Mums of early babies

[missjennipenni]

Hi!

My DS was born 5 weeks early. he is now 6 weeks old and hasnt smiled yet. My two DDs (full term babies) smiled before now.

So im wondering if its because he was early, and when should i maybe expect his first smile? Its worrying me a little, as he seems so miserable lol. I asked my HV, and all she said was "i dont know, if im honest!!"

will all his milestones be slightly late?

being early or not tho at 6 weeks not smiling would still be perfectly normal. Both my DS's were 5 weeks early but they're milestones were still on target but don't forget that target has such a wide span. All the prof's do say to take the 5 weeks prem into account tho so really your baby is 1 week IYSWIM

this is what babycentre says about milestones:

Will my premature baby walk, crawl and talk at the same time as other babies?

You need to think in terms of your baby's corrected age. This is the number of weeks or months since her due date, not the actual date she was born. For example, if she was born two months early, you could expect her to reach these milestones two months later than a full-term baby who was born on the same date. If there is no underlying problem, she should catch up with her peers by around her second birthday.

Expect some milestones to be late, as they get older they catch up, or at least DS did. He was ten weeks early.

Try not to worry about these things, I'm sure your DS will start smiling soon!

Hi there

MY DS was 6 weeks early and didn't smile until nearly 12 weeks old. I always out it down to the 3 weeks he spent in SCBU without the same interaction newborns usually get.

He's now 4 and none of his other milestones were particularly late.

more info here

Sorry that should be put it down to

Wow that was quick! thank you!

DS spent a week in SCBU with very little interaction, as he wasnt able to come out of the incubater often - maybe that has played a part

Ive had a lot more information here than i have managed to get out of my HV - thank you

As per everyone else prem babies normally hit milestones at their adjusted ages - ie your baby won't smile before 11 weeks (6 weeks + 5 weeks) . It's also quite normal for them to hit milestones slightly late.

5 weeks early ain't much really (ds was 4 weeks early) so I wouldn't expect much in terms of delays - it's the smiling thing you notice most, ime...

My DD was 8 weeks early and did not smile, sit up, crawl etc till her corrected age i.e the age she should have been had she not made an early arrival. My HV always used her corrected age instead of her actual age so for example when she was 2 months old the HV treated her as a newborn and plotted her weight accordingly - if that makes any sense!!

My DD was 8 weeks early and did not smile, sit up, crawl etc till her corrected age i.e the age she should have been had she not made an early arrival. My HV always used her corrected age instead of her actual age so for example when she was 2 months old the HV treated her as a newborn and plotted her weight accordingly - if that makes any sense!!

My DD1 was only 3 weeks early so not prem but she didn't smile till about 10 weeks. Not sure if it was connected but I didn't worry about it because she was my first so I didn't know it was late! DD2 smiled at about 6 weeks, she was a week late.

DD was full-term, smiled at 5 weeks. Ds1 was 6 weeks prem, smiled at 12 weeks. Ds2 was 7 weeks prem, smiled at 10 weeks.

Most of the other milestones have more than 5 weeks "give" so you prob won't notice them being late. Like, they learn to sit up somewhere between 4 months and a year or so...

AngeG - if your ds was 6 weeks prem, then he smiled at nearly 6 weeks (corrected gestational age). Which is normal - not caused by lack of interaction.

MissJP - make sure your HV records the weight in the red book properly. Starting back 5 weeks before the 0 line. So should be at "1 week" now.