Corrected Age

My boys were born on Aug. 26th...at 33.6 weeks. What would their corrected age be? And could someone explain why this is important? I'm new to everything, so I need a little help. Thanks so much!

 

Corrected age just means that you pretend that they were born on their due date, not their actual birth date. It is important because that's the maturity level you should expect from them for all the important developmental stuff (sleep, milestones, starting solids, etc). The reason to use adjusted age instead of actual age is that being born early doesn't make the brain & body fast-forward from the level of a 33.6 fetus to a 40 wk newborn.

Congrats on your sweet babies!

 

Hi,

Just like the PP said, corrected age (also called adjusted age) is important because it will help you understand why your twins might be "behind" other babies their actual age in terms of sleeping through the night, rolling over, walking, etc. Many doctors recommend using corrected age for babies born early up until they're about 2 years old. Some people drop the corrected age calculations earlier, though, if their babies are meeting their actual age milestones on time.

You mention that your babies were born at 33.6 weeks on August 26th. That means your due date was something like October 8th? If so, your babies corrected age for today (October 25th) is 2.5 weeks. So, when you read baby books, don't be surprised of yours act more like 2 week old babies than 8 week old babies in terms of how much they eat and sleep.

Good luck, and keep checking back here. I have found so many helpful suggestions and great support on this site!

 

does this apply if they were born at 38 weeks, or just for preemies?

 

QUOTE(tgbmomofthree @ Oct 25 2007, 09:11 AM) [snapback]466556[/snapback]
does this apply if they were born at 38 weeks, or just for preemies?


They don't usually use corrected age for 38 weekers just preemies.

PP's have give you good explanations of it.

It can be a bit confusing talking about actual age vs. adjusted age. For adjusted/corrected age I always just went by the due date. But I found after 10 months we really didn't need to adjust their age anymore for anything.

 

Mine were born at 35 weeks 4 days and they never told me to use adjusted dates on them. If i think about it they never were behind lile that though but with eating etc i would sometimes say oh well they really should only be 2 months instead of 3 months etc. Do you always use the dates? I never have that is why i ask.

 

Mine were born at 35 weeks 1 day, and I never found them to be the full five weeks behind on anything. At most, for one or two things, they were maybe 3 weeks late. So don't get too disheartened! I use their adjusted age to determine the minimum amount of development they should have by a certain date. SO I look at them now to see if they are at least doing all the normal 3 month old stuff. They most definitely are, and some 4 month old stuff too!

It can be frustrating at times... our neighbors had a baby two months after ours were born, and he is already way bigger than ours and seems like he is developmentally similar! And you think, man, mine were newborns for SOOOOO long. But even though it's longer than average it still goes fast.

 

Just for an additional bit of info: We were told that for every month early they were it would take a year to make up. That's not very clear . . . this means that if they were two months early, they should hopefully be caught up at two years. If they were three months early, they should be caught up by 3 years. That said, mine were 3 months early, and were testing developmentally AHEAD at just over two years.

Remember that full term babies don't all develop exactly the same - some walk at 9 months, some walk at 16 months, etc., so there are no set rules on this, it's just a guideline.

Good luck!

-Rachel

 

Alright thank everyone, that was helpful
So their adjusted age is 2.5 weeks...2 nights ago, Cade rolled over all by himself!!!! From his belly to his back. I was shocked, I thought they didnt do that till later!

 

QUOTE(knockedup @ Oct 25 2007, 11:57 PM) [snapback]467787[/snapback]
Alright thank everyone, that was helpful
So their adjusted age is 2.5 weeks...2 nights ago, Cade rolled over all by himself!!!! From his belly to his back. I was shocked, I thought they didnt do that till later!



My Austin rolled over from belly to back when he was about 2 weeks old too!!! We started callinghim super baby but he only did it twice....

Everyone I told thought I was exaggerating, but then my mother and MIL sawe it for themselves!! haha!!

Shannon

 

QUOTE(RachelJoy @ Oct 25 2007, 04:05 PM) [snapback]467204[/snapback]
Just for an additional bit of info: We were told that for every month early they were it would take a year to make up. That's not very clear . . . this means that if they were two months early, they should hopefully be caught up at two years. If they were three months early, they should be caught up by 3 years. That said, mine were 3 months early, and were testing developmentally AHEAD at just over two years.

Remember that full term babies don't all develop exactly the same - some walk at 9 months, some walk at 16 months, etc., so there are no set rules on this, it's just a guideline.

Good luck!

-Rachel


That is interesting. I didn't hear that, just that most preemies catch up by the time they are two. That said mine were caught up by 13 months.

Glad your are ahead too. WTG preemies!!

 

what is considered caught up? My little boy was brought hoome at 3.5 pounds yet at 6 months he is about 18 pounbds so very much on the charts... Is that caught up? My little girl is smaller but still on the charts too...

 

QUOTE
what is considered caught up?


Mainly developmental, not size so much... Once they act their chronological age, they're caught up.