My son was born 6 weeks early and he is now 8 months old. He has pretty much been a healthy boy who is growing very fast. In the first 3-5 months he had alot of upper respiratory problems. My amazing pediatrician has kept a good eye on him. With lots of prayers and patient he is getting past that. His weight is really good. He definitely is a very good eater and has done well with cereal and baby food. He is now rolling.
My question is will his first be later then most babies due to him being a premie? My dr said yes, that all babies are different especially premie's.
Thank you.
how old is the child based on the due date? my sister-in-law had twins born premature and her pedi told her to go by the age from the due date not the actual birth... so if your kid is 8 months old subtract the time that he was premature and go with that age.. (8mos -6 wks= 6mo and 2wk is where he should be developmentally.)
Shorty,
You say you are a mom to 7. So common sense would state you know that EACH child is different.
Both my boys were premies. Oldest son - 6 weeks - he's now 15 years old. No issues. Second son? 4 Weeks early - stopped breathing and flat lined on his first day. He's now 13 (well, in a few weeks). Lots of respiratory problems as an infant. Now? No issues. My daughter was not early. She's an adult.
Your son was NOT born at 29 weeks - he was "early" but NOT so early that developmental delays will be evident.
If he's not listed as a failure to thrive? You are good. Just keep doing what you are doing.
My nephew was 7 weeks early. His first year he played catch up. He'll be turning 4 soon. You would never know he was a premie. Remember, even "full term" kids have a wide range of normal.
My first were 6 weeks early. All the nurses and docs told me to expect them to be a couple months behind since they did not really have any heatlh issues. A health issue can make them a little bit more behind. My girls were pretty much right on track, my son was a bit more behind them but not too much off other kids. It is true that all kids are different and don't worry if you see a child around the same age past the point your child it at.
My boys were 5 week early. One twin was right on time with his development as full term babies, and the other twin was delayed.
For what it's worth my singleton baby was delayed in her development as well.
I didn't read too much into it, except my son's speech is delayed and we are getting help for it. They developed on their own time at their own rate. If he is extremely delayed, I would be concerned. My delayed twin did everything about 6 weeks later, so it wasn't even that much of a delay.
I've heard that premier often meet developmentall milestones later than full term babies. I think they eventually catch up. It's not a problem. It's also not a given. Trust his pediatrician.
Consider that the premier has to continue the in womb development outside the womb. Add the early birth time to the developmentAL milestone time to see the time they were early and you'll have a possible time to reach a milestone.
Like others said, there is a wide range of normal!!! Contact your state's Early Intervention program. They will assess your son in 5 areas and provide services for free, if he qualifies! There was a 28 week preemie in my son's kindergarten class and she was one of the biggest/brightest in the class.
