Marking Milestones with Premies...

Hello,
Both my boys were born early, 10 and 9 weeks. You will want to use her "corrected age". Her corrected age is your original due date. Or her current age minus the 5 weeks. You can expext to do this until she is 2 years old. So she may do things at a slower pace. Good luck!

I also have a "preemie" that was born 4 andhalf weeks early and I have never treated her as such. I do not understand all of it! there is and acceptable range as far as normal goes. Just enjoy her and do not worry so much!! Time goes by so fast and if you are worried about this you are not going to enjoy her.

wife and mother of 4

I know it's hard, but try not to focus on the milestones too hard. Every baby will develop differently and at different times, no matter when they were born in their gestational cycle. But if you are looking for a straight answer, then measure her milestones by the gestational age, so her age now minus 5 weeks.

I have a 9-month old son who was born 7 weeks early. We just had the 9-month check-up and when the doctor started asking developmental questions I had to answer "no" to a lot of them. It's a little disheartening, but she said, "Don't worry, he's a preemie." He's such a robust little guy, it's easy to expect him to be doing all the 9-month stuff, but the fact is he'll always be just a little behind. Keep in close contact with your doctor so that she can tell you if you need to worry. Other than that, enjoy your baby!

Hi as a mother of two premies one born 10 weeks early and the other 8 weeks early, I believe it is important to measure them against milestones based on their gestational age, meaning their original due date. I have found with my two that if I back dated them 2 months they were on track with other babies and I marked their milestones based on that. Of course how you choose to mark milestones is whichever way works best for you. However when looking at literature on what they should be doing at certain ages, you should look to their original due date. By about 24 months (from due date) my oldest was pretty much caught up with children her same age by birthdate. My youngest is only 8 months but I suspect she will catch up by about the same time. Hope this helps.

T.

Until your child is at least a year old, go by her due date. She will be behind in some things, but obviously not all, until that point. Each child is different in their developement, and preemies tend to be a little behind for the first year or so. In nursing school, I did a "Denver Developmental Screening Test" on two siblings who were both born premature. Each boy was behind in some areas, and ahead on others... and each child was different from his brother. Talk to your pediatrician if you have any concerns about your child's developement.

Maggie was 7 weeks early and is now about a year and a half old. I just read two months of any book that came by about development and tried to keep all the milestones in mind. It probably isn't a bad idea to do anyway because all kids are different in how they grow.