Premature baby - 5 weeks… confused

[AbDaRob]

My baby was born at 33+5, weighing 4lb4oz. He had a week in SCBU and all that was wrong was he had jaundice and was a little small.
he is now 5 weeks old & weighing 6lb2oz. And I’m so confused about his milestones and what he should be doing.
I have a few friends who’s babies were born at the same time or after my son & they seem to be much more alert and awake.
My son only seems to be awake when he wants feeding/burping/changing… then he’s straight back to sleep.

Do I need to expect him to be hitting his milestones by what his birth date was, or do you go from his due date???

Any advice from anyone who has had a premature baby and how they developed in the first few weeks/months would be amazing.

So he is one week old ? You can't compare him to a term 5 week old .

Hi OP, I just read your post from last may. I have an 8 week old daughter born at 33+6 so nearly 6wks early. Like yours, she was just over 4lb and small but healthy. Jaundice and feeding were the only issues we had to sort out in hospital.
It’s been a long tough 8 weeks and I’m really struggling with the idea that we’re only at 2 weeks corrected so still ages away from seeing any positive change (assuming it all starts to get easier from around 8-12wks corrected which is what everyone seems to tell me, so we’re still a good 6-8 wks off that). I wondered how you got through it, and if you saw any positive change before that - like more alertness or interaction, or even slightly longer stretches between feeds? I know everyone says it passes quickly but I’m not feeling that way after 8 weeks knowing that we still have so many weeks left before she can even see us…

any advice greatly appreciated xx

Congratulations!
Don’t worry, he will be fine. One of ours was born at 35 weeks. Slept & fed for three weeks, was jaundiced.
By 18 months he talked incessantly, hit all his targets. Above average always at school.
Your baby will wake up & be ready for the World!!

Our twins were born 9 weeks early. Sadly we lost one. Our surviving one spent 6 weeks in SCBU. There was nothing wrong with him, just that he was early and needed to learn to feed. Their due date was Christmas Day so I go by that date for everything. And to be honest, I only think of him as a month old because he looks nothing like a 3 month old. The only thing that doesn’t go by their corrected age is weaning I’ve been told. Because he was having EBM from the day he was born, his stomach has started maturing since that date. I hope that makes sense! Enjoy your precious little one. ❤️

Oh, and our little one was 4lb 5oz, so a good weight for 9 weeks early and a twin!

Congrats on your lovely new arrival.

Our DD was born at 34 weeks and 4 pounds. Taken straight to NICU.

She was very late on milestones: didn't walk until 18 months, didn't speak until 3.5.

I ate myself up with worry about her and whether something was seriously wrong. It wasn't, she just took her sweet time to grow and develop.

She is now 9 and the absolute joy of my life, smart chatty kind and wonderful.

She's still very small for her age (wears clothes for a 6 year old) but me and DH are both tall so there's still time for her to catch up.

And if she doesn't, that's ok too ❤️

I think your baby’s brain is doing some of the developing that it would have done in the womb.

my daughter was two weeks overdue. She came out practically walking and talking 😆 not really, but I felt her proper newborn stage only really lasted a week or two! I felt robbed!

That’s a brilliant weight gain for 5 weeks, well done. Don’t worry about milestones right now, he’s a newborn!