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May 2015 Moms
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Eye contact/ Baby turns away when we look at her

ladyteach0505ladyteach0505 member
in May 2015 Moms
I hope I'm stressing out for nothing, but are babies at three months supposed to hold eye contact?  DD will look at us when she's flat on her back, but it seems like a lot of the time we'll get right in front of her face and she'll turn away from us.  I've got an appointment with the pediatrician, but I have a feeling if Autism is our concern they'll tell us there isn't anything to be done in terms of screening/interventions at this point.  :/  As a teacher I just want to "catch" anything I possibly can. :(
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Re: Eye contact/ Baby turns away when we look at her

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  • nolababybabynolababybaby member
    Yea, usually means over stimulation or she's tired.
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  • gtelliergtellier member
    It could just be something as simple as her wanting to look around. At this age they don't get to be upright very often, so when they are, they get to see the world from another angle and your LO may just want to look around :)
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  • ElleMuffinElleMuffin member
    By the time my oldest son was 3 months we could tell that something wasnt quite right but couldnt get a conclusive Autism diagnosis intil he was 18+ months. I would say that the eye contact concern alone isnt much to worry about. As PP stated it might just be too much stimulation. With my son, he avoided eye contact, could only sleep if swaddled incredibly tight (sensory processing issue) and if he was rocked very hard (again sensory). He cried incessantly for no discernable reason, and missed almost all his milestones (rolled over, sat up, crawles, walked late). Only time will tell for sure but I always encorage parents to go with their gut and keep bringing up concerns to the Ped. We started Early Intervention before the official diagnosis at around 13 months and now at 5 hes doing really well. Hopefully, you'll never have to go through what we went through but i wanted to share our experience just in case it could be if some help to you.
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  • Knottie76365376Knottie76365376 member
    @ElleMuffin Thanks for your response.  It's really awesome when us mothers share the real stuff we've been through.  It's from you that I get real wisdom. 

    @ OP -  I noticed this, too with my son- that he looks the other way.  I think he is strengthening his neck muscles and feeling more in control.  I also think his eye sight is changing a lot and he doesn't want to look at things close up.  I noticed my son really enjoying his ceiling mobil, and looking up at leaves on trees, or animals walk by.  He has started to stare in my face while he eats instead.  :)  
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  • ladyteach0505ladyteach0505 member
    ElleMuffin said:
    By the time my oldest son was 3 months we could tell that something wasnt quite right but couldnt get a conclusive Autism diagnosis intil he was 18+ months. I would say that the eye contact concern alone isnt much to worry about. As PP stated it might just be too much stimulation. With my son, he avoided eye contact, could only sleep if swaddled incredibly tight (sensory processing issue) and if he was rocked very hard (again sensory). He cried incessantly for no discernable reason, and missed almost all his milestones (rolled over, sat up, crawles, walked late). Only time will tell for sure but I always encorage parents to go with their gut and keep bringing up concerns to the Ped. We started Early Intervention before the official diagnosis at around 13 months and now at 5 hes doing really well. Hopefully, you'll never have to go through what we went through but i wanted to share our experience just in case it could be if some help to you.
    @ellemuffin Thanks so much for being willing to share.  Very helpful.  Did you find that your pediatrician was on board or did you have to seek out the EI yourself? At this point I have a feeling I'll have to push for more if issues persist.  It's scary when you're worried something is wrong but you're not sure!
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  • ali0608ali0608 member
    There is a special needs board on the bump, but unfortunately the people with the best advice left with the mass exodus to the proboards. If you can find Auntie, she is a wealth of knowledge.
    My opinion would be to research other warning signs and be in the look out. But no eye contact this early on could just mean over stimulation. My first son had some signs of autism when he was younger. It turns out he only had some sensory issues without autism. Either way, EI was invaluable to us.

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  • jodi1008jodi1008 member
    ElleMuffin said:

    By the time my oldest son was 3 months we could tell that something wasnt quite right but couldnt get a conclusive Autism diagnosis intil he was 18+ months. I would say that the eye contact concern alone isnt much to worry about. As PP stated it might just be too much stimulation. With my son, he avoided eye contact, could only sleep if swaddled incredibly tight (sensory processing issue) and if he was rocked very hard (again sensory). He cried incessantly for no discernable reason, and missed almost all his milestones (rolled over, sat up, crawles, walked late). Only time will tell for sure but I always encorage parents to go with their gut and keep bringing up concerns to the Ped. We started Early Intervention before the official diagnosis at around 13 months and now at 5 hes doing really well. Hopefully, you'll never have to go through what we went through but i wanted to share our experience just in case it could be if some help to you.

