Worried about 8 month old development

[MiRiz]

I am starting to get worried about my baby's development and I can't tell if it's FTM anxiety or not. I haven't been around many babies so I don't know what's normal behaviour and what's red flag behaviour in our son.

1. I think he is behind on motor development; he's sitting just fine since 6 months but always hated tummy time so I did my best to encourage it but have been way more consistent with it in the last couple of months. He has been rolling tummy to back since around 6 months but only started rolling back to tummy very recently. He seems to favour one side only (left) but we have been practicing on both sides. Nowhere near crawling or any type of crawling.
2. Has just started saying baba a week ago and it's not very consistent. He makes noises but there were no consonants sounds before that. He has been squealing and screeching for a while now, and he gets really worked up sometimes whilst doing it, like he gets all red! He also keeps moving his arms and legs and when he squeals it gets more intense.
3. He doesn't always smile when I smile back to him. He will smile if I try really hard to make him smile. He does giggle and belly laugh if I blow raspberries on his tummy but haven't managed to make him laugh any other way. He smiles to his dad when he comes home but he doesn't smile much to other people. He will sometimes smile if they try hard but it's more like a quick smile and that's it!
4. He responds to his name but not consistently. Sometimes I call his name and I'm right in front of him and he will ignore me until I make a different noise to get his attention. He can definitely hear well, he turns his head when he hears a noise.
5. He can sometimes maintain eye contact but more often he seems very distracted, like there's always something more interesting happening. He seems very alert.
6. He doesn't copy what I do but if I sing a song and then stop and give him a few seconds to join in, he will make a sound as if he's responding. Only works with songs.

My only point of reference is Google and some new mums I know and their babies seem to be so sociable and mobile. I guess I just want to know if I should be worried? Many thanks

Honestly I think all of that sounds fine but if you want to check, instead of googling I’d fill in the 8 months Ages & Stages.

Let us know how he scores

Thanks so much for responding@BunnyRuddington
So I've got 40 for communication , 35 for gross motor, 40 for fine motor, 45 for problem solving and 50 for personal social. How does that sound?

They are in the grey for more than 2 areas, but only just, and there could be all sorts of reasons why this would happen, like they could be working on a new skill or have been ill.

As it is more than 2 areas though I think it’s worth asking your HV to have a look at the results and your LO and see what she suggests.

It’s probably worth filling in the 6 month Social & Emotional Ages & Stages too and showing the HV the results of that one as well.

Seeing both results together will give her a clearer picture of what might be going on, if anything.

I would expect your HV to at least refer for a hearing test and give you some suggestions of how to improve their fine motor skills as that section borders on the black.

An eyesight test might be in order too. You’ll probably be able to find fine motor skill activities for 8 month olds on Pinterest that might help

If the HV wants to adopt the “wait and see” approach, ask her to book another appointment for 1 to 2 months time so that your LO has time to develop those skills that they’re working on and you have a firm appointment so that LO doesn’t get overlooked

Thank you so much for your help!! I have called the HV today and waiting for a callback. I will do the other test as well and show them both.

My DC2 was a bit behind in a couple of areas and did need some support.

If it’s one thing I have learned along the way is to not worry about making a nuisance of yourself. If you have to make several calls to the HV then so be it.

Are they doing ok now?
Thank you, I do worry about being a nuisance usually but I definitely want someone else to review him. I completed the 6 month form and that one is not looking great so far. I will have to try all the questions again tomorrow morning and see how he responds when we are both fresh, because my mind has gone to mush now. One of my friends just told me her baby ( same age) is waving already and that's making me even more anxious because we are nowhere near this. He does not copy anything i do.

My DC mainly presented with speech delay. They have since been diagnosed with AuDHD & ARFID but actually they are pretty much ok.

They have a social life, a BF and a job that they enjoy and some things planned for the Summer.

They probably need more support than a NT teen would but I don’t have a NT teen so it’s hard to judge.

I hadn’t really realised that they weren’t quite progressing in the same way as other babies until they were coming up to 12 months and there was no speech. My other DC had been talking by then.

My HV very much fobbed me off which I think contributed to the late diagnosis.

if I could go back and raise it again with the HV I think I’d be a lot more insistent that we had a referral sooner and SLT earlier.

This is just sharing my experience though. I am in no way saying that your LO has anything out of the ordinary at all

Thank you for sharing and I'm glad they are doing well. How frustrating that it was not taken seriously when you brought it up! I feel I will be dismissed because it's too early but as you said I will push for a follow up date if that's the case.

Please do. Many HVs seem to want to adopt the wait and see approach, which can work for a lot of babies, but I think where there is a genuine real need for investigation and support, the sooner you are in the system the better the outcome one for all of you.

I think on your shoes I would probably ask for a referral to Portage too.

Thank you again. I called the HV again and burst out into tears. They have brought the developmental review earlier, could only see them second week of April so I hope there will be some improvement by then.

I’m so sorry that you’re upset but possibly by crying the HV will take you a bit more seriously.

How old will your LO he at the appointment?

He will be 8 months and 3 weeks ish!

That’s fine then. I think that the two Ages & Stages I’ve already linked to will still cover him

How is your little guy doing now?

He is doing great thanks. He started engaging a lot more few weeks after this post. He is now 10 months and half and is crawling, just started pulling to stand, smiling back a lot more, responding to his name, lifting arms to be picked up and clapping when I tell him to. I think i went down a Google rabbit hole and made myself go crazy over analysing everything he did or did not do.

@MiRiz good to hear he is progressing. 👏😊

@MiRiz hi. Can I ask how is your LO now? X

@Yas1362 He is doing great and seems to be a typical toddler so far. I think he's more sensitive overall but other than that he seems to be on track and I stopped worrying since this initial post! What helped me at the time was going to meet the health visitor and going to more playgroups where I could observe other babies of similar age. That's when I realised that my baby was not really behind or acting different.