My Advice For Preemie Mamas

Aryi goes to a developmental clinic periodically and will continue until he is 2 years old to make sure he is developing properly where he is supposed to be. We met with a Nurse Practitioner, Speech Therapist, Occupational Therapist, and Physical Therapist. In this appointment, I answer questions and Aryi is asked to do various things. It ends up taking at least an hour to do all of these things. We went last when he was 18 months old. Aryi was born 3 months early at 26 weeks gestation. This means he should be meeting developmental milestones of a 15 month old. At our appointment, Aryi was meeting all milestones of a 21 month old and some things he was at a 2 year old level. This means he is at least 6 months ahead of where he is supposed to be. As a preemie this is amazing. Aryi’s nurse practitioner told me I needed to write a book, she has never seen a child this impressive. I don’t think I need to write a book. I think my advice can be summed up into 5 things. 

Spend time with your child. Your child craves time with their mom. And don’t just sit there while your child lies on the floor. Talk to your child. Play with your child. Sing to your child. They are amazed by you. 

Start tummy time early. We started “tummy time” early as skin to skin in the hospital. Aryi would lift his little head and look around. We were like how are you lifting your head? You weigh 2 pounds!! I think this was so beneficial to him. As soon as he was in a crib, out of his incubator we started practicing tummy time in his crib.

Read, read, read to your child. I read Harry Potter books to Aryi while he laid on my chest day after day in the hospital. My husband would read him baby books at night. He loved hearing our voice. We read Aryi like 30 books in a day. 

Don’t buy toys that just press buttons. Buy low key, noiseless toys that are not overwhelming and actually teach your child. Don’t sit your kid in front of a screen all day. We started letting Aryi watch Ms. Rachel at almost a year old for about an hour a day. 

I would also like to say. This wasn’t just me. This wasn’t just my husband. This was Aryi. He is naturally curious. He loves attention and really wants to communicate with people. He wants to have a conversation. He is super social. He is so smart.