    We have a lot in common. My oldest son turned 3 in June and we got an autism diagnosis in May. He was a very dissatisfied baby he was not a good sleeper and didn't want to lay down in his bed, we had many troubles with that. He was not easy going with that. I started early intervention with him when he was 2. And as someone previously asked if our pediatrician recommended it... Actually no ours didn't, I did this all on my own since I went with my gut feeling. My son made eye contact and hit all his miles stones with the crawling, rolling over, laughing, smiling, walking etc and he's really coordinated but he was not talking like
    he should or imitating. He was also very stubborn. He would also do things and then regress. For example, say a word and then stop, go through a time of imitating clapping his hands and then stop.. Really good with eye contact and then stopped..And things like that. Our pedi just told me to find a speech therapist when I brought up to him he wasn't saying enough words. I then found out by researching companies to do early intervention through in our areas. He has autism and some sensory issues that also has made him a very picky eater. Food is another area he went backwards in as well. When he was 1 he would eat any of the baby foods and soft foods but once there was texture in the foods he got very sensitive to it and stopped eating things. Besides being very set in his ways and being a bad sleeper, he was meeting his other milestones until the age for speaking came up and that made me think much more into it. You pretty much never know when the signs will show up if there is another problem. I would give it some more time before you worry too much, at least wait until other milestones come up to be met :) I wouldn't wish our long journey on anyone else it's very difficult to face the facts I know I had a hard time as I got pregnant right when we began everything and that made it even more emotional going through it. Helping do all the therapies isn't easy with a huge pregnant belly and losing energy lol and then I found out I needed a c section and was concerned how I was going to maintain all of this with recovering from a surgery and a newborn. It all worked out fine I made pushed myself and we are all doing great. Since he's 3 early intervention has stopped and I'm in the process of trying to get him ABA therapy this year and then next year I'm looking into special education preschools.
    So far he's been fine with his brother, he will give him kisses and stare at him but isn't too interested in holding him. Easy so far but we will see what he thinks of him once he can try to grab toys lol
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  • mars8kmars8k member
    I suggest not googling anything as it could just freak you out, wait for your appt and i hope it's over stimulation or curiosity to the surroundings.

    I wish you both all the best
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  • ElleMuffinElleMuffin member
    @ladyteach0505 No problem! You probably have nothing to worry about right now but it is so awesome that youre taking the initiative to learn about this now. Hopefully you never have a kid on the spectrum but the statistics show that you probably do or will know someone thay does. My ped was totally not on board with an EI referral for some reason. It really gave us a false sense of security! My oldest is really classically autistic. He lined up toys, avoided eye contacy and tip toe walked. It was really hard to miss! An ASD diagnosis is like a blow to the gut...but then you catch your breath and keep going because your baby is still your amazing, beautiful baby.

    @jodi1008 I actually have 3 boys on the spectrum. My oldest is "moderately" affected, my 2 younger boys are in the mild range. The youngeat has what would've been doagnosed as Asbergers before the DSM changes.

    The pregnancy was really difficult for my oldest and he was agressive towards me towards the end. Change is really hard for him! Now that the baby's here its been better. He regressed a bit but we're recovering ground every day... the periods of regression are the hardest to get used to, i think! You're like but I KNOW you can do this and for whatever reason they just cant. Its so frustrating.

    We went from EI straight to Special Ed Pre School for all of our kids. My oldest is in a full day ABA K-2 program and gets some ABA at home twice a week. My youngest go to a school that does more Floortime/Greenspan type therapy. In the process of trying to get more home ABA for all of them. DM me anytime! Its so great to meet moms that "get" it!

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  • jodi1008jodi1008 member
    edited August 2015
    @ElleMuffin DM'ed you :)
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  • sailaplaysailaplay member
    I'd also consider having his eyes checked. It's possible he turns away because it becomes hard to see you. I was in glasses at 6 months.
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