Reply to "Autism symptoms seen in babies" - how/when do you stop worrying?

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Reply to ""Autism symptoms seen in babies" - how/when do you stop worrying?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]How old is your baby now? I've read about a pull to sit test that can be used by ages 4 to 6 months to test for head lag associated with autism or cerebral palsy. Not to add any reason for worry since the odds are greatly on the side of your baby being perfectly healthy! [/quote]

OP here.  Wow, thanks!  He's nearly 6 months, but he was six weeks early, so he's about 4.5 adjusted.  I had never heard there was head lag associated with autism.  He's doing pretty well at raising his head when pulled to sit so that would be a relief.  :-)   But I probably shouldn't be indulging this anxiety at all!

PP's are right -- I'm going to love this little boy no matter what.  No point borrowing worry.  I'm one of the people who posted in Expectant Parents section about fears that my baby had dwarfism because he had a really really short femur compared to head circumference at a late ultrasound.  I freaked and googled dwarfism for two weeks obsessively until someone posted something like, "What does it matter at this point?  You can't stop dwarfism, you aren't going to terminate, so you're just going to love your baby no matter what."  And she was right.  It's a bit tricker with autism since early intervention can make such a difference, but still.  I'm going to love him no matter what, and there's not really anything else we'd be doing now that we're not doing, so I ought to just try to shout down these fears and enjoy him.  Right? [/quote]

OP - you are going to have to calm down. My son was six weeks early and all of his milestones have been delayed. It is not uncommon with preemies, and often, those delays look like autism at certain stages. My son is only 22 months now, so we are by no means out of the woods, but he had the head lag, was late to sit, and did not walk until 15 months. Now we are dealign with speech delays. But, and this is only a but, all evaluators that have looked at him have noted that he has no autistic traits. Prematurity dramatically increases the risk for delays, and often, those delays are "red flags" for autism. So, please internalize this -- because your kid is a preemie you are going to have to give him a little more time. I am an anxiety nut and all of these delays have caused me so much grief, but I have finally accepted that worrying is not going to help anything. Guided optimism is your goal. If there is an issue, you will address it when you can. That is all you can do.

Do go talk to someone about PPD -- it often manifests as anxiety about the baby's health.

And one thing is for sure -- this time flies by, regardless if your kid has SN or is NT, and you are going to love that kid like crazy. Don't waste one second of being there worrying about what might be.[/quote]

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