Do you correct for age for 37 weekers?

My first son was born 12 days early, the twins were 18 days early. Do I need to correct for their age?? They still seem to be very sleepy. Should I expect them to develop sleep/ wake patterns after their due date or should I go by birth date?

 

Most doctors don't use an adjusted age for babies born later than 36 weeks. I think you will be fine just using their actual age. They will be waking up soon!

 

My LOs were born at 37 weeks 3 days and I have never adjusted their age. Saying that, however, DD was born as DS couldnt wait any longer to get out! He was ready ( he weighed 6lbs 6oz) but I know she would have liked another 3 weeks to grow as she was the smaller baby at 5lbs 4oz. She takes her time to do things (e.g. she crawled at 13.5 months, DS at 9.5 months)but I believe that´s just her personality rather than being born early. In your shoes, I´d let your LOs guide you. Mine slept loads in the beginning. GL & congrats!

 

Our twins were born at 37 weeks as well. They were quite sleepy for the first few weeks. we actually started thinking.. hmm this isnt so bad.. if this is what twins are like bring it on! annnnnnnnnnd then they woke up... and theyve been awake since!!! I dont adjust their age, and I agree with pp that most doctors dont unless they are pre 36 weeks. our LO's didnt really develop sleep/ wake patterns until about 2 weeks POST due date. and even then they were all over the place. We could count on them being asleep for a couple hours, and awake for only one. but it was day or night. they took a while to get their nights distinguished from the day. once that happened, things started falling into place. we are now looking at a daily schedule like this :
730-9:00 - morning wake up, up for an hour or two
down for nap 2 hours
up for two or three hours
down for 2 hour nap
up for two hours
down for 1 hour nap
up for 3-4 hours
down for night night


I know it looks like its still a little chaotic, but they seem to do really well on this schedule. I don't worry about time as much as lengths of naps/ awake periods. I do make sure that we start our bedtime routine by 8 pm, which includes bath, naked singing/play time which they LOVE, nursing in a darkened room, burp and into cribs.

Good luck with everything and remember all babies are different!

 

My oldest ds was 36 wks, and the twins were 36 wks 2 days and I never adjusted for them. Ds crawled at 8-10 months, walked at 13 months, however my oldest dd was born at 39 wks and she didn't crawl until closer to 11 months and walked at 15 months, but she was 4 lbs bigger at birth too!

Unless they are really preemie you really don't have to adjust for them much!

 

Mine were 36w2d and we've never adjusted their age.

 

Thanks. I was reading a sleep book and the author says that babies born before their due date do everything after their due date and you need to correct. I was wondering if that would be true. My older son was not like that

 

I never did.

 

Mine were born at 37 weeks and we never adjusted their age. We use to have to wake them to eat every 3 hours at the beginning and then it all changed. It was great while it lasted. Enjoy it while you can. Soon, they will be waking on their own.

 

Yes and no. If you feel they are slightly lagging in something I would give them the extra 3 or so weeks to catch up since technically they were 3 weeks early.

 

Ours are 37 weekers also. That is considered normal for twins (normal is 37 or 38 weeks), so we don't adjust. Our girl is just starting to try to crawl; our boy is fine. So we're taking her age into account and trying not to worry, because she is considered a little behind in the motor area.

 

I think it depends on the baby. I never had to adjust for Colin, but Lia seems to be about a month behind. I had them at 37 weeks and 2 days. You might just notice it in the small things, like when they are ready for solids or growing sperts.

 

My first baby was born at 37 weeks & I never corrected her age, but if she seemed a bit behind on something I didn't worry until those extra 3 weeks were up.

 

Mine were born just before 37 weeks -- I corrected for age until about 4 months, because they seemed to hit most milestones about 3 weeks "late" until that point. It didn't make much difference in what we did, it just helped me not to worry about things.

Our doctor never officially adjusted their age -- but he did tell me that they would probably be on the late end of the normal range for early milestones.

 

Totally agree :good:

 

Me either...

 

Same here. Mine were born at 36w6d. The doctor never officially adjusted but also not surprised that they were about 3-4 weeks 'behind' on the early milestones. The difference in the early milestones between the twins and my singleton DS was very evident. They were pretty much out of it for the first month, just slept all the time, slow weight gain, didn't smile socially until closer to 11 weeks, etc. They just now learned to sit unassisted (although one is almost crawling and they rolled over before DS did), and one has just started babbling consonants (the other one hasn't yet).

So, yes, I do give them an extra month. 3 weeks for being early and 1 week for being twins.

By the way, twins or not, 40 weeks in full term for any baby. Twins just come out early because our body can't handle it, not because they are ready earlier. Well, the lungs may mature faster because of the intrauterine "stress", but even that is very individual.