A question for Late Term Preemie Moms (35-36 weekers)

mrsolsenk12 · July 2009

My DS was born at 36 weeks and was healthy. He never spent any time in the NICU and came home on schedule. He is now 2 months old and as I look at developmental milestones for 8 week olds, he is meeting some of them but not all of them. So my question is, should he be meeting the milestones for his actual age or an adjusted age? Since he was barely a preemie, I don't know if an adjusted age would apply. I asked his pedi today and he told me that he was fine for his actual age and not to worry about it. However I am still not sure. Thoughts?

light52 · July 2009

I've been wondering the same thing and plan on asking at his pedi appointment next week. DS didn't have to spend any time in NICU either but he does have some feeding/weight gain issues and I'm told by the pedi and lactation consultant that it is due to being a preemie so that makes me wonder what other delays are due to this too.

hrhmary · July 2009

This is frustrating for us too. DS was 35w5d and spent a week in the nicu for breathing, temp, and jaundice issues (all typical preemie things). Yet our pedi doesnt'y consider his adjusted age when it comes to milestones ans vaccinations and things like that. My thought is that there is such a wide range of what's "normal" for term babies, that it's just easier for them to lump our late preemies in w/that.

I know what you mean about worrying, though (see my post about toys)!

hmms · July 2009

My DS was born at 35.5 weeks - I used both adjusted and real. Like you mentioned, there's such a large window for milestones...that being said, DS generally was on the very late end (of normal) for everything. When I'd bring it up to pedi, she'd say, "Well, keep in mind he was over a month early." so she did take that into consideration.

He seemed to smile at 8 weeks, finally more consistent around 10 weeks. He didn't roll until 5-6 monthish and just started crawling about 2.5 weeks ago. BUT, at our one-year check up yesterday, pedi said he's right on target for everything - phew

RRHsMom · July 2009

Ryan has been on target for fine motor but behind in gross and verbal. My pedi, previous, new and even FIL (also a pedi) do not seem worried. They remind me he was early, in the NICU for 17 days and in a drug induced paralyzed state for most of the 1st week so how much development was going on then! He is just now walking (this week) at 14 months. We do not adjust his age but just keep in mind he had a rough start. I agree that there is a very large range of normal. Kids do things at different times even w/ in the same fam.

Emcat1980@yahoo.com · July 2009

Late preterm babies should DEFINITELY be given credit for their prematurity. Even if it's only a few weeks, it can be significant.

I am a peds resident and I myself had an almost-36 weeker who is now 3.5 months old. I have noticed that he has a little increased tone and isn't quite meeting all of his milestones.....so today I brought him to our developmental pediatrician in my program.

He emphasized that "late preterm" babies are often caught up size-wise (mine is the size of an average 5 month old, lol) so we tend to forget their prematurity. It's apparently something that's really come up in recent years as well, due in large part to the rise of scheduled, slightly too-early c-sections! Anyway, there is a lot of research in this area and there have been over 30 papers published so far just in 2009 on late preterm babies and their developmental risks, etc.

Certainly they don't have many of the issues that the earlier infants have, but don't forget to give your little one credit for those weeks, as they are significant. You may need to go by their adjusted age for the entire first year.

mrs.amandamm · July 2009

Honestly, I hate all that adjusted age business, ALL babies are different. Addie has probably lagged in most things, but I don't think that there is anything wrong with it. But, she crawled just about right on time. I wouldn't worry about it, except for the milestones that are really important in indicating developmental issues (and for those I would give a little extra time)

jillian6 · July 2009

My pedi said to still go by adjusted. My 35 weeker doesn't need to be adjusted for most things. i think they are still slower in the beginning than a full term baby, but seem to catch up quickly. DD crawled at 9 months, walked at 11. she's now 15 months running, trying to climb. the only thing i worry about is speech. she only has 3 or 4 words, but the pedi isn't concerned.

FinallyMrs.B · July 2009

The range for milstones is so large because some kids do things earlier than others. DD was born at 36w 3days and although she needed to stay in the hospital for an xtra day (for jaundice), she didn't have any NICU time. a. My pediatrician told me that her age didn't need to be adjusted. DD turned over at 4 months, crawled at 7 months, and didn't walk till around 15 months.

By the way- I tend to be a lurker on this board and am hesitatnt to post since I don't want to trivilize anything some of you ladies and your children have been through by calling my DD a preemie. I just thought I could offer some insigt on this post. FWIW- this group is filled with tons of strong women and amazing moms!

snickerdoodle27 · July 2009

Jacob was born at 36 weeks and he was a bit delayed as well. I didn't worry about it though, since there's such a range for milestones. His pedi wasn't concerned either. The only thing she was worried about was his speech, but now at 2.5 he's talking up a storm! Preemies tend to catch up by about age 2.

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