Are these symptoms of potential ASD in my 3 month old child?

[Anonymous1899]

I’ve noticed that recently she has become way more cranky than usual and cries a lot. It’s difficult to keep her entertained for long periods of time.
When she self soothes, I’ve noticed two things which are new:

1. she opens and closes her fist repeatedly
2. when she cries she holds the back of her head with her hand she didn’t used to do this before. also, she DOES make eye contact and does smile and did this at the 2 month mark but I’ve realized that she doesn’t hold her gaze for long. Her eyes move away quickly unless she is more relaxed. (A friends baby the same age as her is way more smiley and holds her gaze for a long time the baby also looks at /observes others more) My LO usually tends to have her head / eyes down when we are holding her in our arms

I’m getting worried are these signs of potential ASD in my baby?

This is the youngest I have ever ever read on mumsnet

In the kindest possible way OP I think you are over thinking this. It is far to young to be able to j ow if your child has ASD. Enjoy your baby as all this sounds normal.

Crikey, they are 3 months old. I know it's easy to fixate on things when you have a baby but honestly, no-one is going to be able to tell you if your child is autistic at this age, especially no-one on MN. In the kindest possible way, I think you need to find a way to chill out.

Hi OP, I saved this TikTok as I found it so interesting, this woman had her child diagnosed at 14 months old.

This question is likely to be divisive but I know many parents who's children got diagnosed and they knew from a very young age that their child wasn't NT:

vm.tiktok.com/ZGJoAHJPB/

The key question is

who diagnosed this baby?

it sure as heck wasn’t someone qualified to do so

Not to diminish your fears but your child is far too young to be able to see any of signs off ASD. All perfectly normal behaviours as your childs nervous develops and they figure out how to control their body. The fist moving is totally normal. Their eyes don't focus as they are still learning.
Relax, enjoy your baby.
Get a baby development app like wonder weeks which will help you understand babies development and milestones.

Your baby sounds completely normal! When you say self soothes do you mean you leave her to cry?

At about that age my DD became really hungry and therefore grumpy due to a growth spurt. Maybe it’s that?

@Flipdiddle checking another of her videos, she says her baby was assessed using the ADOS-2.

A quick google on diagnostic tools used in the UK mention the ADOS as one that can used (varies depending on the Trust).

Apparently it can be used to diagnose in children as young as 12 months, I'm going to do some more reading on the different assessment tools used.

So the mother used the tool to diagnose her child

right

my son was diagnosed by a consultant paediatric consultant

You posted a link to a very anxious mother - without having done any research in to the validity of the “diagnosis” whatsoever

Firstly, there's no sign this early. Our autistic child was our calmest most smiley baby.

Secondly, you have a girl, so all the typical signs you'll have read about aren't very useful even as she gets older. Girls present completely differently to boys in general.

If she is autistic it doesn't really matter anyway. Even if she doesn't have higher intelligence with it (ours doesnt) she'll likely have a lot of positive traits still such as focus, intense interests and talents which she can find a lot of happiness in etc.

My daughter was referred for assessment for autism through a multidisciplinary assessment at 13 months. Her dx was given the week of her second birthday. I had a son already diagnosed so was more aware than some. My concerns as a baby would have been that she was very still and very quiet. She never cried or made any sound, rarely smiled and was mistaken for a doll on more than one occasion as she didn't mould herself into me when held and never moved to look at her surroundings when in the pushchair. It has to be said that she was the complete opposite of her brother who was dx at two and a half who was never still and screamed 21 hours a day for the first three years.

My dd was diagnosed at 2, the earliest (at the time) they could diagnose. The signs were there from birth, BUT nothing the op describes.

OP there needs to be more context. Why are you so concerned about it? Even IF it's autism, why worry about it at such an early stage. Many people know their children will end up with something but you don't start stressing whether they're short sighted or have diabetes at 3 months old.

Are you or your partner ND and you're worried about early signs? Or are you NT and just terrified that autism is the "worst thing" that could happen to a child?

She is only 3 months old.

Is this your first baby? I have never heard of ASD in a 3 month old. It's difficult to keep her entertained for long?? She's 3 months old, not 3 years. Self - soothe? You mean you leave her to cry? Your baby sounds normal to me.

Mum of 2, granny of 3 (one is 5 months and did all those things a month or 2 ago)

It's surely too young to know?

For what it's worth, my autistic nephew was an absolute dream of a baby. Quiet, so happy/smiley, low maintenance.

No, i carry her and walk around the room to try to calm her down. She calms down eventually but I’ve noticed she holds her head (just behind the ear) as she cries. It’s always the same side

Well too early to think anything is wrong at all. I wouldn't expect any 3 month to hold gaze for long and stop comparing to other babies. In relation to her hand she has probably just discovered its existence and learning how to control it, so a positive developmental sign

She might have pain in her ear. I'd ask the GP to check that out.

I have 2 autistic children. A boy and a girl.

Nothing that you describe would make me think your baby is autistic.

Holding her ear ciii you of he teething too, my son started teething at 10 weeks old! Felt far too young, poor thing!

I have an autistic child and it wasn't obvious to me until about 2 so I'd be very surprised if it's clear at 3 months. I'd get her ears checked out as a precaution but otherwise just try not to be so anxious and looking for things. If you look hard enough you'll find all sorts potentially wrong, and I say that as someone who's been a parent for 16 years!

She's a baby being a baby, no baby at 3 months would ever be diagnosed. She will do loads of new stuff, some of it you won't know why. I say this having one with ASD who is now the first to notice red flags in others.

Unless you have a lot of ND family members you really need to stop worrying and looking for signs.

Your baby will change all the time. You sound very anxious. I can’t imagine there are markers for asd at this age.