I have a 32 weeker who is almost 8 months old.He still has no teeth - which his pediatrician told me is ok.He is not showing any signs of teething except drooling which he is doing since 3-4 months old. He still sits only with support. Sits up on his own when he is in his swing or bouncer but if I put him on the floor he cant sit on his own yet.He sits for a bit and then he lies down on his own. He pushes forward a little at a time and rolls over and reaches anywhere but doesn't crawl yet.He does babble a lot but no mama , papa yet.
Also these days he starts crying when we leave the room etc.He doesn't like to be left alone but he does go with strangers after the initial couple minutes- so no stranger anxiety yet.He doesn't show any clear preference for me like I see other babies do with their moms - not sure if this is just the way he is or he hasn't gotten to that stage yet.
Do you think he is developing normally or should I be worried about delays? He wasn't taken into the early intervention program after NICU , they said he didn't need it.I personally think he is fine but he is my first baby and a preemie , so I just want to hear from experienced moms.I will give him as much time as he wants but want to know if any of these sound like a red flag. He is a very active and happy baby.No complaints. But I hear that by this time some babies are already crawling/standing and saying mama, papa and also reaching out to eat table foods.He is nowhere close.TIA
He is perfectly fine! It is said about preemies in their first year that you should take into consideration how early they were so he is 8 months old but is more like a 6 month old because he was 8 weeks early. He will catch up soon after his first birthday. I have a 36 and 37 weeker, they both caught up just fine. Don't stress about it all babies develop at their own speed!
Remember your baby was born 2 months early. He may be doing what 6 month old babies do. My baby was born nearly 4 months early (at 24 weeks) and didn't do any of those things until much later. Didn't roll over until 11 months, didn't speak until 18 months, etc. The important thing is not to compare your baby to full term babies the same chronological age. For more info, try www.preemie-l.org - a great listserv for moms of preemies.
Sounds all normal to M. :)
Sounds normal... my niece who was premie met all her early milestone on an adjusted age schedule - baiscally she finished her development out side the womb, so since she was 8 weeks premature, at 8 months old, her adjusted age was only 6 months. By the time she was 26 months or so she "caught up" but remember, every child is unique and thry do not all meet thier milestones in the same order or time frame.
I could be wrong, but I heard that the developmental age of premies is based on their age minus the time they were premature. So your 8 month old is developmentally closer to 6-7 months old. So he may be technically "behind", but he's actually on target.
I'd ask your pedi just to be sure, but from what I understand, he had to continue to develop what he would have done inside - he just did it on the outside, so he's a little "younger" than his physical age.
My first was a 32 weeker also. He is now a crazy 6 year old. Your little man is doing just fine! Just keep doing all the things that you should be doing with the little ones-tummy time, play, etc. My son was exactly 2 months behind on some things and other things he was ahead of the curve. it all balances out in the end!
My co-worker had 32w preemie twins. Like the others have said, you need to consider him a 6m old as far as developments, foods, milestones. Once they reach the 15-18m mark they tend to catch up with the curve.
So be patient, he's doing fine for a 6m old. As for teething, my daughter teethed constantly, but didn't get her first tooth till 11m!
M.
My daughter isn't a preemie, so let M. give you some comparison. She is 7 months and 1 week. She does have teeth, but I know plenty of full term babies that didn't get teeth till over a year.
My daughter doesn't sit unsupported for more than a minute or two. She is better if there is a toy in her hand. She doesn't crawl, is babbling a lot, no mama, no papa/dada yet either. No stranger anxiety yet either. She does do limited solids and reaches for my food (we started foods late.)
I'm not sure what should really be happening in the next 3 weeks of time, but he really doesn't sound that behind to M.. I have also heard that you judge milestones from the due date, but it sounds like he is developing fine to M..
My 8 month old, who was born at 38 weeks, doesn't have any teeth. I am not concerned about it. She has just started crawling. My oldest daughter (who was a preemie) never crawled and did not walk until 14 or 15 months. She is now 3 and she doesn't have any developmental delays. The baby has not said mama or dada yet. I think I heard a dada yesterday but I can't be sure. She also doesn't really show a preference for either her dad or M. unless she has a cold and wakes up in the middle of the night. I don't know anything about when a baby should be able to sit unassisted, so I don't know if you should be concerned about that. My daughter does sit unassisted and has since about 6 months. Your son sounds pretty normal to M..
I had twins, and one was very small (3#) and the other was 7#. They were both premature, but only the smaller one was slower at reaching milestones, and she was much slower (she didn't walk until she was 3 years old). She was also very slow to get teeth or hair. She is now 8, and does everything that her peers can do, and is as normal as an eight year old can be. I know it's torture, but I promise, once he is older, you won't care when he crawled, held up his head, spoke, etc. If you pediatrician is ok with his progress, just enjoy what he can do, and it will all work out ok!
