The title says it all. Im a first time mommy so please be understanding that I dont know much so if you think im pushing it im really not. I just want to know if it is okay that he isnt quite doing it yet. Also, How do i teach him to clap and point? He really doesn't like to sit still at all so its hard to get him to look at me and stay there. Thanks in advance for you girls advice :)
Don't compare your baby with other babies but you can look at some milestones just as a guide.
Here are a couple to check out.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/infant-development/FL00101
http://www.babycenter.com/303_12-months_###-###-####.bc
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/P...
http://www.baby-medical-questions-and-answers.com/infant-...
My son wasn't pointing or clapping at 12 months either. He's 16 months and does now. Don't worry too much about it. Boys would rather be walking and running than slowing down to clap or point. My son only recently started pointing. I think it's because we really don't point much ourselves. So I just started making more of a point to well, point at something when talking to him about it. With clapping, I did more teaching than modeling. I simply started clapping over something fun and happy. I'd hold his hands to make him clap at first. Then he quickly figured out it's something you do to celebrate, plus the happy reinforcement from mom and dad helped.
Right around 12 months I just let go and stopped worrying about little developmental things that he wasn't doing. I've had a much more relaxed fun time since I stopped waiting for the next thing to happen.
I was just discussing this with my 15 month old's physical therapist today, how funny! (he has scoliosis so its not for things like clapping, etc.) and she said that he is just too busy working on major or large motor skills instead of fine ones or learning to point, talk, clap, etc. It really means that each baby is his/her own person. Relax, and talk to the doc at his 12 month check up if you're concerned. I wouldn't be yet.
If he is a busy guy, he is probably just too busy to do " boring " stuff like that. One of my kids was way too busy playing , for those things.
Is he hitting all of his other developmental milestones? If so, I really wouldn't worry! He is probably cruising/crawling, trying to walk, able to roll over, able to grab toys, wants to make his trucks/cars "go," babbling... if he's doing that stuff, then the clapping and pointing will come when he wants to do them. One of my daughters never rolled over (seriously - never rolled over) and HATED tummy time with a passion. She also refused to crawl. I was beside myself as a first-time mom! I thought my baby was defective! LOL But it just turned out that she wanted to do things HER way (a recurring theme in her life, as it turns out, haha). She is a lovely ballerina now at 10 years old, so the refusal to roll over was NOT an indicator of anything other than the fact that she just didn't see any need to roll over. :)
Anyway, enjoy your little guy! They grow up way too fast.
