Expert: Jene Aviram - 5/20/2010

Question
My child is four month old. He likes spining of cieling fan. He has good eye contact when I cuddle him. But when i try to have him sit with support, his neck is always down and he does not make a good eye contact rather he try to see objects on wall, here and there etc. He smiles when someone smiles at him. I want to know if there is any problem with him like autism etc. Also I did not take folic acid tablet regularly in the first three months. Is there any relation between folic acid deficiency and Autism.

Answer
Hi,

You have absolutely NO reason to worry about autism.  Millions of people never take folic acid in their pregnancy and their babies are just fine.  At four months old your child's vision is still developing.  Babies this age never sustain eye contact.  They are learning about the world around them and looking at everything that catches their eye.  Their attention span is really short right now.  Watching a spinning fan at 4 months old is absolutely fine - and normal.  So please don't worry about autism.  I would definitely check with your pediatrician about head control.  Most babies can hold their head up alone at three months.  It's probably nothing but it's always worth mentioning just in case you can do anything to help your child along.

Please try to relax and enjoy your baby. There's no reason for you to be concerned about autism.

Jene Aviram
http://www.nlconcepts.com