Expert: Jene Aviram - 5/8/2009

Question
My seven months old baby sometimes tries to avoid eye contact?
most of the time my seven months old daughter (6 months adjusted as she was born 6 weeks early) is very engaging. People always comment on how social she is. But sometimes she avoids eye contact. For example, if you pick her up and put above you or very close to you she will turn delibertly her eyes away (most of the time when you do this). I am worried about autism. Thanks

Answer
Hi Jenya,

I know it's hard not to worry.  Once we have babies, we worry about everything!  Your daughter is very young to detect autism.  Although some markers are present before, it's hard to diagnose a child before they are 18 months old.  However, in retrospect, many people noticed certain things when they look back.

People noticed that when feeding their babies, the baby never looked at them.  They noticed their babies never being interested in other people's faces.  They noticed their baby being extremely cranky and they could never seem to calm them down no matter what they tried.  Or it was the reverse - their baby was so easy and needed so little it had them concerned.  

As markers go, intermittent eye contact at close range is NOT one of them.  And therefore it sounds like your daughter is doing perfectly fine.  It's great how social she is, especially if others have noticed it too.  It's hard for 7.5 month old babies to focus.  They are still developing their vision.  It's very likely that close range is throwing her off.  It truly doesn't sound like you have anything to be concerned about.  Of course, as with any worry, you can always keep an eye on your daughter as she grows, but my guess is that she is going to be just fine.

I hope this has been of some help.

Jene Aviram
http://www.nlconcepts.com