How Prematurity Affects Children as They Age

Premature infants, those born earlier than 37 weeks gestation, overcome many obstacles based on how early they were born. Each child will have unique issues but there are some things that other parents of preemies and I have found to be common with our children.

Our doctor told us that once our daughter reached the age of five her status as a preemie most likely would not be a factor in medical decisions. In fact, he was pleased to tell us that at about a year of age, she was caught up with her full term age mates. However, there were still some issues that we found came from her prematurity.

Coordination and Motor Skills

If you are fortunate to have a preemie that has "caught up" with his same-age mates, be careful not to start comparing him. Motor skills and coordination was a challenge for our girl as it is for many preemies. Many find their children grow mentally and vocally before motor skills kick in. It can lead to a lot of frustration in your preemie child.

My daughter started kindergarten this year and she is generally an obedient and happy child. I was startled to get a visit from her teacher to explain what happened one day. Apparently, in response to overwhelming frustration with a scissors project, my daughter had a meltdown and utterly refused to pick up the scissors again. Her motor skills are a little bit behind her same age mates so we have had to work on certain issues at home with her. She knows now that she can ask for help if she needs it and she can work on projects at home too. Sometimes your child will need someone to sit down and calmly work through the motor skill with him and allow the child to see that it is all right that he did not get it right away.

Along with this idea, there is also a danger of frustration for your child in communication. When your preemie is learning to talk, sometimes his or her mind will go father than his voice can keep up. It can be extremely frustrating that he cannot communicate and will often resort to grunting or pointing rather than calm down and try again. Be patient and realistic with your expectations.

Over Stimulation

As I mentioned in a previous article, over stimulation can be very detrimental to preemies, even as older children. Many children need naps well into their early school years. Preemies tend to be those children. Good sleep is still needed for development. In our busy lives, it is often easy to overlook a nap time but if you find your little one is fussy at bedtimes, irritable during the day, or prone to meltdowns, try to carve out an hour a day for rest. Scheduling it will help them tremendously because preemies (as most children do) find boundaries and knowing what to expect very comforting.

Wetting accidents

Many children, even into first grade or beyond, have issues with nighttime accidents. Preemies are no different. Their physical development may mirror their same age mates, but do not be surprised if you have a harder time with potty training.

Night time potty training will be even more difficult. If you have a child who is a heavy sleeper, his body may not be aware enough to wake up if an accident is imminent. Invest in nighttime pull ups and wait patiently until your child begins to have dry diapers every morning.

Also do not be surprised if your preemie has more daytime accidents. We have found that though fully daytime potty trained, our daughter will occasionally have accidents. Look for triggers that may be causing the seemingly avoidable accidents. For us, we have found that if she has a bad night's sleep, is beginning to get sick, or is tense about something, she will most likely have an accident.

Eating

I hesitated to add eating to the list but it seemed to come up a lot in conversations with other preemie parents. Children can be picky eaters or eat very little but preemies tend to get hungrier more frequently. Children whose bodies are playing "catch-up" seem to burn calories very quickly. Several small meals a day are ideal for such children. Our daughter will eat breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. She does eat a lot but you would never guess from her tiny waist. We did miss a snack one day and she woke us at 2 a.m. with hunger pains. Bananas, yogurt, and milk or water throughout the day seems to help stave off hunger and build good caloric intake.

Respiratory issues

Many preemies deal with some kind of breathing issue when they are born so early. And it can come up again later in life, particularly in the winter with croup or RSV. My daughter is fortunately very healthy but seems to catch any respiratory virus going around. She is very susceptible to spasmodic croup (a barking, persistent cough without the accompanying viral symptoms.) Preemies tend to catch more of the respiratory infections since they have narrowed upper airways.

While there is a lot we can attribute to prematurity, we also have to be careful not to use it as a crutch. As parents, be aware of your child's development but do not use it as an excuse. It is so easy for us to want to shelter our preemies but we also have to learn to grow with them and know when to step back and when to step in.

Author's Note: This article is based on my own experiences as the parent of a premature infant and those of my acquaintances in similar situations. Please do not substitute my advice for that of a doctor's.

Source:

http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/croup.html