How do premature babies "catch up?"?

So he was declared fully gestational at birth?

If so, that is a statement on lung development and not needing to be incubated, rather than a statement on overall growth. He will be a bit developemntally behind full term babies, but his behavior won’t be behind.

They said he was. He didn’t need incubation or anything. He was sent home the next day with an obnoxious breathing monitor.

The twins were 5 weeks early too.

This makes me curious, the more I think about it. How much influence does the “outside world” (as opposed to being in utero) have on development, and how quickly does that influence start showing up?
Why would he act more like an almost-2-month old, and not just a 3 week old?

There is a lot of stimulation once born that causes a lot of neural wiring to take place, the reaction to stimuli is significant.

My youngest ( now 15½) was 5 weeks premature. Her lungs were underdeveloped, and needed several days incubation. She was tiny, but had no developmental issues. She did develop asthma several years ago, but doctor says there’s no direct correlation.

I had a nephew born at under 2 pounds. They said survival was 50–50. He pulled through and he caught up with development physically just fine, but for a long time he didn’t laugh. It was like he was used to pain and suffering. The family has worked hard on that aspect of life. I don’t know how he caught up, but I think a really supportive family helped.

Under 2 pounds? Wow….

When I had one of my babies, there was a premie in the nursery. I guess she had been there a while. When I walked in for my baby one time they were feeding her. It was the only time I saw her. the nurse had her elbows on her knees. The baby was on her back in the nurse’s left hand. With her right hand, the nurse was feeding the baby with an eye dropper. I marveled the baby could gain any weight with feedings like that. The nurse said she was coming along well.
All of my babies were born late. I felt like being late would hinder development. The doctor told me when I mentioned it after the second that it had less to do with born early or late, and more how they were treated before and after birth. He said talking to them before birth would spark early awareness, and constant interaction after birth would keep them stimulated, which is important to all aspects of growth and development.

Laughs, I just thought of the other thing the premie does. He had a brother born a bit after him. He’s his brother’s bodyguard. He constantly is watching over his brother. It’s a bit funny because they’re the same size.

My husband was born at 7 months. He weighed 2 kilos, about 4 pounds. He was mini small at first, and his mom says he had to go back to the hospital because they released him basically just like any baby at the time, and within 24 hours she returned to the hospital with him. I think he was back home again very quickly though. I remember when I was a little girl 4 pounds was some sort of crucial number, and of course lung development is key at the end of a pregnancy as people mentioned.

Anyway, my husband definitely caught up quickly. She says he was walking by 9.5 months. I’m not sure about that, it would be incredibly young, maybe she means standing and walking holding on? I don’t know for sure.

They never talk about my husband being behind developmentally in any way so I assume he hit typical milestones on time. I do remember they said he didn’t talk as much as the other kids, but it was more about being the youngest and his mom says the doctor told her to make him ask for things rather than just giving him what he needs, and I guess that turned right around.

I would guess the outside environment does have a lot of influence on mental and physical growth. We lay down neuropathways as we are stimulated by the world. Also, the milestones have a range for normal, so being 5 weeks early, even if the child was behind 5 weeks in everything it would still be within normal range probably.

I was born 3 weeks early, I don’t think it really even counts as early, does it?

The twins were 5 weeks early. They definitely caught up!
The boy, who was born first (they had to get him out because Sis was beating up on him!), is about 2 weeks behind his sister and just a tad smaller. However, having said that, part of that is because she is so much more adventurous than he is. He tends to watch her carefully when she’s doing something new. If she gets hurt then he knows not to do that! Chivalry is daid.

And my son’s youngest was walking, hands free, at 9 months. That kid is built like a tank!

Also, your husband is a guy, @JLeslie, and it’s hard to tell if men in general are behind developmentally, you know….runs for cover!

Many preemies “catch up” by their first birthday (micro-preemies might take longer or never “catch up”). Given that this baby was considered full-term, they should be developmentally on-track from birth, although they might be at the late-end of normal for some things (walking, speech development, etc.).