The growth and development of premature babies will look a little different, depending on how early they were born. Their growth and development progress is based on their corrected age, which helps check their progress and identify concerns more accurately. 

Corrected age = time since your baby was born - number of weeks or months they were early. 

Example: a baby was born 16 weeks ago. They were born at 29 weeks gestation, which is 11 weeks early. Their corrected age is 5 weeks old. 

It’s completely normal to feel anxious about your child’s developmental milestones. While milestones are a helpful way to see how your baby is growing and learning, they’re only a guide, not a rulebook. Every baby develops at their own pace and reaching milestones a little earlier or later is perfectly normal. Not meeting one right on time doesn’t mean there’s a problem.  

 It can be helpful to think about milestone windows as a tool to: 

• encourage or boost certain areas of your baby’s development  
• make small changes to your baby’s surroundings for play, learning and safety
• identify potential delays early, so your baby can get extra support if needed. 

A quick guide to milestones by corrected age