Worried about 10mo development

[SpodoCommodo]

I'm worried about my just turned 10mo old.

What I'm worried about

He's only just started rolling
He still HATES tummy time and can't do a push up - he is nowhere near crawling and I don't think he ever will
He doesn't clap, wave or point - he does sometimes follow a point though
He doesn't reach out to be picked up

Positive things

He responds to his name nearly all of the time
He shows us his toys by holding them up and will sometimes give you the toy if you ask
He tries to feed us (it's very cute)
He does copy us, eg if we do a noise or silly dance he will try to copy. Or if we bang toys together or drum on the table he'll do it too
He babbles though mostly ah-babababa and a bit of mamaing
You can have a chat with him, if you talk to him he tries to talk back
He's very sociable, happy and mega interactive with a wicked sense of humour. He plays back and forth games, like peekaboo, rolling a ball and will wait for you to stack blocks and then knock them all down
He can stand with support and can hold himself back leaning against stuff
He's been sitting since 5 months, but you have to put him in that position. However if he's reclined on a chair he'll sit himself up
He LOVES dancing and music!
He does seem to understand some of what we say, like up and down (stands up, sits down), seems to know how mama is and cat is but not sure about much else
Feeds himself pretty well

I know that's a lot of positives so why am I worried? I guess about his gross motor development and lack of clapping and waving? Should he not be doing that by now? I know pointing is THE Biggie, is 10 months too soon for pointing? I did the Talking Point progress checker and it said he should be pointing by now?

Many thanks in advance for any wisdom.

My DD was also a late roller (8.5 months) and despised tummy time with a passion, probably due to her reflux. She didn’t crawl until almost 11 months.

He sounds absolutely lovely. Pointing happens between 9-14 months so I wouldn’t worry yet. Waving and clapping is also normal between 7-12 months. He has so many positives, he’s probably just more focused on those things, the rest will come.

Thank you for the reassurance, I think it's the lack of gestures worrying me though I know holding out toys etc is a gesture (at least I think so)

I can't imagine him ever crawling, he's absolutely enormous, 99% for weight and height!

@AladdinsMum your thoughts would be appreciated if you are around?

Sorry I mean @aladdinmum

Bump, anyone else? I am worried about autism.

I think you're getting way ahead of yourself. Your baby is ten months old. He's babbling, he's imitating. He sounds great! I'm not sure how you can say you don't think a child will ever crawl when he's so very young.

If you have concerns, speak to your health visitor but he sounds wonderful to me.

I don't think pointing is considered late until 18 months, so your lad has ages yet. Pointing at 10 months would be quite a bit earlier than average, I think – it doesn't appear at all on the ASQ for 10 months, and whilst it's there for 12 months, it's the last question in its section, which generally means it's a skill only a few babies/toddlers will be doing at that age. Most seem to start somewhere between 12-15 months.

Gross motor skills, it's a bit difficult to say –he definitely is developing skills with the standing and sitting, and babies do just have different priorities. (My DD was cruising all over before she crawled, for example.) That said, some upper body strength is obviously useful. Can he pull himself up to standing if you put him near a convenient bit of furniture?

Yes, but only if he's sitting - for example we were at soft play the other day and he was sitting on a little train seat - he pulled himself up by the steering wheel.

Hi again, my DS has been using my hand to point to/touch things in books - is this a bad sign?

I think you should try and call your health visitor re this.
I can't say much - my DD has just turned 11 months. I think she's quite advanced in most things, although she certainly can't point, defo doesn't feed me (or think about me :)), I don't think she understands any words at all, and defo wouldn't wait for me to stack blocks. Some kids just don't crawl at all, but still walk fine. I have both a cousin and a second cousin who were like that, although it's not so uncommon. I really do think you should call your health visitor to run through your concerns though, even if only to reassure yourself.

@SpodoCommodo You seem very anxious, do you suffer with anxiety? I mean that in the nicest possible way btw, I have anxiety and for a long time it turned to my DD and her development.

But honestly he sounds fine, babies are extremely weird. If you are worried maybe you should talk to your health visitor, we haven’t seen your baby in person to be able to advise whereas a HV will come and do a check if you ask them.

I do have anxiety, yeah, is it that obvious I'm under the mental health team for it.

I don't have a HV at the moment. I had an absolutely awesome one who sat down with me a few months ago while I blabbed all my worries to her and reassured me, and reassured me that he probably hates being on his tummy due to reflux. And he was sitting by 5 months and weight bears so she wasn't worried about his motor skills.

