Baby born at 34 weeks. What should I expect as far as development?

Rachael2541 · July 2014

My son was born June 26 at 34 weeks. He had no health complications and was only in the NICU for 6 days. It has now been one month since he was born, but we have not yet reached my due date of Aug 6. I have no clue as to what to go by as far as milestones. There are plenty of sites that list them for 1 month olds but nothing for preemies. I know every baby is different but is it certain that he will have some delays? Any of your preemies that didnt?

carrotcake06 · July 2014

Congrats! I had my twins at 34w on June 26 of last year

They spent 13 days in the NICU as feeders and growers. For my boys, they hit milestones at adjusted age in the beginning. Somewhere between 6 and 9mo, they started hitting milestones at actual age.

It seemed like forever until they first smiled!

=Lee=B · July 2014

My husband was born at 34 weeks. Zero complicatons early on, he went through school in the gifted program and he is an engineer now.

Our daughter was born 35w0days. No complications at birth, spent a half day in the NICU for check up. She has been developing at or ahead of due date age.

My recommendation is to use the adjusted age for all milestones so you are not stressing yourself out. If baby is happy and healthy then try not to get caught up in timing of milestones and don't borrow trouble. There is no guarantee that your baby will have delays just give baby time to develop. Keep an eye on things if you note some delays to be proactive but don't be expecting them.

I run a home daycare with 5 toddlers. All born perfectly healthy (though my daughter a late-term preemie). Of all the kids some were walking just before a year others didn't start until after 16months. Some have 2-3 words now at 20months and others have well over 50 words (including 2 word sentences) at 16months.

The range of normal is soooooo vast you just have to roll with it :-) Support there development as best you can but don't push it.

Rachael2541 · July 2014

Thanks Every one! Very helpful info

mmooki · July 2014

Dd was born at 33w3d and spent 12 days in the nicu. Some things she hit at her actual age and some things she hit at her adjusted age. She sort of followed her own pattern. At 2.5 she is all caught up

JayBzo · July 2014

My little guy was also born at 34 weeks and is now 7 weeks/1 week adjusted. I have been wondering the same thing and only time will tell I guess... we have just started with more eye contact, but still no smiles etc. He is also still very sleepy and sleeping a lot of the day. We were also told to go by adjusted timeline, so I am expecting another month or so before we see smiles etc. PM me if you ever need to talk!

diagonalley · August 2014

DS was born April 27 at 34 weeks and is now just over 3 months old. He's been doing things a little behind his actual age, but a little before his adjusted age...sort of a balance between the two. I know the doctors said he would catch up for sure by the time he is a toddler. It doesn't stress me out and I wouldn't worry about it unless he is behind adjusted age and you are not noticing important developments.

chicagobride_07 · August 2014

DD was a 34 weeker and in the NICU for 15 days. She had torticollis and plagiocephaly for which she received PT and wore a helmet for 3 months. She crawled at 9 months and walked at 13 months (actual). She has just a few words and pedi sent her to speech therapy, although it seems a bit overkill at her age. But, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Other than the speech she is a completely on track 14 month old.

vulpini · August 2014

My son was born at 34w6d and stayed in a NICU for 2.5 weeks. Since milestones are sort of rough averages anyway and he was a late-term preemie, he wasn't really significantly delayed for anything. He was a little earlier on some milestones and a little later on others, but did everything so far within the normal range. I'm sure that's the same for full term babies too. Just use the books as general guidelines, give him a little extra time to catch up from being a preemie, and don't stress about anything until your pediatrician tells you there is reason to worry. Kids are individuals and they all grow and progress in different areas at slightly different rates, so there's no need to freak out if they don't sit or crawl or clap exactly when the book says.