Expert: Jene Aviram - 7/20/2009

Question
Hi Jene,

I have a concern regarding my 9 month old son. He doesn't seem to be interested in clapping or banging things together.  Another concern that I have is his HC growth.  He was 5 percent at birth and at 6 months 15 percent, 7 month 23 percent, 8th month at 28 percent and now at 32 percent at nine months.  He also increased his weight and height percentage which is now both 90-95 percent.  His pedia told me that he is just growing and his head growth is not disproportionate to his body growth but i am still overly concerned.

Pros:
great eye contact
babbles
interacts with me and his daddy.  likes to cuddle with me more though.
cries when i leave but is easily soothed.
has some form of joint attention. like he would look at what im pointing and would look at a puppet that im holding and look at me (back and forth)
converses with me.  raises arms to be picked up.
good gross motor. crawling and cruising.
good pincer.  feeds himself and can drink from a cup with my help.
plays peek a boo
likes being read to.
"checks in" with me when hes doing something
responds to name 80-90 percent of the time
passes the tilt test 90-99 percent of the time
loves his cheerios and easy to feed

con
no interest in clapping or waving
bangs things on a surface but not together
head growth worries me.
easily gets bored with his toys
still cant sleep through the night.  still needs to feed

He is generally a happy and smiley baby and loves to cuddle. I don't know if im just a worrywart first time mom :( please help me.

Belinda

Answer
Hi Belinda,

When we have our first baby, we suddenly start to worry about everything!  Life is never the same again.  I really think you have no cause for concern.  Let me address the concerns you mentioned.

Your baby is growing well, and as your pediatrician says, his head growth is in proportion to the rest of his growth.  You can't ask for more.  You will find that he might drop in percentile as he becomes more active and starts moving around.  I truly don't think his weight or HC is a concern.

He might not be interested in clapping or waving right now but this will change.  I would not be concerned about it.  Something else to note is that we are all different.  Even if he's never interested in clapping or waving, that still doesn't mean he has a problem.  You have to have many criteria of atypical development to signify a problem.

With regards to banging things on a surface instead of together, I think you can erase this concern from your mind.  He is now beginning to experiment and learn all about the world around him.  This is totally fine.

Nine month old babies have a very short attention span.  If you told me that he spent hours fixated on specific toys I would be more concerned.  But that he loses interest in his toys fast is totally fine.  You'll see that this will change.  As he matures and develops finger dexterity, he'll learn that manipulating his toys is lots of fun.

I don't think not sleeping through the night is a concern, however I do think that it's become a habit for him to wake up and want to eat.  You can probably wean him off this slowly and make him last longer through the  night, until eventually he sleeps right through.  It's not something I would recommend to a small baby but since your son is at the 90th percentile, you have the leverage to do this.  Many pediatricians recommend strategies to wean your child off this behavior, while others say "Keep getting up and feed them."  It must be very tiring for you too!  I would talk to your pediatrician about this and get his suggestions.  

With regards to all the Pro's you mentioned, your baby sounds like he is developing right on track.  He is perfectly social and tuned in to you.  Just so you know, I would be hard pressed to find a baby on the autism spectrum that has joint attention, raises his arms to be picked up and checks in with you.  I believe that everything is perfectly fine with your son.

Enjoy him!

Jene Aviram
http://www.nlconcepts.com