Very anxious - almost 9mo not babbling

[thismotherhoodthing]

Please be kind as I’m very anxious my second baby is almost 9mo , he was 3 weeks early and born at 37 weeks. He is not babbling at all. He makes high pitched sounds and a lot of the same frustrated sound and some “aaahs” he will also blow raspberries and giggle . But no babbling. I have got myself so wired up about it and convinced myself he is autistic. I have some autistic children in my extended family who were non verbal until age 5/6 and have seen how difficult things have been for them so it’s a huge fear of mine.

he has always been very smiley with new people and giggles a lot. He does make eye contact but often is very interested in the things around him more so. He doesn’t do any hand flapping or twirling but have noticed he kicks his legs a lot, mostly when excited or when crawling. He crawls a bit (goes between tha and army crawling) and has started pulling up to stand.

i also had a lot of difficulties weaning him as he had bad reflux so only
got going with it properly in the last month. He is now eating happily
but I’m not
sure how much is actually being swallowed. I had a gut feeling something isn’t right but I’m not sure if it’s anxiety making things worse.

I have spoken to HV, SALT team etc so wheels in
motion but I’m just looking for support in the meantime. Could everything still be ok?

My second baby is 8.5 months old, so I guess if you adjust yours to being born at 40 weeks then they’re basically the same age. Anyway, he’s literally only just started making ‘bababa’ sounds. A few days ago all he did was squeal and blow raspberries. So yours is probably close to making more sounds soon.
Also remember that they’ll just do things at their own time. Just because he might do something earlier or later than other babies doesn’t necessarily mean there’s anything wrong.
I do think your anxiety is playing a big part - I can relate as I was very anxious about my first baby who developed in his own unique way but is now a thriving, very normal 3 year old. Try not to spend a load of time worrying about something that doesn’t need worrying about for a few more months yet. You’ll just miss all the good parts and fun that you could be having now.

@Row23thank you. I think because he also didn’t take to weaning etc it has worried me more. Hopefully it will
come soon like you say

Mine didn’t babble until 12 months. I was told that they really don’t worry about just one thing, it’s if they’re getting behind in several things… in all other areas, she was doing well.

Anyway, she’s a perfectly chatty 3yo and had a decent selection of words by 18mo.

I think of you have ASD in the expended family then youve done the right thing in flagging this up with your HV early.

It might not be anything but if it does turn out that your LO has ND then early intervention will be more than helpful.

I would do both of these:

9 month Ages & Stages

and the 9 month Social & Emotional Ages & Stages.

With the first one they’re not supposed to score white in every section. It’s only a concern if they score in the grey in more than two sections or score in the black in any section.

With the Social and Emotional Ages & Stages, there is a scoring section at the bottom which will tell you if your LO needs a referral.

I would fill them both in and score them, then do the same again before the 12 month check up with your HV so that you can compare the scores.

If your LO does score in the grey in more than two areas or has a score of over 40 in the second Ages & Stages, come back and we can advise you on what to do next