My daughter was born at 32 weeks as well. She's now 10 and is perfectly lovely. And while I don't remember off the top of my head when she was doing what, I do remember that I was always adjusting her development to be about 2 months behind her age. I also remember worrying just as you are. I also remember that we had lots of check-ups that first year, so if you have concerns about particular milestones, bring them with with your pediatrician. That helped M. a lot.
My 2nd was a 33 week preemie. She was born 2 yr 6 days after my first, so I was expecting her to make the same milestones at the same time as my first. She didn't because she was 7 weeks premature, so developmentally she was going to be delayed compared to my first even though they were both born in the first week of July. As far as teeth, all 3 of mine have gotten theirs at different ages. My 2nd and 3rd got them probably around 8 months (I don't remember exactly), but my first didn't get hers until she was 11.5 months old (2 weeks after she started walking). As for walking, my 2nd & 3rd (born @ 34 weeks) didn't start walking until 14 & 15 months old. Basically, your little guy will hit the milestones a couple months after a baby that was fullterm would. Just keep encouraging him to sit up. Believe M., once he's mobile, you'll wish he was back to not being able to move! :)
My third was a 32 weeker as well. Coming out of the NICU after almost 3 weeks, we knew there could be challenges. At 5 1/2 now, we are still facing some of those challenges. We knew to expect that he would develop slower and would not hit his milestones right away. You have to expect that your baby will hit those as his rate and probably 2-4 months behind. You need to do an adjusted time frame to allow for the growth. My son did not sit up by himself until 8-9 months. He also did not crawl until he was a year and did not walk until he was 18 months old. By 15-16 months we noticed though that he really needed some extra evaluation. We contacted the early intervention program and they began working with him. I would make that call again and have your son re-evaluated. Kids develop in all different time frames, and there are experts out there that can help. The services are of course free and can only benefit your child. The physical therapist could help show you some exercises to strengthen your baby's back and get him sitting up better. This will also help when it comes time for crawling and walking. I picked up a few baby books dealing with preemie's, and I suggest you do the same. The more you know the better. I always went into the pediatrition with a list of questions. I also always had a list of questions for each person that worked with my son. Whether it was a PT, OT, speech or a Dr. I needed to know how he would advance, what to expect for the future, and of course if he needed to take meds, what the reprocutions would be. WHile your child is totally normal right now for being a preemie, I would still get him evaluated and know exactly where he and the family stand. Good luck with everything.
I have always been told that a preemie is always going to be behind (not forever but with those early milestones). For example, if a child normally rolls at 4 months of age then a preemie born a month early would not be expected to roll until about 5 months...in other words, you would count from their due date rather than their birthdate. And then, keep in mind the "normal range"... some things happen between 10 & 15 months, so if your child is at the far end (15 months) but was born 2 months early, he may do the same thing at 17 months.
Follow your doctors lead on this stuff unless your mother's instinct is SCREAMING otherwise.
My oldest was 29 weeks (11 yrs now!) and my baby 36 weeks (15 months). Neither got teeth til about 10 months. Both walked a little late but my oldest would have been corrected to about 12 months, baby was about 14 months. Like others said, his corrected age is 6 months so that may make you feel a little better if you're worried. Does your schools do free evaluations? I had my oldest evaluated at 8 months because she wasn't rolling over yet and everything came out fine, but that way if there were concerns we could get her started early! I was always told it can take til 3 years for them to catch up. My daughter was by about 2 years.
I think he's doing just fine and so are you!!
Each baby is different. My youngest baby was like this at full term and didn't walk until shortly after a year old. My oldest walked at 9 months. Your baby is withing the normal range so I would not worry about it.
My 30 weeker is now 13, so my memory is hazy on some of these things. He definitely couldn't sit up by himself at 6 months, I remember. He definitely wasn't talking at 8 months. Now he is taller than I am and getting all A's in school. :o)
I think your baby sounds fine, but keep checking in with your doctor. You might still be able to get into the early intervention program just for evaluation.
I had a 33 week premee. She was my 3rd baby out of 5. yes, it bothered M. as well to watch her develop slower than her brother's did; however, our doc at the time said to follow her "adjusted age". Which means you should really only look at what typical 6 month old babies are doing now. My doctor would actually only test her at her adjusted age, which was 7 weeks younger and he said she was doing exactly what a baby of that age is doing, so she was normal. I found that once she turned 2 she really started doing all the catching up. Now, she's 8, very mature, tall, and really smart. I held her back for kindergarten because of being a premee and my worries. I homeschool her. This year we skipped 2nd grade and went right to 3 rd grade because she hit that window of learning to read and write and soar with it. I had her tested and she was ready for 3rd grade academically. So...I know you have a lot of worries, but hang in there. It sounds like your baby is doing what a 6 month old does. Try not to compare him. The doctors don't seemed worries. Just enjoy your baby!
