6 week old baby not staring at faces

[bunny85]

Hello

My 6 week old DS doesn't stare at faces much. When I feed him (bf) he never looks at my face, either has his eyes closed or looks away. He also doesn't smile much, I only saw a real smile maybe once or twice and yet I'm not sure as it was so fleeting. He does look at my face only doesn't keep his eyes on it for long. Maybe longest was about 30 seconds when I kept chatting in funny voice to him. I'm so worried, does it mean something is wrong with him? He is generally very fussy baby and if he is not sleeping/eating he is most of the time crying. Any words of wisdom?

Many thanks!

He's only 6 weeks old, still very little. You have a chance of seeing a smile from about 8 weeks onwards.

Anyone?

Sorry xposted Scrumptious! Thanks for your reply. I hope there's nothing wrong with him...

My son is 15months now so I'll be honest I can't really remember what he was like at 6weeks! It sounds normal though, from memory just feeding, sleeping and pooping, if you're worried call your health visitor

please try and relax. The chances are it doesnt mean anything at 6 weeks, but even if it did, its not something that worrying fixes. I would mention it to your HV when you next see her, but please relax and try and take care of yourself too x

Don't panic bunny - my DS didn't smile at all until 7 weeks and not consistently for a little while after that. He also didn't make eye contact when bf basically ever! 6 weeks is incredibly tiny - I know it is hard but stop looking at the development timetables and just enjoy him!

Just remembered that DS used to gaze at a spot right above our heads and seemed to actively to avoid looking at our faces for weeks and weeks! He just wasn't that interactive when that tiny. Now he is 10 months and has no problems whatsoever with interacting with whoever catches his attention

My son is 6 weeks and he doesn't stare at faces for long, he likes bright lights.

He tends not to look at me when bf either

at 6 weeks my second little one didn't look at me but closed his eyes when feeding. When done he'd look anywhere but me.

he turns out to be super interested in everything. Mama and papa are only for milk / strawberries / illness. Rest of the time, it's EXPLORATION TIME!

even the childcare are startled by his activeness ... he grabbed the bottle / cup out of their hands.

Don't worry. Almost all little uns are different. If he's 18m and the same, then ask your HV

My DS would do everything possible to avoid eye contact and didn't smile until he was 12 weeks! He was a very serious baby but is now a very happy and sociable 3yo.

I remember being convinced there was something wrong with my DD at six weeks. My DH had come home from work and I remember crying saying she wasn't developing properly (I was a bit sleep deprived and emotional!). She would stare at the wall while being fed and did not seem remotely interested in me. I think I felt a bit hurt too. She didn't smile until she was 9 weeks old and it took a couple of weeks before her smiles became more frequent. At 5 months she now constantly beams at family members and is a happy sociable baby (who saves her best smiles for me first thing in the morning!).

I think 6 weeks is too soon to be overly concerned. Babies need to be good at BFing before they can break off to look about them. If you are worried this will show in your face and make your baby uncomfortable. Studies show that a baby will mimic/mirror parents' faces and so things like smiling tend to be a self-fulfilling prophecy; if your baby smiles a lot and spontaneously your smiles in response will be broad and genuine; if a baby is less keen your smile back will not be as broad and will be more nervous - this will be picked up on.

I think as PP said, if he's still like this at 6 months to a year, then you might want to discuss with HV. If ASD worries you find out what you can do in early years to give your DS the best chance of coping with it. Don't worry because you'll always have your DS and will have to deal with any number of things as he grows up. Talk to your DH and get his support; I also think your hormones will be affecting you at this time - I remember my baby blues at 5-6 weeks and it wasn't fun.

Thank you everyone for making me feel a bit better. Let's see if he starts getting more interested in us in the coming weeks...

My Lo is 4 months. I remember my friend sending me a pic of her daughter who is the same age, at 6 weeks and she was smiling. My Lo hadn't smiled at all at that point and I was worried. My Lo smiled first at 8 weeks and it was just about there. She always looked at me when feeding, but she stopped that completely at about 3 months and I'm not sure why she doesn't look at me but I'm not worried about it. 6 weeks is still young, if he doesn't look at you lots and lots I wouldn't be worried, as he gets older and finds things amusing He will take more notice of people.

I could have written baffledmummy's post word for word, so another one here! She's now 3.5 months and smiles a lot.

I worried myself sick over it and it was just wasted time that I won't get back. Try not to be me!

Thanks everyone! Must report some updates: firstly, he looked at me more today but most importantly, there was a smile too! Even twice! They were quite quick though so no chance of taking photo (how do people do that??) but it was definitely a smile and not gases this time so still no long stares but already a lot to make a worried panicked mummy sigh with relief. I got all teary when he did it and my DP was close enough

Ah that's great bunny! DD stops smiling the second I get the camera out... She KNOWS!

Buffledmummy, you won't believe it but I managed to get sooo many pictures this morning! And the reason was that there were PLENTY of smiles, giggles and delighted coos and gurgles! Appeared all of a sudden! He stares at me for longer now too. It's hilarious how I complain on him and then he does just what I want, good boy, ha! I just couldn't believe my eyes and kept snapping hope your daughter will cooperate soon too!

I'm having this at the moment. HV asked me at 6 weeks about focusing. I really didn't think it was how she described, and she made me feel like there was something wrong.
The GP said he was still very young.

At 8 weeks now it's much better and I can see it progressing everyday.

Just spend sometime making eye contact and smiling. It'll come

DS2 didn't properly smile until about 5m old - he was a very serious little chap! I did worry that he didn't seem to look at faces much when he was tiny, but he is 3.5 now and there's definitely nothing awry with him. He is an incredibly social little guy.

Don't panic, be patient, and it is very, very, very likely that he is absolutely fine.

Yay! They do like to worry us