6 month old stimming? Are these signs of autism

[mongo123]

My baby is 6 .5 mths old. I know its said that there are no signs of ASD at this young age but some people report on looking back that signs like this were present. Since about a month ago she started turning her palms in and out like like a kind of pageant wave and looking intently at them. It happens allll day long. When she nurses, while shes playing, for no particular reason such as tiredness etc. She does it day and night. Thats why its concerning. It seems to be a stim. Also she does a grabby raking thing on surfaces which some describe as early hand flapping. Its not the presence of these things that worry me but the frequency. Even in her sleep sometimes her hands move.

She is fine in other areas per the ASQ except that she doesnt babble back and forth (conversationally) or imitate much.

Should i be worried as much as i am or could this be a phase?

I think it's just too early to tell. It could be an early stim, or it could be that she doesn't have much control over her movements yet, or that she's just in a phase of finding her hands interesting. If it is a stim then there's nothing you need to do differently, just let her get on with it. Definitely mention it to the HV when you see her (if she does end up getting assessed it's always useful to have a documented history of concerns) but other than that it's just a matter of watching, waiting and keeping her happy and it sounds like you're doing a great job of all of that!

My ds did do something very similar at this age. He was actually referred for mri brain scan because of it, but everything was clear.
He has asd diagnosis now, still does these little movements age 8!

Thanks for your reply. Looking back can u remember any other early signs you noticed? That made u think this could possibly be ASD

To be honest no, not at that age. Apart from that from birth, he did not sleep, at night, at nap times, it was a real struggle for him (and me) he still struggles with sleep now.

Can I ask did u find out or did the stimming just stop.

Hi it stopped about a month later. She had very short phases of other types of movements since then like hand flapping and toe walking also. I kept an eye but after a couple weeks she stopped doing those. Im guessing a lot of it is experimental for them too since i have seen other toddlers her age do them too. She is 2 now.