But she left two months ago, and I was supposed to hear from the new one but haven't. I don't have the new HV contact details either. So I am sort of spiralling a bit. I veer between worrying he's got cerebral palsy to autism and have to try very very hard not to "test" him.

I don't see any concerns from your description, all your concerns would be worrying at 18M but not at 10M, in fact, following a point at 10M is actually quite advanced...

There is nothing really in your first post that would have me concerned (and I work in health visiting if that helps put your mind at rest at all!?)

Crawling isn’t a milestone so don’t worry about that at all.

Plenty of time to start pointing yet, I’d maybe expect him to be clapping, waving or playing peek-a-boo (not all 3!) but equally wouldn’t be concerned because of everything else that you’ve said he can/does do.

In regards to your HV, there should be a general office/team phone number in the front of your red book, or if not you will be able to find it on Google, don’t wait for someone to contact you, give them a ring and tell them your concerns. I think this is your anxiety taking over and you probably won’t be able to get it out of your mind until someone has seen you and your little one face to face.

He does play peekaboo and instigates it. He'll pick up something and hide his face or pull my jumper up over my nose. He also copied my hide the block game today - I was hiding them in stacking cups and under muslins yesterday and today he draped a wipe over the block and said, "Ah-dah?" and was very pleased when I removed it.

He is lovely. I think it is my anxiety. I have gotten totally fixated on lack of gestures. He is starting to hold his arms out to be picked up - not as a request but when I reach mine out.

My CPN is chasing up on the health visitor - I had to have my medication increased at my last appointment and they don't think the lack of HV is helping. Thank you for the reassurance. I did the ASQ for 10 months (at home) with him which was reassuring except for the gross motor where he was just about in the black. He is very very cautious about cruising/standing against furniture.

Playing peek-a-boo comes under the same “category” as waving and clapping so really it sounds like he’s hitting his expected milestones there. Offer plenty of opportunities for exploring gross motor skills at home, things like putting the sofa cushions on the floor for him to try and clamber over, moving toys slightly out of reach etc etc.
If you feel that you are able, try and phone the HV office yourself, it’ll be much quicker than going back and forth between your CPN

My Ds was a super early crawler and then Walker. However he really didn’t crawl for very long before walking. I know many like this. So maybe yours will only crawl a week or so and then start walking, as like you say he’s already pulling himself up.

I think it’s 18+ months before you should check if they are crawling or walking at all, so he’s Still got basically his whole life again yet

Sounds fine to me, OP. My DD didn’t clap until about 1, didn’t point until nearer 16m and didn’t wave until around 18m! Physically just push on with tummy time & put toys just out of reach to encourage him to move - some babies are a bit lazier than others bless them, if you’re worried speak to HV though - they’re good at putting your mind at rest.

I think he pointed!

He was in his cot sitting up and used his index finger to point to the baby monitor, look at me and say what I think in baby talk was an approximatation of, "what's that?"

Does this count?

He didn't tuck his fingers in but he was definitely using his index finger.

Same boat a few weeks ago.

Then all of a sudden, in the space of a week, LO rolled more and army crawled about the place then one day just shot across the floors on all fours. It was literally that quick. Went from "it's never going to happen" to "quick get a baby gate" in about 2 days

My son has sn and started commando crawling at 12 months which was super late , he did normal crawling at 18 months and eventually walked at 3. It may be because he is heavy and lazy but trust your instincts . Can he weight bear ? Does he feel floppy or strong and stiff ? Does he eat / swallow ok? Is he well in himself or sick often ? Ask for a referral to a development paediatrician if you are still worried .

Yes, he can weight bear and is happy to stand for ages holding our hands or the sofa. If we hold his hands he can get himself up from the floor and down again. He feels normal, not floppy or stiff. He eats and swallows fine, and can feed himself well. He's got a cold at the moment but has been otherwise well.

That all sounds very promising , if all of those things were the opposite then I'd say you had reason to worry but from what you have said I'd said he is just big and finding it hard to support himself .. I believe there is a magic window of strength and weight that means they can move to the next stage and when one gets out of balance it puts them behind . My son was very weak and I use a walking frame to get him going because I knew if I didn't his weight would get too much to support .

Get lots of push along toys and encourage him to stand and weight bear and he may just go straight to cruising / walking .