Worried about 13 week old baby

[Snehazia]

I’m feeling quite worried about my 13-week-old baby.

She is my second child, and I struggled with severe postpartum anxiety/depression after my first delivery. I’m finding the anxiety even stronger this time, especially around her development.

My main concern right now is that she doesn’t seem to coo. She does make happy squealing sounds randomly, and she sometimes makes those sounds in response to me, but she hardly makes cooing sounds like “oooh” or “aaah” when I talk to her. Most of the time, she responds to me by smiling or with happy squeals rather than cooing.

However, she does the following:
Smiles responsively when I smile or interact with her.
Makes eye contact when I talk to her.
Moves her arms and legs excitedly when I engage with her.
Makes happy squealing sounds.
Has giggled around 5–6 times.
Has recently started noticing and looking at her hands.
Tracks objects, rattles/toys, and people with her eyes.
Follows me with her eyes and seems interested in interaction.
She otherwise seems socially engaged, but the lack of cooing is making me quite anxious. I’m worried whether this could indicate a developmental delay or whether there is still a normal range for cooing at 13 weeks.

Any advice how can I engage with her more ? What’s making my anxiety worse is that my first child was already so chatty since he was two months old.

I'd say this is definitely your anxiety. I'm not even sure what you mean by cooing, that just makes me think of pigeons, but look at the weight of evidence of everything she IS doing and try to relax a bit. Maybe speak to someone about your anxiety? I'm sure she's absolutely fine from what you've said

@Debatingthingsher silence most of the times is making me really anxious. She seems fine to me , but she’s mostly silent. That’s what i am worried about

I think this is anxiety talking too. HV you told your HV about your concerns and about how you feel more anxious than after your first baby? She should be able to support you with both things

Did she have a hearing check as a newborn? She does sound like she's doing all the things she should be doing, and you said she squeals, she might just not be as quick to do it as your first baby, but that doesn't necessarily mean anythings wrong. If you have a health visitor, discuss with them? But also, try and remember babies haven't read the book and don't always do things exactly on schedule. Best wishes to you