Not responding to name at 5.5 months and other milestones

[AprilBaby2025]

I do have bad anxiety and am constantly worried about milestones!

My daughter (first child) is 5.5 months old. She’s meeting most milestones. Rolls over, coos, laughs and smiles, makes eye contact a lot, grabs everything and brings them to her mouth, passes things between hands, learning cause and effect (loves throwing things off her high chair), pivots in circles, and today she sat up without using her arms for support.

But I have a few worries. I know knowing their name isn’t an official milestone until 6-9 months, but many sources state that she should start to recognize and respond to their name by now. She doesn’t. She might look at me like 20% of the time, but she could also just be looking at my voice.

She also doesn’t blow raspberries and never has. She tries to copy us when we do it to her by sticking out her tongue, but she doesn’t blow. This is a 4-6 month milestone.

Also, she doesn’t make b, d or m sounds get. She just started making g and k sounds. So she says “aga” “gaga” “aka” “haka” in different pitches / tones all day long. But none of the other consonants.

is this expected for her age? Is she on track? Where were your babies developmentally at just under 6 months?

I just googled and says they should be responding to their own name consistently between 7-9 months. She has ages and babies change so rapidly at that age. I think as long as she's making progress, I wouldn't worry about exactly where she's at and the specifics of it.
Even the fact she's trying to copy raspberries is progress as I imagine she wasn't doing this a few months ago.

Obviously if you are concerned, you can speak to a health visitor but she sounds fine to me.

I’ve just had my second baby and something I regret with my first was worrying about meeting milestones. It will take away your enjoyment of what your baby can already do and you’ll just be always comparing them to other babies or the timeline of when they are ‘meant’ to meet certain milestones.
Try to remember that the milestone ages are general averages of when babies do those things. So it just means that the majority of babies meet a milestone at 6-9 months for example, but that means they’re are perfectly healthy babies who do it earlier or later. You will honestly drive yourself crazy worrying whether your baby is doing something within such rigid timeframes. You’ll see as she grows more that every baby has their own timeline and develops in their own ways. Your baby will do something ‘early’ and another thing will be ‘late’, but she’ll be perfectly healthy.
Please do make sure you’re speaking to your health visitor - you’ve said you have anxiety so I know it’s not a case of just trying not to worry. But your HV will be able to reassure you on how your baby is doing and also how you’re coping too. I don’t know if you’re having any support for your anxiety but they can also really help with that too.
But from what you’ve said she’s already doing she sounds like she’s doing great!

Baby not doing average things by time most babies do average thing isn't cause for concern. It's when they take unusually long to do thing - e.g. developmental red flags are when babies don't do things by certain age. For example, most babies roll by 4 months, but it's not problem if you baby doesn't do this by 5 month of age, only if and when they don't do it by 7-9 (I forgot actual age).

It's also worth mention developmental ages are calculated kinda weird. Your baby is developmentally at 6 month mark when she or he turns 7 month calendar.

Also, premature babies do have their own internal age (corrected age) when they do their milestone, because you do it by their due date, not they calendar age.