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114870 tn?1210298346

6 month old motor skills

My son is 6.5 months old, seems to develope fine, very active, responsive and overall normal.  He is not sitting yet on his own, but will sit with support of a boppy pillow.  Also since he was very little we noticed he is always twirling his right hand and feet, mainly when he is anxious or sometimes just for no reason.  So today I went with him to his pediatrician because he developed a cold and she saw that he is not sitting up yet.  She became concerned in addition to the hand/wrist twirling.  She is saying that the hand twirling is a sign of a delay in motor skills. I asked how she managed to associate the hand twirling to delay in motor skills and she said that she seen that in other kids and her doughter  was very delayed in her motor skills and also did the hand twirl.  

I know 6-7 months is the age range when they are suppose to sit up on their own because my older son sat up on his own at 6.5 months and did everything on target but started walking at 14 months.  Now my 6.5 month old rolled over at 4.5 months, plays and reaches for his toys, perfectly stands on his feet, loves to bounce, talks as much as he can, loughs non stop, reaches for his passy in the crib and sticks it back in his mouth, so pretty much does it all for his age.  Im just not sure how the doctor so quickly assumes that he is delayed in motor skills.   He is the 2nd child and his father and I work all the time and maybe we do not spend as much time with him as possible on the floor but I dont think he has a delay in MS.  

Does anyone know any association of hand twirling to any type of child behavior delay or is it a sign of something else.

Thanks
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114870 tn?1210298346
Hi there and thank you so much for replying to my post about my little 6 month old boy.
I am a little upset about the appointment with the doctor today only because she assumed he is delayed without even finding out all the other things he is already doing and accomplished.  In my eyes I feel like he is developing fine, except the sitting up part.  That we are going to put more time and effort into.  Both my husband and I are self employed and been very busy this entire year opening another business.  I know we have not done as much as we should or did with our first son.  This baby we "baby" him as we know he is probobly our last baby.  So when we do have free time with him we rather cuddle and play then doing floor time and excercises.  But im just so curious to know how does hand twirling relate to motor skills development delay.  He seems very strong.  Stands so good on his feet, has a strong grip and everything.  I always looked at the hand twirl more in a hyper or active point of view. My 3 yr old boy is super active and is a perfect example of a tough boy so assuming my 2nd is going to be the same way.  I tried to google the baby hand twirling and cannot find any info.  Im so confused about this its driving me nutts.  Again, thanks for the reply and your help.

Fiana
Helpful - 0
13167 tn?1327194124
Hazel,  I understand that it makes you defensive to hear from your pediatrician that she thinks your baby has a developmental delay.  But that's way better than a doc missing it.

I think I've seen what you're talking about in my nephew.  It does tend to be a sign of delayed motor skills - which doesn't have to  mean that much.  My nephew was always al little physically delayed - and is still weak from a muscular standpoint.  He's a trombone player in the high school marching band and is headed to one of the 2 top colleges in Texas.  He's doing fine - he's just  . . . not on the top physically.

Your doctor expressing concern and referring your son for some kind of assessment and therapy isn't going to create a deficit in your son.  Take the help - he may be perfectly fine,  or he may benefit from the help.  

Best wishes.   Your family photos are gorgeous!
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