Is it possible that preemies could be *more* advanced in some ways?

[PoodleMommy]

Ha, I know this is completely opposite my earlier post, but I've been thinking about this after watching my baby with amazement all day.

Here's the thing: my baby should be a 31.5-week fetus right now. If he were still in the womb, the most interaction he'd be having would be with the umbilical cord.

But this week and last week, I've watched him start to figure things out... he'll feel all around to see where a tube is taped on his face, then figure out how to pull it off. And the way he studies my face as though trying to figure me out, it just seems way beyond what a 31-week fetus should be doing! Those are just a couple of many examples I've seen in him.

Am I crazy, or could preemies actually be more advanced in some ways than full-termers? It just seems to me that their brains are stimulated in ways that fetuses just can't be, so maybe it could actually help their brains advance beyond what it would otherwise??

 

[confused87com]

i think so in some ways. I mean my little boy was doing things before he is 'meant' to! i believe a lot of it is the interaction they get on the outside. He smiled before his due date, he has consistantly done everything his cousin does ( 3 weeks older) and he was a term baby..in theory he shud be nearly 4 months behind him!

 

[25weeker]

I wouldn't say they are more advanced than full term babies. I think most babies would figure out the tubes if they have one but we don't put them in term babies. My lo had so much tape stuck around her mouth to stop her pulling it out yet she somehow still managed to work out a way of removing the tube using her tongue! Used to frustrate nurses no end because you can't exactly tape it to her tongue

In the beginning she managed to wriggle down the incubator and get herself into all sorts of trouble and she could even turn her head from one side to the other while lying on her tummy with cpap on her nose. However as she got to term she became more like a newborn and less like a gymnast and had to learn everything like she would had she been born at term.

I do think prem babies can be more alert though because they have had the human interaction for much longer.

 

[SabrinaKat]

My LO should have been born the last few days, and came at 36wks (due to my pre-eclampsia) -- he is right on target for social skills for a 4wk old and other motor skills (he was two weeks in NICU), so I think the extra human interaction does have a positive impact!

best wishes

 

[PleaseBaby]

Amelia came home at 36 weeks holding her head up and turning to look at people she could also do some pretty complicated gymnastics but she didn't sit till 8 months and shes no where near crawling. I think its probably stuff all babies would do if we could see them

 

[louloubelle76]

yes defo when she was a week old she was already trying to lift her head lol