A few questions about my 7 month old

[holliem91]

I think I need to step away from google a few things about my DD have been worrying me recently so I thought I would post to see if anyone has had the same experiences as me...

DD doesn't respond to her name being called, doesn't look over at me at all. She reacts to pretty much everything else though just not when me or DH call her name... I looked this up online and it says by 5-6 months old they should respond to their name!

Next thing is, she doesn't smile at me when I talk to her. If I tickle her or play around with her she smiles/laughs but not if I just talk directly at her? Is this normal? I don't just talk to her in a normal voice, I try to do it in a way in the hopes of getting a little smile out of her but... nothing.

And finally, games such as peakaboo do not make her laugh one little bit. She just stares at me like I'm some weirdo!

I'm hoping I'm just being silly and overthinking it but thought I'd get advice on here

Thanks in advance!

Bump!

I really wouldn’t worry. Is she hitting her other milestones or thereabouts?

Babies all develop at their own pace

I don't believe my six month old has the slightest idea what his name is, given I mostly call him 'baby' or 'small piggy' or 'pigeon' or whatever!

Name I would expect around 9-12m and evening then it isn’t consistent. They don’t have what we call ‘two channeled’ attention so if they are already engrossed in something then they don’t hear you

Some babies are also a bit more serious, that’s just their personality. She can smile and laugh so there is nothing wrong with her, you just need to work a bit harder to get it- just like some adults!

My nine month old doesn’t do any of this yet either - I wouldn’t worry

Instant reassurance!

Thank you all.

I knew I was probably being a little silly but just wanted to double check she's already crawling so I thought she's of at least knew her name by now but obviously not... Now I need to definitely stay of the internet!

@holliem91

Instant reassurance!

Thank you all.

I knew I was probably being a little silly but just wanted to double check she's already crawling so I thought she's of at least knew her name by now but obviously not... Now I need to definitely stay of the internet!

A brilliant example of how they're all different! My 6 month old does know his name, and has been laughing/smiling at people talking to him for a good while. But he's only just rolled over in either direction, can't support his weight on his arms for more than a second, and is so so far from crawling!

They're all different

A random comment on peekaboo – have you tried hiding your whole body, or just your face behind your hands? My wee girl never found us hiding behind our hands the least bit funny and would stare like you describe. Now, mummy or daddy popping out from behind a door/sofa/towel/etc.? Hilarious, had her laughing her head off.

@HappyAsASandboy a very good example indeed! It was the lack of interaction for me, I was worrying that maybe something wasn't quite right but I suppose way to early to tell anyway and I'm sure it's just a case of she's learnt something quicker than the other. Thank you.

@skkyelark no I haven't tried that, actually. I'll give it a go today

My 19 month old still doesn't respond to his name (although strangely seems to respond to 'biscuits' fairly well!) so I wouldn't worry at all at 7 months.

@bumbledeedum haha typical I wonder what age they develop selective hearing? I think at a very young age, haha! But thank you! It does genuinely make me feel loads better.

@skkyelark I just tried your trick, it worked! I didn't get a laugh but she was grinning a lot so that's good enough for me there's always ways isn't there!

@holliem91 I think where biscuits are concerned it starts very young!!
Glad you're feeling better, they do like to keep us on our toes with worry with one thing or another!

Mine finds it utterly hilarious if I stand up, dangle a muslin over his tummy, and then say 'one, two, three, it fell on the baby!' and drop it. Repeatedly. Also quite amused by me balancing improbable things on my head and then having them fall off and going 'urrkkk!' as they fall. And by me miming eating his hands. And by a random household song that goes 'slow worms are growing, they're growing and growing, ready to eat you SOON!' with a poke in the tummy on the 'soon'. I think it's basically the anticipation of a repeated action; he knows it's coming and it makes it funny when it happens.

Obviously you’re assuming autism. I know that because I googled something about my 7 month old once and it came up with autism. Totally ridiculous. I would try not to worry, see how things go and what will be will be. Not much you can do about it in any case so just try not to worry.

@Persipan I will try all of those! Thank you!  It is the little things with babies isn't it. Weirdly enough, I used to just be able to just look at her & she would smile and now I try every trick I know and I get nothing

@doireallyneedaname yes it crossed my mind. Also because DH has a few relatives with autism.
I don't think she is but you just never know and I would like to try and do as much as possible to help her if she was. Very true though, absolutely no point in me worrying

@holliem91 glad it worked! I thought the stare sounded familiar. My daughter also liked the version of peekaboo where we hid her behind a muslin/blanket/towel 'Where's LittleSkkyelark?' and then dropped it/pulled it off 'Peekaboo!' (and soon learnt to play it herself, so much so that her third word was 'where'!), so that version might work for you as well. The whole body rule does not apply when she's the one hiding.