Am I just overly paranoid?

[Anonymous]

My husband thinks that I am worrying too much, and he is probably right. I just wanted to hear your opinions. My son is 5 1/2 months old. He is social in that he smiles, giggles ALOT, makes eye contact quite a bit, does high pitched squeals when excited, hums (i.e., he does a lot of mmmmmm sounds), etc. He also reaches out for toys and tracks objects with his eyes. Physically, he is close to sitting independently, can put his weight on his feet when supported and seems to be on track with regards to other physical milestones. Here are my concerns:

1) He does not babble yet. No real consonants. I thought I heard him say da a couple of times, but I am not sure.

2) He does not respond verbally when I speak to him. When I speak to him in a soft voice and then pause, he usually smiles a big smile and then turns away as if he is shy. Sometimes he will make “airy” noises like he is trying tp say something, but no real sound comes out. He watches me intently, but 90% of the time no sound!

3) He does not usually respond to his name

So, of course, I get on the internet and it freaks me out. There is just so much about early diagnosis of autism at 6 months and hearing loss. He did have an ear infection a few weeks ago and the doctors said that his eardrum might have burst. But, if it did, the doctor said that it healed up fast. My pediatrician does not check for residual fluid, and I am not sure why. Did any of you experience this with your babies? Please let me know what you think. I feel like I spend half of my life worrying about my little guy and I want to just enjoy our time together.
klmccart2008-02-11 11:58:03

[Anonymous]

Ummm, not to answer your question directly, but I think you should not worry at all! He seems to be doing great!

🙂 It is our nature as mothers to worry, so don’t feel bad, but he really sounds like he is doing amazingly well for 5.5 months!!

[Anonymous]

First, let me say I am glad to know that there is another mother as neurotic as myself , lol!!! I try to joke about it, but I have the same problem and think that I may be overly anxious about all areas of child rearing! A couple of things: over researching makes things WAY worse. I have found that most things that they say may be a “red flag” for early diagnosis of autism, can also be found as totally normal behaviors. For instance– toys. Children with autism may play with non-toys, or wheels and gears. However, healthy children are said to love pots and pans, measuring cups, paper, etc. Autistic children may walk on their tip toes. Healthy toddlers are also known to do this when learning to walk. Autistic children may do “arm flapping.” Average children obviously do this when they see things that excite them!! Autistic children may not respond to their name, but normally developing children are sometimes easily distracted. Autistic children may have GI issues, excema etc, but so do normally developing children. Of course these are just a few things, but I know how easy it is to obsess over little things. I also think that if I saw another child doing any of the above things, I wouldn’t have ever thought anything was strange. I think it’s because it’s our OWN child and every little thing causes us to worry. A word of advice…I love Jenny McCarthy’s bood “Louder than Words” but DO NOT read it if you are prone to worrying!!!!

Another thing re: the babbling. I have read that babbling can take up to 8 mos., and sure enough at 8 mos, all I heard was ba-ba-ba-ba, da-da-da-da and new words and sounds are coming out now all the time.

Evie is a super high needs baby. She answers me only sometimes when I call her. If she is playing with something, forget it! Evie laughs, but not as much as some babies. I have read that this is typical of a high needs baby. Snuggling is infrequent. Evie will NOT watch TV–again high needs, easily distracted. Evie is exremely active and into everything beyond your typical “into everything” stage. I like to believe that these are the qualities of an exremely intelligent child!!! I baby-compared recently at a one-year old’s birthday party and couldn’t believe how intelligent Evie was in comparison. But, I take the bad with the good, as I would LOVE to be able to put a video in for just 10 minutes to cook dinner like other mothers can, and this is impossible for me!!!! Don’t worry(I know, impossible) I’m so sure your child is fine. Just answer your ped’s SIMPLE questions about developmental delays (pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo) and you will be fine!! Welcome to the neurotic moms club JK

[Anonymous]

Katie

Ashlynn really did not start to babble till about 51/2 months, she still has quite days, but those are becoming less. She smiles to her name and has days where she will babble alot and some days she does not. You sound like me(Paranoid). I am constanly worrying about her and try not to to compare her to others. We took Ash to the Dr about 5 1/2 months about our conserns and he said that she is meeting all the milestone’s and that at 9 months if where still conserned he would send to a speality dr. I think that there is too much stuff that we can read on the internet, i try not to read it ,because I find myself worrying even more. My dh gets mad at me when I look things up or ask if questions about Ash. You sound like a conserned mommy who wants the best for their lo. I know that Autsim used to pop in my head alot at first with Ash, but I try not to worry about , becasue it can eat you. I took Ash to the Ent because I was concerned about her hearing and she passed with flying colors, but did have fluid in one ear. Hope this helps a little. I am not good at typing things out: one becaue of type o’s and I stink at spelling.

I aslo have learned not to compare Ash to other kids,because each child developes differently. Danika my first lo was early on everything and is very bright for her age(2). So I think that this one reason why I think that Ash is behind.

