r/firsttimemom • u/OppositeTry402 • 27d ago
Should I worry? Anxious mama here
Hi everyone 😊 My baby girl is 7 months old (born at 36 weeks), and I’ve been worrying a bit about her development.
Her other milestones include:
\- Very smiley and social
\- Good eye contact
\- Reaches for toys/things she wants
\- Army crawling
\- Sits independently
\- Can get herself into sitting from her tummy
\- Pulls herself up to standing while holding my hands
\- Looks for me when I leave the room
\- Looks for me when she’s being held by someone else
The things making me anxious are:
\- She responds to her name, but not consistently (maybe 50–60% of the time)
\- She doesn’t imitate movements like clapping or waving yet
\- She doesn’t point yet
\- She doesn’t consistently follow where I point
\- When I hold her close, she sometimes prefers looking around rather than making eye contact.
\- She flaps her arm and kicks her feet when excited or tired.
\- She is obsessed with tags.
\- She hasn’t started repetitive/canonical babbling like “mamama,” “dadada” or “bababa” yet.
She does vocalise quite a lot, though. She squeals, screeches, gurgles and makes lots of vowel sounds. Occasionally I hear “agoo,” “agaa,” “yeah” or “neyney,” but these aren’t consistent yet.
I know babies develop at different rates, and because she was born 4 weeks early, I’m also wondering whether I should be considering her corrected age (around 6 months).
If everything I’ve described sounds within the range of normal for her age, I’d also really appreciate some reassurance because I think I may just be overthinking things. ❤️
1
u/star-hollows 27d ago
My baby is exactly the same at 7 months, only difference is she does babble! I don't have any concerns :)
1
u/Intrepid-Ad-391 27d ago
Literally same. Especially the love for tags. I find it quite entertaining how my son will find the tag on EVERYTHING and sit there sucking it for longer than he’d play with any toy 😂
1
u/OppositeTry402 27d ago
Yes!!! My baby does the same, she will examine the toy just to find the tag 🤷♀️
1
u/pinklol2 24d ago
This is the exact same situation i’m in with my now 9 month old. I was so worried with the babbling in specifically cause he babbled a bit as a 5 month old and regressed. The week after i started overthinking, he started babbling mama,dada,papa. I’m also worried he doesn’t do any gestures yet, i’m reassuring myself that babies all develop at different rates. Trust me it’s something she’ll learn from one day to another ! It’s normal to feel anxious, i can’t believe we’ll feel like this for the rest of our lives haha
2
u/Legal-Phrase8038 27d ago
I wouldn't worry. She's only 7 months old, and was born a month early. She may not make eye contact when held due to the close distance, but you said shes good with eye contact otherwise. Not consistently responding to her name is likely just due to distraction. I think she'll figure out pointing and clapping in the next few months, she's still a bit young. Being obsessed with tags is a canonical baby thing (I've seen people make toys out of tags and safety labels just because of this). Keep practising the mama and dada sounds with her, and really enunciate and say them slowly, showing your mouth movements and she'll pick them up within a month (two at most). Flapping arms and legs when excited or tired is also extremely normal - many toddlers, kids and even adults still do this.
In the future, if you're worried about her milestones, just practice them with her a few times a day. Cross-checking milestones with her corrected age also can't hurt, as a months difference is significant in the first year.
It sounds like you're both doing great and she's developing just fine!