Lack of eye contact/smiling

flowerpower

Tue, Aug 16 2016, 11:19 pm

Did he take a hearing test and pass it?
When you come into the room, does he calm down when he sees you?
When you talk to him and make him smile, will he ever do it?

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 12:52 am

Try placing your hands around his face so he can only look at you. Keep your face and eyes close enough, but not too close, to him. Manouver your face so that your eyes meet his eyes, and smile with yummy baby sounds and wait for a reaction. When you get one intensify the yummy baby sounds.

Have him checked and evaluated regardless of your findings with the above exercise.

amother

Dodgerblue

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 1:08 am

Good to get checked for your peace of mind, but to reassure you, my second to youngest did not smile at me until 3 months old. He is B"H perfectly normal.

EBY

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 1:15 am

Yup. My very normal 3 yr old did not smile or really change her expression atall until 4 months.

amother

Crimson

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 6:36 am

flowerpower wrote:

Did he take a hearing test and pass it?
When you come into the room, does he calm down when he sees you?
When you talk to him and make him smile, will he ever do it?

[quote="flowerpower"]

He passed his hearing test BH. He gets startled by noises. He doesn't calm down by just seeing me. Only if I hold him. He has cracked a smile a couple of times but I can talk to him and play and gently touch his cheeks and I get no response. Also he always stares to the side. I move my face to where he's looking and switches his stare to the other side. I know every kid develops differently. I just want some reassurance that this could be ok!

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 6:45 am

It may be okay, you still want to encourage him and make him feel good about "communicating", since it can grow along ch"v, or grow out of it iyh. It pays off countless times to put in the effort now.

amother

Seashell

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 6:52 am

One of mine also smiled pretty late, almost 3 month. He just has a more serious personality, even as a baby he was like that. I have a child on the autism spectrum who smiled at 2 months, so you never know. It's probably fine and kids do develop differently, but if your gut is telling you something, then get it checked out, it can't hurt. Back to my experience of having a kid with autism, a lot of people (including the doctor) tried to brush me off with the "every kid develops differently" line, so I'm definitely in favor of looking into things if you're really nervous, if it's nothing you have peace of mind, if there's a problem you can start treating it.

amother

Crimson

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 7:09 am

My doctor has the wait and see approach. He wasn't concerned when I pointed it out. He just said his baby the same age also doesn't smile or make eye contact yet. That doesn't really help me.

amother

Seashell

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 8:13 am

Unfortunately, I've learned not to trust doctors when it comes to development. If you're really concerned, you can request an evaluation on your own. I don't know that you really have to worry at such an early age, but again, given my experience, I will never ever tell a worried mother to ignore her concerns. Too many people did that to me, and it turned out I was right, I wasn't overreacting.

amother

Amber

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 11:46 am

I posted similarly a few months ago and just have to say I worried for nothing. Bh my baby Seems to do everything about a month late but now makes great eye contact and smiles and I was plenty nervous. Can't find my post or I would
Bump it up.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 12:48 pm

My DD stared right through me like I wasn't there until 3 months, and also didn't smile or babble until 3 months. She is adopted, so I was terrified that we weren't bonding properly.

Then one day, she was like "Oh hey, there you are!" From that day on she was practically glued to me.

I do agree with the posters who say to trust your instincts. If things don't pick up by 3 months, then definitely get a second opinion. In the meantime, just keep treating your child as if he is reacting to you. That input is reaching him on some level, you just don't know all the details yet.

octopus

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 1:23 pm

amother wrote:

Who is going to give an evaluation to a 2 month old?

amother

Cyan

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 1:31 pm

I know a baby who wasnt doing much, somehow it was figured out that he needed glasses. He was fine after that

amother

Seashell

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 2:29 pm

octopus wrote:

Who is going to give an evaluation to a 2 month old?

If there are enough concerns, they will check it out. Also, kids with known medical issues or severe prematurity (yes, I know, that doesn't seem to be op's case, just answering why kids that young may be evaluated or even given services).

amother

Aqua

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 2:41 pm

[quote="amother"]

flowerpower wrote:

He passed his hearing test BH. He gets startled by noises. He doesn't calm down by just seeing me. Only if I hold him. He has cracked a smile a couple of times but I can talk to him and play and gently touch his cheeks and I get no response. Also he always stares to the side. I move my face to where he's looking and switches his stare to the other side. I know every kid develops differently. I just want some reassurance that this could be ok!

My DD did same. Always looked to side...no eye contact.... similar to what you describe.
I had her evaluated and she began to receive services at 8 weeks old.

rachaelle

Wed, Aug 17 2016, 5:42 pm

octopus wrote:

Who is going to give an evaluation to a 2 month old?

Any trained professional working in early intervention. It's not unheard of.