Check for autism. My kid started off lightly and we paid no attention, and then just kept doing as he grew older.

Twice in a month is normal, OP. The movement of hand flapping is a kind of self-soothing and it's not unique to autism. It's not a thing you have to be on the lookout for in this way.

Is he in a preK? Can you talk to the preK teacher about it? it's pretty normal in young kids, but the teacher could tell you if he is doing it excessively or if there are other behaviors that raise a red flag.

When is normal to stop? DS did this until like 5-6. Slowly we taught him to replace it with a fist pump. He’s 7 and seems to have grown out of it.

Unless there are other behaviors that concern you I wouldn’t worry.

Normal

Anonymous wrote:It's normal for little kids to hand flap. It's when they don't outgrow it that it becomes a sign of a problem.

This.

Anonymous wrote:It's called stimming.

It’s also called normal.

It's called stimming.

It's normal for little kids to hand flap. It's when they don't outgrow it that it becomes a sign of a problem.

I doubt you have anything to worry about, but it's worth showing a video to the pediatrician. Without knowing exactly what it looks like, it's impossible to say what it is.

Totally normal.

I wouldn't sweat it. He's young.

I don’t think it’s a big deal unless there are other forms of stim.

I’ve seen my 2.5 year old do this twice in the last month when excited. He use to flap his hands when excited when he was below 18 months but stopped around then. Is occasional hand flapping normal for 2.5 - 3 year olds? When should it be completely eliminated?