significant difference between actual age and adjusted?

hi there!

my guys have over 12 weeks between their actual age and their corrected one, which is pretty significant. i was just wondering about others in the same boat. here are a few questions for you:

1--did you start solids and/or cow's milk on adjusted schedule or chronological? my pedi says he uses chron age for both food and vaccines, but EVERY book i've read says to start solids according to corrected age (which is what we did. i mean, what does he know?)

2--which age do you give when strangers ask your babies' ages? i used to go back and forth but now that we've passed a year i think i'll just give actual age. when i gave actual age in the beginning i hated hearing people tell me they were so small (they were born at just over 2lbs so i didn't like being reminded!). i know that strangers mean well, and i also know that i don't owe anyone any explanations, which is why i used to go back and forth.

3--how are your babies doing w/gross motor, fine motor, language, etc, skills? according to adjusted age charts, they are well ahead on gross motor, right on average for fine motor, and a little behind for language skills. i think this is so interesting! just wondering how it is for other families.

4--when will you move on to the next forum? i don't seem quite ready to, yet!

thanks, everyone!
~~jl

 

:wavey:

Mine were born 8 weeks early.

1- We did actual age for everything-solids, vaccines, milk. Derek had a milk allergy so I weaned him off of formula and onto soy at 13 months and then a week later went to whole milk without issue.

2- I would tell their actual age and if someone made a "small" comment I would just tell them they were premature.

3- We used the actual age charts and the smile took the longest and then everything else came in the "normal" range. But had their been an issue we knew that they had 2 months if need be to "catch up."

4- I moved on when mine were one on their birthday. There are plenty of us on the 1-4 board who had preemies.

 

QUOTE(DATJMom @ Dec 28 2008, 08:30 PM) [snapback]1124423[/snapback]
:wavey:

Mine were born 8 weeks early.

1- We did actual age for everything-solids, vaccines, milk. Derek had a milk allergy so I weaned him off of formula and onto soy at 13 months and then a week later went to whole milk without issue.


thanks for your response! my first thought was "wow, they started on cow's milk at 10 months adjusted," (a year actual, i am thinking) but then i'm not sure if that's what you meant because you said derek was 13 months...... i would LOVE to start my babes on cow's milk now, for the amount that i sup w/formula for breastmilk. but according to everything i read it seems a little risky. however, it's great to hear that you did (if i read that right...?).

btw, i LOVE the name derek.

also, i have been reading 1-4 forum every day. i've just been shy about introducing myself.

thanks again, jl

 

Hi - my DD was born 11 weeks early. She's now almost 6 years old and doing great...

1--did you start solids and/or cow's milk on adjusted schedule or chronological?
Vaccines are given based on chron age b/c preemies have compromised immune systems and need as much help as they can get. A virus is much more dangerous to them than a vaccine at this point. As for solids, and cow's milk, there are varying opinions. And I've found that many peds are not all that knowledgeable about preemies specifically. My thought is that going by adjusted age is the more cautious thing to do - and that's a good thing!


2--which age do you give when strangers ask your babies' ages?
I always used actual age. I didn't mind if the conversation turned to prematurity. I was actually very proud of what a fighter my DD was/is. So we wore the title like a badge of honor. That said, if you're uncomfortable talking about it, adjusted age would be the way to go.

3--how are your babies doing w/gross motor, fine motor, language, etc, skills?
For most things DD met her milestones at her adjusted age - esp with crawling and walking. She was late, even for adjusted age, with talking, but once she began talking, she took off! She's now ahead of her peers in many gross motor skills (skipping, monkey bars, cartwheels, riding a bike w/o training wheels, etc). Her fine motor is pretty advanced, too. And her language/vocab is precocious at times... so it all worked itself out.

Hope this helps.

 

QUOTE(happychck @ Dec 29 2008, 04:43 AM) [snapback]1124437[/snapback]
thanks for your response! my first thought was "wow, they started on cow's milk at 10 months adjusted," (a year actual, i am thinking) but then i'm not sure if that's what you meant because you said derek was 13 months...... i would LOVE to start my babes on cow's milk now, for the amount that i sup w/formula for breastmilk. but according to everything i read it seems a little risky. however, it's great to hear that you did (if i read that right...?).

btw, i LOVE the name derek.

also, i have been reading 1-4 forum every day. i've just been shy about introducing myself.

thanks again, jl


Yes, you read that right. I started cow's milk with them at 11 months adjusted (13 months actual). If I were you, I might wait at least a month to get them closer to a year adjusted. Have they had any food allergies at all? This is a good indicator too.

Thanks for the compliment on the name.

Introduce yourself and jump in on the 1-4 board. :friends:

 

My girls were 9.5 weeks premature.

QUOTE(happychck @ Dec 28 2008, 10:25 PM) [snapback]1124415[/snapback]
1--did you start solids and/or cow's milk on adjusted schedule or chronological? my pedi says he uses chron age for both food and vaccines, but EVERY book i've read says to start solids according to corrected age (which is what we did. i mean, what does he know?)

We started food at 6 months actual age. We have our one year appointment tomorrow, so I'm waiting to see that the Ped says about milk. We have a lot of formula left, so I don't really want it to go to waste. Vaccines we are doing on actual age too.


2--which age do you give when strangers ask your babies' ages? i used to go back and forth but now that we've passed a year i think i'll just give actual age. when i gave actual age in the beginning i hated hearing people tell me they were so small (they were born at just over 2lbs so i didn't like being reminded!). i know that strangers mean well, and i also know that i don't owe anyone any explanations, which is why i used to go back and forth.

I tell them actual age with an immediate comment about how they were only 2.5 pounds when they were born. I find I'm not always adding the comment about prematurity anymore.

3--how are your babies doing w/gross motor, fine motor, language, etc, skills? according to adjusted age charts, they are well ahead on gross motor, right on average for fine motor, and a little behind for language skills. i think this is so interesting! just wondering how it is for other families.

They are within range for everything according to adjusted age.

4--when will you move on to the next forum? i don't seem quite ready to, yet!

As soon as I can get organized and do a post here about their birthday, I'll move on to the next forum. I understand what you mean about not being ready yet though.

 

thanks for all your responses. i'm especially interested in hearing about solids and milk.

anyone else?

thanks again,
jl

 

This corrected age thing is kind of a little pain... I keep asking the dr which one to go by and he said not to worry about it that they are both
doing great... I look at what they should be doing at 4 months and they are both right on track for most things, but then
when I think of their sleeping schedule/feeding I always wonder if I should go by a actual or corrected age. My ds is always about 1 week or so ahead of my dd, which I find funny saying that my "older child" gives me the heads up on what is going to happen next

and on top of it all you hear "but every baby is different".. can it get even more confusing... :blink: we are not only trying to figure out two babies
at the same time that should not be compared to each other...plus the corrected age... I guess it just makes things more interesting

(mine were 6 weeks early)