When did your DC start to wave, clap and point at things?

[Anonymous]

My 10 months old does not do any of these things and I wonder if I should worry. When did your child start waving, clapping and pointing at things? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

My 11 mo DS started clapping a few weeks ago. He does point at things, but more in a "what is that?" kinda way (not a "I want that"). No waving yet!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 11 mo DS started clapping a few weeks ago. He does point at things, but more in a "what is that?" kinda way (not a "I want that"). No waving yet!

Thanks. That makes me feel a little better.

[Anonymous]

about 2 days after my doctor seemed concerned he wasnt doing it at 12 months.

[Anonymous]

DD waved around 9-10 months and started clapping right at 12 months. I wouldn't worry to much about it.

[Anonymous]

clapping - 8 months
pointing - 14 months
waving - has been inconsistent since about 12 months

responses seem all over the map, so I wouldn't worry too much.

[Anonymous]

Pointing - 12 months
Waving - inconsistently since 10 months

Clapping -- he's 12 months and hasn't started yet. We don't ever clap at home, so I wonder if that's why??

[Anonymous]

I was worried by 10 months, too, OP. Is this your first baby? It was mine and I read in "all the books" by when these things were supposed to happen. I also saw babies DC's age and sometimes younger doing them. DC was clapping around 10 months, pointing by 11, and was right around 12 when waving inconsistently. I'm not saying "don't worry" or that it's not important as it is good to be aware, but at this point just keep showing your baby how to do these things and chances are, your baby will just do it one day soon.

[Anonymous]

Mine is 10 mos in a couple days and *can* clap if you do/show him to, but won't do it spontaneously for any reason, but part of the "problem" is that WE don't clap, so he has no model. He'll reach for things he wants but not point yet, and doesn't wave. I wouldn't worry about it.

[Anonymous]

DD started clapping at 8 mos, pointing this morning (9 mos), and has no interest in waving. To be fair, we have no idea whether the pointing is deliberate, i.e. that she's indicating what she wants. She might just think it's cool to straighten one finger and reach out her arm, especially based on grownups' reaction. Oh, and we do clap a lot in the home, so I guess maybe that's a factor, as PPs noted, though it's always in response to her clapping. She started by trying to smash other things together and gradually got the slapping of the hands down. No idea if that's typical.

She was definitely slower to crawl, and I'd worry watching the other kids her age in our daycare, but now she's a speed demon. Right when she started crawling, another mom in our daycare commented that she was worried that her DS couldn't crawl yet. I told her that I'd noticed he could clap at 7 mos, and my DD was nowhere near that, so everyone was obviously on their own developmental timeline. It took a while for my own words to sink into my thick skull! I guess we all worry, sometimes needlessly, don't we?

[Anonymous]

Shortly after his one year checkup, he started pointing. I don't remember clapping or waving b/c I am not sure they were milestones the ped asked about while pointing was.

[Anonymous]

Waved at 6.5 months, pointed at 9 months, clapped 10.5 months. So, I guess ahead on some things, but he didn't roll over until 7 months, didn't crawl until this month (he just turned 11 months) and is taking steps already. Babies are ALL over the map. Please don't stress.

[Anonymous]

My son just started doing all of those things at once at 11 mos.

[Anonymous]

She started waving at 6 months, clapping at 6.5 months, no sign of pointing so far (she's 7.5 months). Been crawling for about a month. I stopped paying attn to milestones when I was freaking about her not rolling back and forth "on time". A coworker pointed out when I was worried that you wont be able to tell when she's applying to college whether she was an advanced roller/crawler, or not.

FYI her auntie and daddy usually greeted her by waving and saying "hi" for months. They also always sung songs while clapping to a beat. So I think thats why she does those things.

[Anonymous]

It's good to understand the reason babies wave and clap and point: they are communicating with us. I think these websites will help you recognize some of the many different ways babies communicate (cooing, smiling, raising eyebrows, and on and on...).

This is the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders (an unfortunate name when one is just trying to explain healthy development!). The co-founder of this website, Dr. Stanley I. Greenspan, was a renowned expert on autism, and by working with children who had been diagnosed with developmental problems he identified what he called the "six milestones" needed for healthy development. Dr. Greenspan recognized that each child is an individual (and some will clap "early" and others "late"); he also believed parents should have the information they need to understand and promote healthy development.
Please see:
http://www.icdl.com/dirFloortime/overview/SixDevelopmentalMilestones.shtml

And - the "Parenting Counts" center, funded by the nonprofit Talaris Foundation, is dedicated to bringing research-based information to parents. They have a lot of information, and a timeline of developmental stages. It is free, they do ask that users register (you can view some content without registering).
http://www.parentingcounts.org/overview.html

I hope you enjoy learning more about your amazing baby and about the importance of the time you spend interacting with her.

I'd love to hear what you think of these websites, what you found useful (or not), whether you'll return to them. I'm a student and interested in how best to offer information to parents.