When can premature infants reach normal development indicators?
When can premature infants reach normal development indicators? There are no unified indicators for the development of premature babies. If the growth, development and cardiopulmonary development of a premature baby are similar to those of a full-term baby of the same age, it means that the development is normal. Let’s talk about when premature babies can reach normal development indicators. When can premature babies reach normal development indicators 1
How to view the "corrected monthly age" of premature babies
For premature babies, many pediatricians recommend the use of "corrected monthly age" to Determine whether their development is within normal limits. Corrected age in months takes into account the length of time the baby was born prematurely, helping to make the assessment more accurate. Don’t forget, if it is not premature, your baby will have more preparation time in your womb to achieve the expected development goals.
If you use corrected age in months, 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 old, while babies born 2 months prematurely usually learn to sit on their own between 6 and 9 months after birth.
To calculate your baby's corrected age in months, first find out how many weeks before his due date he was born, and then subtract that time from his actual age in months.
For example, if your baby is 4 months old and was born 8 weeks prematurely, then his corrected age in months is 4 months minus 8 weeks (i.e. 2 months). The result is approximately 2 months. Months, that is to say, his age is equivalent to that of a 2-month-old full-term baby. His corrected age at 6 months should be 4 months, and at 12 months his age should be 10 months.
An American pediatrician believes that corrected age in months may be more accurate for assessing developmental milestones in motor abilities such as rolling over, sitting and walking than in assessing developmental milestones in cognitive abilities such as babbling and imitating sounds. .
Expert advice
Experts explain that generally speaking, the cognitive development of premature babies lags behind less. Therefore, corrected age in months is slightly more helpful in assessing developmental milestones in motor ability. But don’t forget that every baby has individual differences.
If you are still worried about your baby’s development after correcting your age, be sure to consult your doctor. Your baby may need early intervention before age 3.
Research shows that early intervention is very effective and has great benefits for premature babies. Many hospitals in China have also launched early training centers to train babies' motor functions and intellectual development. However, when you choose, you must choose a regular hospital.
As your baby grows older, you are likely to find that correcting the age in months makes less and less sense. Although there is no exact time limit when it is no longer necessary to correct the age in months, there will be a certain time.
Usually when the baby is about two or three years old, and the difference between premature babies and full-term babies is not obvious, you will naturally find that there is not much difference between corrected monthly age and actual monthly age.
However, some fathers and mothers believe that even after the baby grows older, it is still useful to correct the age in months, such as when the baby will start going to kindergarten, or when the baby will start kindergarten. Little things like which age group to include in the game.
If your baby looks smaller than his peers, you may want to play with a slightly younger baby. So, correcting for age in months may still make sense in this case.
Finally, be aware that while developmental milestones are important, they do not give a complete picture of your baby's overall condition. Experts point out that although developmental milestones are very helpful in understanding your baby's development, there are some abilities of your baby that developmental milestones cannot cover.
Even if these abilities don’t fit neatly into developmental milestones, you can’t ignore them.
This advice will still make sense when your baby gets older.
The father of a premature baby said that his son, now 5 years old, can solve three 48-piece puzzles at the same time, but he himself cannot do it. When can premature babies reach normal development indicators 2
There is no unified indicator for the development of premature babies. If the growth, development and cardiopulmonary development of premature babies are similar to those of full-term babies of the same age, This means that the development of premature babies is normal. Usually we say that it is normal for a child to gain 30 grams of weight per day.
In addition, premature children need more careful feeding and must be placed in an incubator for strict monitoring. In addition, because premature children have poor resistance, it is best to breastfeed, which can enhance resistance.
Weight development standards for premature infants
Most premature infants have a birth weight below 2500g and a head circumference below 33cm. A small number of premature infants weigh more than 2500g, and their organ functions and adaptability are worse than those of full-term infants. Premature infants should still be given special care.
Babies whose birth weight is reduced below the 10th percentile of normal weight for their gestational age or below two standard deviations below the mean due to factors such as placental insufficiency are called small for gestational age (small for gestational age). , mature delinquent children).
Those with a birth weight of less than 2500g are also collectively called low-weight infants, and those with a birth weight of less than 1500g are called extremely low-weight infants, which include premature infants and those who are small for gestational age.
The weight growth standard for premature infants is that within three months after birth, the weight of premature infants will increase at a rate of 20 grams per kilogram per day, with the weight at birth being 1.5 kilograms.
For premature babies, for example, the daily weight gain should be twenty times 1. 5 equals thirty grams, and one month is twenty times one point five times thirty. It is equal to 900 grams. Taking a premature baby weighing 1500 grams as an example, the weight gain is generally between 250-500 grams within half a month after birth, and the weight gain should be about 750 grams in the first month.
Weight gain should be a process that starts quickly and then slowly.
Developmental Quotient Standard for Premature Infants
Developmental Quotient (DQ) rather than IQ is often used to judge the development of premature infants. Divide the mature age in months by the corrected age in months to get the developmental quotient (DQ). Usually DQ86 is normal, 76 to 85 is borderline, and 75 indicates obvious developmental delay. Temporary developmental delays in premature babies are also acceptable. A DQ score of no less than 85 is within the normal range.
Performances of premature infants
1. Appearance: The sooner a premature infant is born, the thinner and tender the skin will be, with more tissue moisture, depressed indentations, red color, and less subcutaneous fat. Less muscle, short and soft nails.
At the same time, the longer the lanugo hair on the trunk, the less and shorter the hair on the head, the larger the head, the wider the fontanel, the flat and soft ear shells and the skull, the soft thorax, the areola is dot-shaped, and the edges are not smooth. The breasts are raised and the breasts are small or cannot be felt.
The abdomen is distended and the scrotum is poorly developed. The testicles of premature male infants are often located in the external groin and gradually descend into the scrotum during development. The more premature a woman is, the more separated and prominent her breasts will be. Fewer wrinkles on the soles of hands and feet.
2. Body temperature regulation: Difficult and unstable, the use of its heat-producing effect is limited, there are few muscles, low tension, and the posture cannot be changed to reduce the area of ??heat loss. On the other hand, due to immature sweat gland development and incomplete sweating function, hyperthermia is also prone to occur.
3. Weak resistance: The resistance to various infections is extremely weak, and even minor infections can lead to serious consequences such as sepsis.
4. The breathing of premature infants: fast and shallow, and often irregular intermittent breathing or apnea. The crying sound is very small, and bruising is common.
5. The ability of premature infants to suck milk and swallow is weak. The cardiac sphincter is relaxed, which can easily cause coughing, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal distension.
6. Bleeding: When trauma, hypoxia, infection, or coagulation function is hindered, bleeding is often easy and severe. Blood vessels in the brain are particularly susceptible to injury and bleeding. Sometimes unexplained pulmonary hemorrhage may occur.
7. Jaundice: Premature infants cannot combine and excrete bilirubin well. Their physiological jaundice lasts longer than that of full-term infants and is more severe.
8. Coagulation mechanism: Due to the immature liver and hepatic insufficiency of premature infants, prothrombin factor V, factor VII and factor X are all lower than those of full-term infants, so the coagulation mechanism is Unsound and prone to bleeding.
9. Nutrition: The storage capacity of iron and vitamins A and D is reduced, making it easy to suffer from nutritional deficiencies.
10. Blood sugar function: The function of converting liver glycogen into blood sugar is reduced, so blood sugar is prone to become too low and shock occurs when hungry. The function of protein synthesis is not good, and edema can be formed due to low plasma protein.