11 Month Old - Delay

He sounds like he may be a little behind but I wouldn't say a whole 6mos. behind.

They're best bet is the have a 12mo. check-up and tell the doctor exactly what he's doing or not doing.

My daughter was 2mos. premature and caught up by her first birthday. My nephew was 3 mos.+ premature and it took him til he was almost 2 to catch up at most things.At his first birthday party he couldn't sit up, or feed himself.He also has mild cerebal palsy. If he is behind and it's because of the colic or something he could totally catch up. If it's a permanant problem like cerebral palsy, down syndrome, etc... he may never catch up or it may take him longer. You would just have to have a doctor evaluate this.There's alot of babies with serious problems that go totally undetected. And there are alot of babies that don't look like they have cerebral palsy, down syndrome, etc....Sometimes they look absolutely normal.

I haven't had much experience with this, however, when I've talked to moms with colic baby's, I think it is typical to have developmental delays. Sitting up, or crawling, talking, etc. I've heard of some parents bring their colic baby's to speech/physical therapist. That seems extreme, but what happens is, the baby doesn't use the correct muscles to move around properly, yet their bodies still grow. When they get to the point that their body and their heads just become too big for their little muscles to move, so a therapist will work with the child to build the muscles that will lead to more movement, and eventually, the child will start to move more. After a while, the childs muscles will grow strong enough to carry the rest of their body's around, specifically their head. They sometimes become top heavy. Their head is just too big for their little leg, back and neck muscles to keep up, so they fall down alot or just spend alot of time on their backs instead. Something to think about.

My son had reflux and lactose intollerance and screamed for the first 10 months of his life, but we had no delays with him. In fact, I think in some ways it made him stronger (it takes a lot of muscles to scream like that!). It does sound like he may be a couple of months behind (it sounds like he's doing what my 9 month old neice is doing), but probably not a huge concern.

There was 16 months difference in my son and my nephew. My son was walking and talking before age 1 but I also ran a day care out of my home with my son as the youngest. My nephew didn't have as much interaction with children older than him (by older I mean a year, give or take). I always felt it was this that caused the supposed "delays" not his development. Once he started at a daycare (his parents had older family members watching him til he was just over a year), my nephew started to do all those things you expect.

Maybe if your nephew spent more time at your house, or on play dates with children of different ages, this would help. Some new parents also don't know that they can interact with their child. You know, the talking to them as if they can talk to you and such. Yes, it makes you feel foolish at 1st in public but hey, it's worth it.

My first was EXTREMELY colicy!!!! She just graduated from the Nursing program at her Techincal High School, valedictorian of 458 students, a year early. So...for me it didn't affect her. Is he a bigger baby? Sometimes bigger babies don't "move" as quickly as smaller babies. Is the pediatrician concerned?

I wouldn't say that if he has a developmental delay it is because of colic. My son had SEVERE colic for his first 3 months and he has not had any issues developmentally. I guess I wouldn't be too worried. Some kids walk at 9 mo, some don't do it until 18 months and both are considered normal developmentally. My guess is that your brother is concerned but loves his son and doesn't want to share those concerns with others right now. A lot of people feel if they vocalize a concern, that makes the problem real and they don't want to do that.

Do you have a child/teen check up near you? WIC can tell you where the closest one is located. They screen children and tell you how they are developing and checks over their health as well. I always took my kids there. I know every child does develope diffrently and you cannot compare children, but if the parents are worried I would bring them in to get checked over to smooth away any worries or atleast get some recommendations if needed :)

I have a globally delayed daughter and my best advice would be to call the local school district and have an early intervention evaluation done. They will come to the house and see the child and make recommendations as to whether the child needs PT or OT. If he does need services they will come to the house twice a week and work with him - FOR FREE. My daughter started getting services at 12 months and now that she's 3 she goes to special ed preschool twice and week and gets her services there.
Good luck and email me if you have any other questions,
J.
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