hello new here

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Hi
My beautiful little boy was born two months early, he suffered severe oxygen deprivation and as a result has severe disabilities. So far and in brief he has cerebral palsy (though not yet given official diagnosis), is tube fed and has huge developmental delay and has West Syndrome.
He is 9 months old (7 corrected) he is a great baby, good sleeper, for the most part very relaxed and content. I know he knows me and his dad and loves his cuddles but I just wish he would smile. I have seen a few here and there but he certainly doesn't interact fully with us.
I know all children are not the same but when did your babies become more sociable?
XX

hello there,
this is very similar to my son, he was born 14wks early, had wests syndrome which eventually ceased, caused by a bleed on the brain, he has cerebral palsy also, but is now 6.

i remember having the same worries about his social interaction, but honestly try not to worry, as it will come, my son was around a year old & i know it can be frustrating, but cp affects all children in different ways. it did affect my son quite badly as he is wheelchair bound, but socially he has no problems. he interacts with others, he can talk & always knows whats going on around him. remember, the docs will always give you the worst possible scenario, try not to worry too much, as it will come, just in his own time.

i found that taking my son to a group, where there was a sensory lights room really helped his ability to concentrate better which i believe in turn, helped his eye co-ordination, which helped him to interact better with other people. i wish you and your son the very best of luck for the future.

p.s. have you thought about speaking to someone regarding your sons oxygen deprivation?

xx

yes riven hit on a good point there, my sons smiling also didnt come, until we got his infantile spasms under control, until these can be reduced, i really found that the spasms hindered my sons overall development & also a lot of the medicines for this can really tire the children out, especially vigabatrin, which totally knocked my son sideways, making them not want to be bothered & he seemed like he was in his own little world, whilst on this drug. the docs gave my son a 4 week course of steroids, which thankfully stopped his spasms altogether for over 3 years & i did find that he came on beautifully after these were controlled.

yes riven he had IS for nearly 2years. my sons cognitive ability is quite good, he has the use of one hand, can feed himself with a little bit of support, can hold his own drinking cup etc. he has very good speech, although a little slurred, but is understandable. the docs are quite surprised though, as his cp is quite severe & his muscles very tight. his head control seemed to take forever to develop, but he got there eventually. he cannot yet sit unaided.

(i take the nitpicky on board lol, i only joined the site yesterday & still getting used to peoples terms for things.) x

Welcome to MN

I don't know much about CP but didn't want to ignore the post.

Lots of knowledge here.

Hi,

My DS also had oxygen deprivation and has CP and was very slow to smile etc - he is 10 and a half months now (was not a preemie so not corrected!) and now smiles and interacts a lot although laughs are still few and far between. I'm sure it will come with your little boy, I think that (apart from issues with seizures etc) it takes our babies a long time to get over their traumatic entry into the world and spending those first weeks in a glass box.

ds2 was born at 28wks, he has mild CP, asd & learning difficulties etc.
Thats the thing as a baby that stood out the most, he was just unresponsive, didn't smile, laugh or really respond much at all.
In many ways he was such an easy baby, would just lie there, not seeking or wanting interaction at all.
These things did gradually evolve, we never has a ureka moment he just gradually became more awake, by about 11 months he was more "with us". but for a long while he just wanted feeding & changing.

He is 6 now & has the biggest smile & cheeky giggle & an amazing little character.

another one here - dd2 has cp - like anon's ds, she was v unresponsive (apart from the screaming) eventally smiled around 6 mos and developed a sort of 'hurr hurr' beavis and butthead typ laugh some time later. her szs were under control fairly quickly, but it still took a long time for any sort of response to the world to develop.
at 6 she is now the life and soul of the party.
welcome!

hi, (aka sneezecake) my ds is nearly 14months, apart from his traumatic entrance to the world, (silent placenta abruption at home starved of oxygen and neonatal fits) his first 6 months of life were relativly 'normal' it was only when he started fitting again that the cp dx was made, hes apparently mild spastic quad, (can you tell i disagree) and although, he cant sit or walk, we have high hopes for him.
I know its hard, but keep positive, children have the amazing ability to suprise everyone.
and when they do do things, its a million times better than watching a nt meet their miles stones iyswim?

Thanks for all your replies. I think it's clear that all kids are different I just hope we can get his seizures under control which seems to be a battle at the moment. It doesn't help either that he has hearing and vision impairments so the little guy has a tough job but he's doing well and we have lots of support and help.

xx

hi welcome to mn a great lot on the sn bored are great and useful advice!

i have a son 7 with aspergers and then little darling chloe whos 2 half witha feeding tube and other problems not fully dx and i think maybe mild cp but who am i to say am just a mum!