u/Mortadela1990

Hi everyone. I have a little boy. He was born prematurely at 34 weeks gestation. He is now almost 10 months old chronologically and 9 months corrected age.

What worries me is that he seems quite serious. It's hard to make him laugh. When he's in a good mood and well-rested, he smiles at people he knows, but when it comes to actual laughter, I've only managed to make him laugh out loud a handful of times.

His eye contact seems okay. When we're in a place with lots of people and loud music, he tends to become very quiet and almost seems to "switch off." He babbles, but mostly to himself. If I repeat his sounds back to him, he usually stops instead of continuing the interaction.

He responds to his name, but not every time. Recently I taught him to give a high five. When I say "high five" and hold out my hand, he reaches out his hand for me to high five him.

He is happy being held by pretty much anyone and loves cuddling. If someone rocks him gently, he can lie calmly in their arms for up to half an hour with his eyes open, and people often think he's asleep because he's so still and quiet.

He spent the first 3 months of his life in the hospital because of feeding difficulties. During that time he received no physical therapy and wasn't even placed on his tummy. He has low muscle tone and significant motor delays. Right now we're working on tummy time and pushing up on his arms. At the moment he can do a low prop but not a full push-up position yet.

We recently saw a geneticist, who said his development is at the level of a 4-month-old baby. The appointment was at 7 p.m., and my son was already very tired, crying a bit, and not very interested in what was going on around him.

The doctor really worried me because he also said that my son seems developmentally delayed socially/cognitively, because he is too calm and doesn't pay much attention to him. Since then I've been losing my mind worrying that there may be something wrong intellectually as well.

I actually feel like he smiled more when he was 4–5 months old. When he sees me in the morning after the night, while lying in his crib, he looks at me and makes eye contact, but he doesn't seem particularly excited to see me.

Is this kind of behavior normal? Is it possible that my child will eventually catch up and "wake up" socially and developmentally? When he smiled and laughed more as a younger baby, he mostly just lay around because he wasn't physically able to do much. Now he loves spending time on his tummy.

Please reassure me that a calm, serious baby can still grow up to be a perfectly normal child.

Hi everyone. I have a little boy. He was born prematurely at 34 weeks gestation. He is now almost 10 months old chronologically and 9 months corrected age.

What worries me is that he seems quite serious. It's hard to make him laugh. When he's in a good mood and well-rested, he smiles at people he knows, but when it comes to actual laughter, I've only managed to make him laugh out loud a handful of times.

His eye contact seems okay. When we're in a place with lots of people and loud music, he tends to become very quiet and almost seems to "switch off." He babbles, but mostly to himself. If I repeat his sounds back to him, he usually stops instead of continuing the interaction.

He responds to his name, but not every time. Recently I taught him to give a high five. When I say "high five" and hold out my hand, he reaches out his hand for me to high five him.

He is happy being held by pretty much anyone and loves cuddling. If someone rocks him gently, he can lie calmly in their arms for up to half an hour with his eyes open, and people often think he's asleep because he's so still and quiet.

He spent the first 3 months of his life in the hospital because of feeding difficulties. During that time he received no physical therapy and wasn't even placed on his tummy. He has low muscle tone and significant motor delays. Right now we're working on tummy time and pushing up on his arms. At the moment he can do a low prop but not a full push-up position yet.

We recently saw a geneticist, who said his development is at the level of a 4-month-old baby. The appointment was at 7 p.m., and my son was already very tired, crying a bit, and not very interested in what was going on around him.

The doctor really worried me because he also said that my son seems developmentally delayed socially/cognitively, because he is too calm and doesn't pay much attention to him. Since then I've been losing my mind worrying that there may be something wrong intellectually as well.

I actually feel like he smiled more when he was 4–5 months old. When he sees me in the morning after the night, while lying in his crib, he looks at me and makes eye contact, but he doesn't seem particularly excited to see me.

Is this kind of behavior normal? Is it possible that my child will eventually catch up and "wake up" socially and developmentally? When he smiled and laughed more as a younger baby, he mostly just lay around because he wasn't physically able to do much. Now he loves spending time on his tummy.

Please reassure me that a calm, serious baby can still grow up to be a perfectly normal child.