born @ 36 wks.. do u adjust age?

MaygenDL0ve · December 2010

how old should i treat my twins born at 36 weeks? they r 6 weeks but are they developmentally younger? they are just under 8lbs each.

susanc07 · December 2010

i wouldn't.

mspatche · December 2010

not sure but i am interested in answers...we are in the same boat!

jenn&chris2 · December 2010

Hi! Mine were 36.5 & I never did the adjustment thing.

Congrats...

BeccaLandes · December 2010

My boys were also born at 36 weeks, 1 day. I have never adjusted for their age. They were a little slower to smile, and weighed less for a while, but by their 6 month appointment, their weights were 50th %ile, and in terms of physical development, they are ahead of most other babies their age.

Rose.9.6.03 · December 2010

My girls were born at 36w 5d and the physical therapist said that no one really adjusts for "prematurity" at that gestation, but at the same time no one worries if they are a month or so behind. I had one that hit all the developmental milestones on time or early and my others was slightly delayed with most milestones her first year and was reasonably delayed with gross motor (although she had torticollis). Regardless, she was completely caught up after a year or so.

PianoPlayingSarah · December 2010

My girls were born at 35 weeks, 6 days. We have never adjusted their age. Their pedi never adjusted their age either.

regenab · December 2010

My pedi has us adjust their age for the first year. It took until almost the full year before they were hitting milestones at their real age. There is a big range for hitting milestones, but mine always seemed to fall between their real age and adjusted age for hitting those milestones. So I adjusted their age to give them some time before we would get concerned that they were not hitting a milestone. For example they didn't smile by 6 weeks old, one was at 8 weeks and the other was at 9 weeks old. Not that far away, but at the girls 8 week appt. with the pedi., she said if they were full term babies she might have been concerned, but because they were early, she wasn't worried.

I also found it helpful to adjust their age in regards to eating and sleeping. My girls were also 36 weekers and yes they are not preemies, but they are pre-term. They had issues with latching and sucking because they were not full term babies and we had to work with them a lot in those first couple of weeks in regards to feeding so they wouldn't lose any weight and actually gain. So they are not going to be just like a 40 week baby. They slept for pretty much their first 3-4 weeks, then when they hit their due date they kind of just woke up and then the gas hit really bad, just like it would a baby coming home from the hospital but my girls had already been home for 3-4 weeks.

When I started working on sleep training, meaning getting them to sleep 12 hours without waking to eat at night anymore, not CIO. I didn't start until they were 8 weeks old adjusted (almost 12 weeks real age), it took them that long until they met the other requirements, taking in 24oz. in a 24 hour period and they needed to be at least 9 lbs.

cocojack10 · December 2010

My boys are 6 wks today, born at 35 wks. They are now just under 9 lbs. I don't do adjusted age, but doctor does for developmental purposes. However she said after a yr, they should be to par w/ all other kids.

LALASEPT05 · December 2010

We haven't and our doctor hasn't either. We seemed to hit all the milestones on time at our appointments. DS is in 98th percentile and DD is in 92nd so weight has always been good and we have teeth as of today. So we're doing pretty well with milestones.

ougrad1 · December 2010

Mine were born 5 wks early and I really don't. After leaving the NICU it really never has entered my mind that they were as early as they were.

lisa&andy · December 2010

My kids were born at 35w2d and I never have and their pedi doesn't either. I kept it in the back of my head with smiling and making eye contact, but never actually made an actual note of it. They were caught up by 6 months if not earlier.