Question
Does a four-month-old baby need a neurological evaluation? My baby is four months old and I’ve noticed that she doesn’t respond very quickly to the outside world. For example, when we go outdoors, she doesn’t seem very excited; when someone plays with her, she doesn’t laugh, and sometimes she doesn’t even look at people, often frowning (she’s done this since birth). When I hold her on my lap, she often curls up, looking down, her tiny feet always tense, as if she’s very tense. She doesn’t laugh out loud much either; she’s only laughed out loud twice, and often just opens her mouth without making a sound. At home, however, she will flail her arms and legs and scream loudly; sometimes she will even roll over quickly to sleep on her stomach. In the last two days, she has been able to lift her waist off the bed using the strength of her shoulders and feet for more than a second. Her little hands seem more nimble now, as she can clasp them together and grab things; she can also squeeze my fingers tightly, and sometimes she will touch my face or pull my hair. Today at the hospital, when the doctor tapped on her ear with a pen and made a sound, she showed no reaction. Later, when he shone a flashlight in front of her, she still didn’t react until he shone it into her eyes, and then she started turning her head quickly with the flashlight. The doctor tried to get her to stand up, but she often stands on the tips of her toes (though tonight when I let her stand up, she could stand flat-footed; just that her body was not straight and her bottom was sticking out). So the doctor suggested that I have a neurological examination done. I want to know if this is necessary? I’m really sad, and if there really is something wrong, I’m afraid I won’t…