Sign of autism at 7 months old? Or fluid on the brain?

[mommgee]

I never believed children under 12 months could exhibit signs of autism, but my 7 month old has recently regressed.

she could stand assisted at 5 months old, I held her with one hand and she beared all of her weight on her legs and feet.
she turned 7 months old 5 days ago and that was about the time I noticed when I hold her up, she tucks her legs up towards her body (like she did when she was 0-4 months old)
she doesn’t put her feet down to stand anymore.

I also fed her some banana porridge at 5 months old and she opened her mouth for it. I stopped feeding her purées though because the health visitor told me to wait until she was at least 6 months.
I started trying her with food again at 7 months old and she just played with the finger of banana and she wouldn’t open her mouth for it after I mashed it up either. She pushes the spoon away.
I tried her with weetabix mixed with her formula earlier and I had to get her to smile in order for her to open her mouth and then I shoved the food in. But she doesn’t open her mouth willingly. I’m so worried there’s something wrong. It’s as if she’s gone backwards.

she still sits pretty well, loses balance every now and then but she can sit unassisted, she rolls over a lot and she spends quite a lot of the day on her belly and rolling around after toys and objects.

I see her health visitor next week so I’ll have to wait until then.

im autistic and both myself and my partner have autistic family members.

she had a bump on the head over a month ago and her soft spot was raised and firm afterwards. I took her to be checked out and they sent us home saying she’s fine.
I don’t know if this is related at all but I’d rather her have autism than fluid on the brain causing brain damage and regression. Her soft spot has been slightly raised ever since but it’s softer now.

I’ve taken her to the drs about it and they scheduled an appointment at the hospital but it’s on the 15th of May!! It’s ages away.

if there’s any fluid on her brain wouldn’t it have caused damage by the time may comes? I’m so worried

I think regression in skills in a baby is a red flag and I would beat doors down to get a proper assessment ASAP, particularly with a potential head injury. My daughter had infantile spasms and first sign was regression (before any spasms developed) . It may be everything is absolutely fine but you will kick yourself for evermore if something is wrong and it is missed.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=IOaMntByLOs

I think regression is normal. Babies often master a skill, once mastered they often stop doing it to concentrate on learning the next skill.

Not standing and not eating a banana are not signs of autism.

You know your child has a higher chance of being autistic as you are diagnosed however the m not sure there is a single indication of potential autism in what you say.

Babies change and do drop skills temporarily as they learn new things. Maybe she doesn't want to put her legs down? It could be as simple as that at this stage.

Your baby sounds like she’s making expected progress. Most babies don’t weight bear until they’re reaching their first birthday. And most babies don’t start responding to solids until 8+ months.

If your babies soft spot was checked k seriously don't think she had fluid on the brain, my DD was admitted for a raised fontanelle at 10 months and has a lumbar puncture (it was caused by an infection,) the building was very obvious and taken very seriously. She is 2 now and and it has had 0 long term effect

All the other behaviours.sound pretty normal to me, one dc was cruising at that age, on refused to weight bear until a few months older one of my DC absolutely refused to eat purees or be spoon fed.

I can't comment on the regression, certainly with my 3 they might do something for a bit and then stop for a while befor doing it more securely.

Speak to your HV but I think yousound very anxious

I tried her with weetabix mixed with her formula earlier and I had to get her to smile in order for her to open her mouth and then I shoved the food in.

Please don’t do this. You should never trick a baby into eating. You offer, if they don’t want it, that’s not a problem.

Under 1 food is a learning experience, not to fill them up, so it should never be forced.

Interesting

You shouldn't hold a baby to standing - it's something they learn in their own time. It's not a regression that she doesn't like you holding her up like this, it's not necessary.

It sounds like you're anxious but your baby is doing everything expected.

Look into baby led weaning to understand more about babies learning to eat at their own pace

@MelaniesFlowers i thought so, but I was criticised for not starting her on solids yet. She seems interested in our food but she will not eat.

@alsnwi elaborate please

@Soontobe60 oh good, that’s great to hear.

i was worried about the fact that she stopped wanting to stand. She seemed to be interested in being higher up so I’d lift her and she would put her feet down, it concerned me that she stopped doing that but this put my mind at ease

@bikiniisland i know that. What I’m concerned about is the fact that she was interested in purées and food at 5 months but she isn’t now. And how she would stand and she had interest in being higher up, so id pull her up to stand but now she doesn’t.

it’s just worrying, y’know? It might not be anything as you said.
Thanks for your reply

@Patchworksack its funny that you linked that video..

she has been shuddering and shaking. Her movements do not look like infantile spasms, but it’s a new behaviour.

@Patchworksack how often did your baby have these spasms?

my baby digs her fingernails into me and she shakes all over, like she’s grasping my skin quite hard and straining while doing so.
she looked at me after to get my reaction. So it made me think she was doing it purposely

but she has had episodes where she shudders for seemingly no reason. I do have a video but I can’t link it on here

It's not worrying, no.

@bikiniisland how is it not?

somebody replied to me about infantile spasms. I’ve seen infantile spasms and it doesn’t look like my baby has them, but she does have episodes where she shudders and shakes.

any type of regression is concerning.

I think babies and food can be a long journey, my daughter is 18 months and we have had and still have all sorts of fussy phases, refusal of things she used to eat, barely eating a thing when teeth cutting through. It’s still early days so I wouldn’t necessarily be concerned.

Re not putting her feet on the floor, could it be because she can sit now and she wants you to sit her down rather than stand her up? My DD could sit when placed in that position for a while before she could get into it herself.

All that said, I’m a natural worrier like you so I would keep phoning the GP to try and get a same day appt/cancellation if nothing else just to set your mind at ease.

Interesting - arousing curiosity or interest; holding or catching the attention.

@alsnwi you know very well what I mean. if you’re going to be insulting don’t bother leaving a comment to begin with!

I haven't insulted you, you asked me to elaborate on the single word I wrote, I found your post interesting.

Not putting her legs down and not eating a banana are not even signs of regression though.

I can see this is highly emotive so I'm going to bow out now as I don't want to argue with you about your baby.

The standing early isn't a skill - it's a reflex that newborns lose. She SHOULDNT be standing now - she doesn't have the leg strength. No longer eating purées - normal, she just doesn't fancy them. Food is mostly for learning new tastes and textures at this age. Just keep offering a range of suitable foods.

The shuddering - can you video it and send to your health visitor? Could just be normal gross motor skill development though. Or straining for a poo!

These are not signs of autism. None of this sounds worrying to me in the slightest. My babes don't really have solids before the age of 9 months. I put them n the high chair and offer some banana, cooked carrots etc to start and explore.

OP I say this with kindness but I think you need to see your GP about your own levels of anxiety. You aren't doing you or your little one any favours by trying to push ahead with things when a child is not ready. Reading this is very unsettling to me to be quite honest.