The developmental standards of premature babies, a must-read for mothers

Premature babies are different from full-term babies in many ways, and of course their developmental standards are also different. For premature babies, we can judge whether the baby's development is normal by correcting their age.

1. Whether your baby is premature or not, it is impossible to accurately predict when he will reach various developmental milestones. The so-called developmental milestones in infancy include being able to lift the head at 2-3 months, rolling over at around 4 months, sitting at 6-7 months, etc. In fact, the time span within which most babies achieve major developmental goals is considered "normal."

2. For premature babies, many pediatricians recommend using "corrected age" to determine whether their development is within the normal range. The corrected age takes into account how long your baby was premature and helps make the assessment more accurate. Don't forget that if your baby is not born prematurely, he or she will have more preparation time in your womb to achieve the expected development goals.

3. If you use corrected ages, the time frame for reaching developmental milestones will change accordingly. For example, most full-term babies learn to sit alone between 4 and 7 months, while babies who are born 2 months premature can usually sit by themselves between 6 and 9 months after birth.

4. To calculate your baby's corrected age, first work out how many weeks earlier his birth date was than his due date, and then subtract that time from his actual age.

5. For example, if your baby is 4 months old and was born 8 weeks prematurely, his corrected age is 4 months minus 8 weeks (that is, 2 months), which is about 2 months, which means that his age is equivalent to a 2-month-old full-term baby. His corrected age at 6 months should be 4 months, and at 12 months old it should be 10 months.