Baby Not Showing Things to Parents
The short answer
Showing objects to share interest, such as holding up a toy for you to see, typically develops between 10 and 14 months. This is a key joint attention skill that demonstrates your baby wants to share experiences with you. If your child is not showing objects to share by 15 months, mention it to your pediatrician, as it is an important social communication milestone.
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By Age
What to expect by age
Babies are beginning to develop joint attention. They may follow your gaze and look at things you point to. Showing objects has not yet developed. They focus primarily on exploring objects themselves.
Some babies begin holding up objects to show them to caregivers. This is different from reaching to ask for help. When showing, the baby holds the object up and looks at your face to share the experience.
Showing objects is typically well-established. Your baby may bring you a book, hold up a toy, or display a found object with clear excitement about sharing. This skill is closely related to joint attention and pointing.
If your child has never shown you objects to share by 15 months, especially alongside limited pointing and reduced eye contact, a developmental screening is recommended. These joint attention skills are important early social communication milestones.
Showing objects continues alongside other sharing behaviors. Children bring things to show and tell about. Absence of these sharing behaviors at this age warrants evaluation.
What Should You Do?
When to take action
- Your baby is under 12 months and is not yet holding up objects to show
- Your baby shows objects to familiar people but not strangers
- Your baby shows objects sometimes but not consistently
- Your baby is beginning to point and show around 12 months
- Your baby is over 15 months and has never held up objects to share interest
- Your baby explores objects alone without any desire to share the experience with you
- Absent showing is combined with limited pointing, reduced eye contact, and not responding to name
- Your baby shows no joint attention behaviors of any kind by 15 months, including no showing, pointing, or gaze sharing
- Your baby had been showing objects and has stopped alongside other skill regression
Sources
Related Resources
Trust your instincts. If something feels wrong, reach out to your pediatrician.
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Related Behavior Concerns
Baby Not Sharing Attention (No Joint Attention)
Joint attention - the ability to share focus on something with another person - is one of the most important social-communication skills that develops between 9 and 14 months. It includes following someone's point or gaze, pointing to show you something interesting, and looking back and forth between you and an object. This skill is the foundation for language learning and social development.
My Baby Isn't Pointing
Pointing typically develops between 12 and 14 months and is considered one of the most important social communication milestones. It shows your baby wants to share their world with you. If your baby isn't pointing by 18 months, a developmental evaluation is recommended - but there are lots of other ways babies start communicating that are worth noticing too.
Baby Not Handing Objects to Others
Giving objects to others, either when asked or spontaneously, typically develops between 10 and 14 months. This skill reflects both social communication and the ability to release a grasped object intentionally. If your child does not give objects by 15 to 16 months, mention it at your next well-child visit.
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Rough-and-tumble play — wrestling, chasing, play-fighting, and superhero battles — is a normal and important part of child development, particularly for toddlers and preschoolers. It helps children develop physical coordination, social skills, self-regulation, and an understanding of boundaries. The key distinction between normal rough play and concerning aggression is whether both children are having fun, there is turn-taking in roles, and no one is intentionally trying to hurt the other.
My Toddler Is Aggressive Toward Pets
Toddlers being rough with pets is extremely common and almost never reflects true aggression or cruelty. Young children lack the motor control to be consistently gentle and do not yet understand that animals feel pain the way they do. With patient, consistent teaching about gentle touch and close supervision, most toddlers learn to interact safely with pets by age 3-4.
My Baby Doesn't Seem Attached to Anyone
By 7-9 months, most babies show clear preferences for their primary caregivers and some wariness of unfamiliar people. If your baby seems equally comfortable with everyone and shows no distress when separated from caregivers, it may simply reflect an easy-going temperament. However, if combined with other social differences, it can occasionally warrant further discussion with your pediatrician.