Your baby is premature if he was born before 37 weeks gestation. Although not all premature babies grow and develop differently from full-term babies, some are early enough to experience significant risks and a delay in growth and development.
At Birth
At birth, your premature baby may have trouble breathing or feeding. Her lack of body fat may make it difficult for her to regulate her body temperature. She is at risk for complications such as apnea, jaundice, hearing loss and infections. Her lack of red blood cells also puts her at risk for anemia. The earlier she was born, the more likely she is to encounter risks and complications.
Hospital Development
If your premature baby has trouble breathing, feeding or regulating his body temperature, he may be placed in the hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Here, he can be in an incubator to keep warm and on a breathing machine. He may also be fed through a tube. He will remain in the NICU until he reaches a certain point of development. He must be able to consistently gains weight, breathe on his own, regulate his body temperature and eat without the assistance of a feeding tube.
Home Development
Once your baby is home from the hospital, she may need special care. Her doctor will let you know if she needs has any special feeding considerations. She may need to go to more frequent check-ups than full term babies and have regular hearing and eye exams. Drugs.com states that her movements may seem awkward when she begins reaching her development milestones.
Milestones
There is no exact time when any baby reaches a milestone. Instead, there are ranges of normal for physical, cognitive, language and social development. A baby born premature has to catch up to his range of normal. You can monitor his development by using his adjusted age. According to Drugs.com, you can find his adjusted age by taking his age and subtracting it by the amount of time that he was early. For example, if he is 12 weeks old but was born four weeks early, his adjusted age is eight weeks. You may find that your premature baby reaches milestones according to his adjusted age rather than his actual age, especially for motor skills and physical development.
Encouraging Development
Be sure to follow the directions of your baby's doctor to encourage her development. If she is in the NICU, you may be encouraged to read to her, sing to her and hold her when she is ready. When you bring her home, find ways to make her comfortable and provide her with a safe and open area to explore. Her doctor may recommend that you look into early intervention programs, which can help her develop her physical, language and social skills.
