.. very cute!

She is a very happy baby, smiles at people she knows, reaches her arms when I go to pick her up , understands when I ask her does she want a drink or where the dog is she will look around so she is very clever. She can roll both ways and can sit unassisted when I put her into the sitting position. She moves backwards when on her stomach and can pivot around.

the negatives I suppose that concern me are
the lack of any babbling - doesn’t even look like she is close to making any consonant sounds
Her not wanting to be comforted by me.
she knows when I enter a room but when I leave she doesn’t seem to care at all so no separation anxiety
stares at her hands constantly and has for months (which I know babies do but seems a lot)
her hands are always up by her side with clenched fists

Just looking for some feedback on other people experiences when their babies were 7.5 months or someone going through the same not making consonant sounds?

thanks , sorry for the long post!!

If babbling is worrying you, Speech & Language UK have a useful progress checker here. You'll need to do the 6 month one.

How does she score on that?

I wouldn’t worry just yet to be honest. She sounds like she’s doing really well and is clever!
Just for reassurance from my personal experience - my son wasn’t very interested in babbling and when he turned 1 we saw the HV who said that some babies focus more on physical development, whilst others focus on communication. At 7.5 months you’ll have such a variation in what different babies are doing. Some will spend most of their time wanting to stand, some will be happy sitting down and babbling away. As long as you talk to her, imitate the sounds she makes, read, sing etc, then it’ll all be going in. You’ll probably find that one day she’ll just start to make sounds you’ve not heard before. This happened for us - my son is 21 months and honestly is never quiet. Have to be careful what we say as he copies everything he hears. His speech just suddenly exploded one day. Just got to keep exposing them to it.
Also to reassure you with your daughter not liking affection - the separation anxiety usually kicks in around 9 months, though some babies don’t get it very badly. Our son never enjoyed being held or cuddled. But again, it’s something that takes time. My son never even liked us to comfort him if he got hurt! But now he will come over and randomly give us a cuddle or kiss. If he gets hurt now he’ll let us comfort him briefly. He loves when we kiss him before bed and pulls our heads in for more. He happily cuddles his grandparents/ Some babies are just a bit more independent, less cuddly, just like adults!
There will always be babies a similar age to yours who are doing ‘better’ at some things than your child. But, also remember that there are babies who will be ‘behind’ and not doing as much as your child. There will be parents looking at your daughter and thinking that their baby doesn’t yet do something yours does and then having their own worries. The best thing (and I wish I’d done this earlier and not wasted so much time), is to not compare your babies development to others. You’ll spend so much time worrying and in a couple of months time it won’t be a worry and you’ll be wishing you had enjoyed that particular stage more.
It’s good to obviously keep track of your child’s development, but try not to jump to worrying about things. It honestly takes away the enjoyment of being with your child. If in a few months time you see no improvement in something then you can always contact your HV. But it’s always good to just give things a bit of time.