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ack2002
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Is 3 months too young?
ack2002
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Hi, my DD will be 3 months next week. She rarely smiles, coos, and makes eye contact. When she does, it's on her terms. She LOVES looking around at everything and when she starts staring off into space (she loves to look at the ceiling/fans/lights/windows) it's impossible to get her to look at me. She's been doing that ever since she was born. She will turn her head back and forth just to avoid looking at me. Her physical development is pretty advanced though. She started rolling over at 8 weeks. I know 3 months is really young to worry about ASD but I'm worried that she isn't really meeting her social development. Did any of your children wih ASD have delays in their social development at this age? Or am I worrying for nothing? Thanks!
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Re: Is 3 months too young?
Before worrying about ASD, I would get her vision tested, I want to say at that age she should be able to focus in on your face at about an arms length. If she can't focus on you that may be a reason she isn't making eye contact. I would also get her hearing tested if she isn't making sounds. You can always contact EI with your concerns.
To answer your other question, my ds smiled and cooed and made eye contact just like all the other babies his age. ALL babies like lights and fans and windows, sometimes it's hard to tell what is normal or not.
We have medical problems not ASD (that we know of, yet, anyway) but I think 3 months is probably too early.
Both of our girls didn't roll over until probably 6 months or more, and Peyton never did roll but one way. I think our smiles came around 6 weeks and coos were later because P was completely non-verbal. I would make an appointment with a pediatric opthalmologist, and be forewarned sometimes they are booked FAR in advance, I would tell the person on the phone straight up that she is 3 months and does not focus or track.
What did your pedi say about this at your 2 month well visit?
He checked her eyes and didn't see any problems. I wasn't really concerned then about the lack of eye contact and social interaction but I definitely am now. She rarely makes eye contact/smiles/coos/recognizes me. She can make eye contact, but prefers to look elsewhere. If I put my face close to hers she turns away. If I do the same thing again she will turn her face in the opposite direction. I don't have another well baby visit for another month but I will definitely be discussing the lack of social interaction.
IMO anything your pedi did in reference to her eyes will be nothing in comparison to what a pediatric ophthalmologist would do. They can do all kinds of things to babies that you wouldn't even think possible. Most people don't know but even in adults they can tell your prescription just by looking in your eyes, they ask you what looks better to 'tweak' it so to speak.
I would make the eye appt just to be sure. I don't really know what would be the next step social development wise if you still think she's 'off' I guess early intervention could evaluate her (that would be free) because I can't imagine a developmental pedi really doing anything at that age.
GL
I am just lurking here, my daughter is 14 months now and while her development has been on the slower side, I'm fairly certain she's a typically developing kiddo. I just wanted to tell you that I had the exact same concerns with her when she was your daughter's age, and they all ended up working themselves out.
She also would crane her neck to avoid making eye contact with me, especially when I held her up close, face to face. I finally figured out that she was overstimulated by the eye contact I was trying to give her; this is why kids with ASD don't want to make eye contact, but for an infant it can be normal, as it was with my DD. Try backing off and waiting for her to initiate eye contact.
Vocalizing didn't really take off til around 5 months. I don't think I heard a peep out of her before 3 months. I would make cooing noises to her to help encourage her to do it too, but I don't know whether it mattered. She babbled consonants on time but has been slower in learning words.
Her first smiles were at 8 weeks, but she only smiled a handful of times a day until around 5 months. She smiles and laughs all the time now and is very socially engaged.
I don't think it would hurt to have her eyes and ears checked. You could also consult with a developmental pediatrician or pediatric neurologist, though they might not really be able to say much about one so young. Also, if you have access to Parents as Teachers in your area, they are an amazing resource on infant development, and the parent educators have seen lots of babies. Good luck, I know it's hard, especially if you are a FTM who hasn't been around a lot of little babies.