ASD advice for baby - so worried!!

[Bpr187]

I have concerns about my 7 month old (I know it’s really young). I was never looking for any signs or even tracking what he was and wasn’t doing to be honest because I just had the “he’ll do it when he’s ready” attitude... until he got to 5.5 months and I realised he’d stopped smiling then stupidly I googled and all of a sudden autism came up. I’d never ever thought about it before and now that I’m reading about it I’ve suddenly realised he’s doing lots of things related to it. He is delayed with all milestones (only rolling half way and can only sit up for a minute or so before falling, difficulty holding toys, difficulties weaning (he gags a lot), he was smiling at 3-4 months (although only occasionally) but has not smiled socially since 4 months. He now just smiles at random stuff like picture frames on the walls :( he will laugh but only if I am swinging him around and if I look at him he will stop straight away - it's so upsetting. Other things I'm worried about are, he's odd with his hands he sort of strokes/scratches his face and his head. He just seems frustrated and uncomfortable constantly but he's so in his own world (won't engage or make eye contact) he doesn't want to play or enjoy anything. When he is more settled and I try to engage with him or play he's not interested.

Has anyone had this with their baby? I’m not looking for a diagnosis I just want to talk to people who may have experienced this with their children at a young age and for some advice on what to do next. Early intervention and what age to start?

I’m so worried and upset .. any help and advice would be really appreciated. Xx

I'd also like to add I've been to the GP and we've been referred to a paediatrician. Obviously with everything going on it's going to take a while and I am going out of my mind with worry so any help and advice would be really really appreciated.

Anyone???

Hi, watching babies development can be a worrying. However I would really try to not be overly concerned at this stage, at 7 months there won’t be much a paediatrician will do. A asd dx is very difficult to get before the age of at least two, and at least in my area they won’t even consider starting the assesment process until at least 18 months.
I would just try to encourage smiling as best as you can, see if there are certain things your little one reacts to, where it’s tickle time, perhaps a favourite rattle, a funny face you pull.

Also to add my daughter is 17 months and shows many of the traits, however our paediatrician has told us she can’t do anything until 18 months.

With my two asd children they met all their milestones and then started regressing after their first birthday.

I knew DS had ASD when he was 9 months old. He was diagnosed at 24 months. Keep records of his behaviours and if poss look for an ASD assessment on line and fill it in, every month until your appointment. That way you when they ask you to record behaviour for a month, you can say it already have’ and give them your notes. It might just speed things up a bit

Hi @raffle what did you notice in your son at 9 months. My son is 10 months now and I am still concerned. He is still not interested in people although this is improving as I have been doing intensive interaction with him since he was 6 months old. He is still delayed on some milestones also... it’s such a worrying time :(

My son has ASD and was a happy smily baby who met all physical milestones. I became concerned when he was 2 and wasn't developing language skills. Looking back now though he was too good in the sense he went to bed and slept right through with little comfort and also was very hard to breast feed because of the close contact. He used pull his head back alot as a baby aswell. I suppose every childs different and if there not smiling or get frustrated at early age it doesn't necessarily mean they have ASD, so I wouldn't worry too much.

Both my kids have asd/adhd, and I’ll be honest, I never noticed too much when they were babies. They met their milestones, my youngest was delayed in language and fine motor skills, but my oldest not so much.

Perhaps because I didn’t know any better, I just went along with who they were and what they presented me with. I would have never have thought of autism to be honest until it was pointed out to me.

You sound very worried, and I get that potentially having a child that is different is concerning. However, please don’t let it get in the way of enjoying who your little one is. All you can do is your best, and love them where they’re at.