Hang there

stcwatt2008-02-11 13:31:12

[Anonymous]

It is so easy to compare and then worry like crazy if your child isn’t doing everything at the “perfect” time. Responding to their name is a 9 month skill (from what I remember) so I wouldn’t stress about that one too much. He already sounds much happier (laughing, cooing, smiling) than Sarah ever was at that age and she is now an incredibly happy toddler! I’m sure he’ll be JUST fine! Just keep being a fantastic mommy!

[Anonymous]

I would try not to worry. Your ped would give you an idea if there was something to worry about. Neither of my kids did anything that you were concerned about until much later. About the autism diagnosis, again, your ped would let you know if that was a concern. It sounds like your little one is doing great. About the residual fluid, if you are worried talk to your doc about it, and see if you should go to an ENT. I did suspect that Hailey had problems from about her first year… can’t remember why, now. I think it was speech delay plus multiple ear infections, but again, she was much older, and details are fuzzy now. It did end up that she had severe decrease in hearing due to standing fluid and needed tubes. Things improved right away for her after that. I don’t mean to minimize your concerns, but I think that there are enough real things to worry about. If you have a good ped who you trust and have your ped on your side, s/he should be asking questions and assessing at well baby visits so that you would know if there was something to worry about.

[Anonymous]

You all are so right! I actually read things on the internet that said name recognition by 3 months and babbling by 6 months. If those things do not happen talk to your doctor. The internet is a dangerous thing! No more diagnosing my son on my own anymore. Thanks for your feedback. You confirmed what I wanted to hear- that I am just crazy!

[Anonymous]

AWW you are not crazy, just a good mommy! Enjoy your little guy, he sounds great!!

[Anonymous]

You’re certainly not crazy! I think all parents go through that. I certainly did- and not only for the kids, but for myself too. I’ve learned not to diagnose myself of anyone in the family based on symptoms from the internet.

[Anonymous]

I am so glad to read this because I am overly paranoid too. I am watching my sons every move. I notice that this post is over a year old so I am curious how your little one is doing now. When did the babbling occur? My son is incredibly social with smiles and cooing but I havent heard any babbling yet. He wont be 5 months until the 4th.

[Anonymous]

morrisonkm9 wrote: I am so glad to read this because I am overly paranoid too. I am watching my sons every move. I notice that this post is over a year old so I am curious how your little one is doing now. When did the babbling occur? My son is incredibly social with smiles and cooing but I havent heard any babbling yet. He wont be 5 months until the 4th.

5 months is really early! I think that it is typical to start babbling around 6 months, but some babies do it later. Jackson did not babble until 11.5 months! I was terrified. He got ear tubes at 13 months (the ENT said that he had glue ear and probably did not hear much at all) and things have just gotten so much better ever since. I still believe that ear infections and GERD have caused some developmental issues. I think that he has very mild sensory stuff. He seems to seek more sensory input than most 18 month olds. Then again, I have not been around a ton of 18 month olds. He is not the best eater either. I will tell you that I was amazed at how Jackson’s verbal development occurred in spurts. There really were those bursts overnight! His receptive language greatly improved after he got tubes. He started to understand so much. Around 15-16 months of age, he had a langauge burst and had around 15 words. Now, at 19 months, he has around 60 words that I can identify and 20 signs. He understands just about everything I say. His articulation is poorer than most 18 month olds, but I believe that goes back to the ear infections (which goes back to the GERD!). He did not hear well during his first year of life and that is a critical time for hearing sounds. I know what he is saying and he uses the same sound each time for a particular object, but some of his words are really funky and he leaves off most endings of words. For example, milk is “nil” and Mama is “ma.” But, he understands so much, uses jargon while he looks me directly in the eye, calls for me and my DH when he wants us, knows more words than I can keep up with, etc. Last night, he looked at the bar of soap and said “sooo.” He may be leaving off the ending of words, but sometimes I wonder where did you even learn that word?

My point- I am still neurotic, but I am really trying to look at his progress and be grateful. I would think if your baby is making eye contact, cooing and smiling, you are in good shape! Jackson had started cooing at 3 months and stopped at 4 months (it has been a while, but this sounds about right). He got his first ear infection at 4.5 months. Looking back, I think that this was all related to ears. I was always concerned, however, because there was no back and forth cooing! My friends babies would all coo and Jackson would smile and laugh, but no cooing. It was pretty scary, but all seems well right now. I hope that you do not take my path and that you relax and enjoy your baby. Sounds like your LO is right on track! There are so many typical babies that do not babble until 9 or 10 months!

[Anonymous]

Neurotic is a word interchangably used with “Mum” in our house. I still have my Angel Care movement monitor on My nearly 3 year olds normal bed in my house (I joke that it will still be on when she is 13 but I really know that it is NO joke). She hops out of bed every morning and diligently turns it of! We had to buy a new one for Nick…..and his will be on his big boy bed in a couple of years time! That all being said…never be worried to talk to your GP, Dr etc if you have any concerns… because 9.9/10 they will help reassure you!

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