Question about pointing milestones

[CuriousMomm]

I have an app that I check every now and then to check off milestones for my toddler. One of the milestones is pointing. She doesn’t point at things though even though it says she should. She’s hit every single milestone months in advance but this one in particular is late. She is 19 months. The app says to ask her doctor. Before we schedule to I wanted to do some research. We don’t really point that often if at all. I was wondering if there are other pointing equivalent milestones if that makes sense?

For instance we have a digital fan with a remote. She will grab the remote to the fan and point it at the fan and press the on button and activate it. If we point at a toy and ask her to pick it up she will bring it to us. She waves hello and goodbye. I’ve been teaching her to blow kisses. It’s not quite clicking yet but she will put her first to her mouth make a cute noise and push her fist away. She will put her hand on her favourite characters in a story book and say “Look mummy!” or “kee cat!” (she is really into cats right now.)

Also not really proud of this but my husband occasionally plays games on the playstation 4 and she will grab the controller as soon as it’s put down and and go into the pause menu and alternate between the X and triangle button because she likes the noise it makes when it goes in and out of the menu button and she definitely seems to understand that the controller is connecting to the TV screen. (Not advocating to teach toddlers to play video games here. Just explaining what is happening)

I guess it would help if I understood why this milestone is important and what it demonstrates…

Should I still schedule an appointment with the doctor?

I think if you have no other concerns about her health I would wait a couple of years. Or you could try teaching her to point by pointing at things.

It isn't the physical act of sticking out a finger and pointing that's the important milestone, it's the development of joint attention - the ability to share an experience with you. Pointing is just one indication of joint attention.

From what you write, it sounds like she is doing just fine with her social interaction - waving hello and goodbye, bringing you things etc. Don't get too hung up on the app, and I really wouldn't worry about seeing the doctor (unless you have other concerns over her development). All you will be told is wait and see how she develops.

Disclaimer - I'm not a child development professional, just a parent to an autistic child who had to do a lot of work on joint attention!

Oh, and I just noticed in your post that she is drawing your attention to things in books - she has certainly developed joint attention. By putting her hands on pictures and saying "look Mummy", she is pointing 🙂

Thank you very much for both of your comments! This was exactly what I needed to hear. A little bit of context into what purpose this milestone serves was what I wasn’t sure about. Joint attention and a note with an explanation I feel should be added for these types of things as children are very individual and they learn to express milestones in different ways sometimes. 🤔

CuriousMomm, I completely agree! I'm not really convinced these milestone checklists are always very helpful - they just seem to create worry where none is needed.

I'm a Speech and Language Therapist. The research says that once children start pointing at an object then usually with 3 months, they add that word to their spoken vocab, probably due to joint attention and possibly the adult labelling it.

If she already has some words then I wouldn't worry about the pointing, as she is already sharing and gaining attention with you.

Sounds like she is doing brilliantly. One of mine never really pointed but is a perfectly able and highly qualified adult now.

Enjoy your DD, she sounds adorable.

Dear Jesus, thank you for that reply, this is just what I needed to read.
Mine is 17m not pointing but has 60+ Including animal sounds. Been getting so worried about pointing, because I model and I do the poke a dot book, got a light switch to practice finger separation, I know it might sound stupid and that I shouldn't worry, I just wanted to tell you thank you for that answer.

Hi @CuriousMomm how is your baby doing? Mine is 17m and not pointing. Hope everything is ok with your baby.