What is adjusted age?

Just wanting to know what adjusted age and actual age is? I am asuming acutal age is what they are from when they were born? just not sure what adjusted age is and why its needed? thanks for any clarification!

 

Adjusted age is the age from your 40 week due date. If 2 women are pregnant but one woman delivers at 30 weeks and one delivers full term, the baby born at 30 weeks will have an earlier birth date (actual age) than the baby born at 40 weeks but really those two babies are the same age. The baby born at 30 weeks has an adjusted age.

Does that make sense? It's the age since when you were conceived instead of the age since you were born.

 

that makes sense. so in essence my babies should still be in utero? they came a month early so by next month they would be acutal age 1 month adjusted age 0 months? basically they will be a month ahead in their acutal age??

 

Actual age is the day that they are born. Adjusted age is used for premature/early births. So for example, it looks like your twins were born at 35 weeks so you can adjust 5 weeks for prematurity based on a 40 week gestational date. Make sense?

Another example would be for developmental milestones. You will be able to "add" 5 weeks to each milestones normal range. So, if they arent able to do a specific milestones at their actual age you will know that you have at least 5 more weeks for them to complete the milestone in the "normal" range. HTH!

 

That has always made sense to me except for the fact that babies are considered full term at 37 to 38 weeks so there would be no adjusted age right but if they were born one week earlier than they would have an adjusted age by a month??

 

QUOTE(blended6 @ Dec 30 2008, 09:55 AM) [snapback]1126435[/snapback]
That has always made sense to me except for the fact that babies are considered full term at 37 to 38 weeks so there would be no adjusted age right but if they were born one week earlier than they would have an adjusted age by a month??


I think some of this has to do with the babies in question. For example, my twins were 6 weeks early (3 weeks if you consider 37 to be FT for twins). No big deal, when they caught up in weight everyone let the adjusted age drop... until we ended up back in the ICU at CHLA with my daughter at three months and all of the Dr.s re-adjusted her age. Did that make any sense at all? Now we are hoping to be "all grown up" by her first birthday!

 

When people ask me how old my babies are, I tell them their actual age (when they were born dated). When people are discussing developmental milestones, that's when I think or talk about their adjusted age.