shaking head

[johnlinda]

I have a 10 month old boy born via c-section (full-term) apgars were 9/10 (completely normal pregnancy-I was 35 years old when he was born).  Anyway he seems to be perfectly normal.  He has great eye contact and expressions ( laughing and loves interacting with people) .  He is crawling, pulling up on furniture, getting very close to walking.  He makes lots of different noises like mama, dada, and then a fussing type noise when he is mad.  Anyway, my question is sometimes he goes through a period of time when he shakes (turns head side to side) his head back and forth for maybe 30 seconds.  We first started noticing it when he was very tired.  There is no seizure activity because you can call his name and he will stop. He also occasionally  rocks back and forth when he is in his play-yard or highchair.  Are these behaviors any thing to be worried about? Are they a sign of autism?  I also forgot to mention that he is our first and he is at home with me.( No child care) I guess we just do know what babies do because we haven't been around any babies.  Thanks for your time in answering my question.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

No, this is not a sign of autism or, for that matter, any obvious problem. Such behavior in a ten-month-old is very normal, particulalrly when the child is fatigued. You needn't be alarmed about this behavior. Your son appears to be developing fine. I assume his pediatrician is guiding you along the same lines.

[blondie111]

No problem at all, any time

[johnlinda]

Thanks for your comment! I appreciate your time!

[blondie111]

I don't think there is anything to be worried about what so ever, i would take it that he enjoys doing this, or maybe when he first started shaking his head you had a worried look on your face so he kept on doing this, thats my opinion, alot of kids and babies go through banging there heads off things so i think its just a phase maybe, or it could be attention thing, i hope i was of some help to you.