Is This Normal????

I wouldn't worry at all about the swaddling. I know a little girl who loved it until she was over a year old and she is completely typical now at over 2 years old. It's a comfort thing for the kid.

I have a master's in early childhood special education and I can tell you that the main things to pay attention to in young children with regards to autism is eye contact, responding to his name (by his first birthday), and being interested in and responding to other people. Plus autism isn't usually diagnosed until at least 1.5 years old, and more common when they are too, so it's a little early to tell. Share you concern with your pediatrician at your 9 or 12 month appt so that they can be on the lookout for other possible signs just in case.

I hate to say it the first thing i though before you mentioned it was autism. There are other signs though too. does he make and keep eye contact with you? can he sit up and play? I dont know all the whats about autism but I would look into it. I have two boys and my first hated being swaddled and the second one grew out of it about three months. I hate to scare you but look into it.

A.,

My son absolutely hated being swaddled with a passion. If we'd wrap him up he would fight, scream and wiggle until he got his hands free. My daughter loved it, but only when she was beyond sleepy and needed some help getting to sleep. She was around 7 months when she finally decided that she was done being swaddled.

I wouldn't worry too much about it just yet. Have you tried just cuddling with him close to you? That may, or may not, work instead of the swaddling. I think it is just a comfort thing and that he'll grow out of it when he's ready.

I have to add that this part: "Thing is, he's doing everything else on time or early. He sits up, rolls over, crawls, pulls himself to a standing position, makes eye contact consistently, coos and gurgles and squeals, bangs things together, uses the pincer grip, is feeding himself "real" food (ie: spaghetti noodles with a little sauce, mac and cheese, etc) with his hands... He even plays with the cats (ok, so he pulls on their fur and tails, and tries to put them in his mouth. But he's only 8 months, so that's normal)." made me laugh, that could be either of my kids.

Hope this helps,
Melissa

Totally normal! It's not about being a boy or a girl. It's aobut being a different person and being on his own pace.
Take care!

A., I would like to respond to you on this. I have three children - a 7 year old daughter, a 5 year old son, and a year old daughter. The older two are both on the autistic spectrum. My daughter is very high-functioning and we did not get a diagnosis for her until she was about five, my son would probably be described as having classic autism and he was diagnosed when he was about three. The signs to watch for are eye contact (which you said your little guys is doing), speech development (is a sign, but cannot be taken alone), unusual behavior patterns (such as hand flapping), lack of imaginative play (i.e. does not pretend to be talking on the telephone), lining up toys in straight lines. Your little man does not sound autistic to me. Typically you will either see signs from birth or the signs will start showing up at 18 months of age. Of course, for me I started recognizing the signs in my son at about 18 months, but when I thought back over it, he had shown them from birth. There are a couple of websites that you can go to and fill out questionairres if you are really concerned. One of them is: http://www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html And another is: http://www.firstsigns.org/healthydev/milestones.htm I hope this helps. J.

It's the only way my daughter would sleep as a baby. :)

Don't worry. Enjoy your beautiful boy.

Just to hear another voice. It sounds perfectly in the range of normal to me. My boy who's now 21 months, loves to be bundled before going to sleep. Now are are to just two layers of PJ's and the blanket tucked around. He shows no signs of autism. And is a bright happy healthy kid (I could use a little less stubbornness but oh well!)