BABY BUILDERS
HELPS PREEMIE DEVELOPMENT

As your premature infant develops there are several key facts to keep in mind. You need to understand your preemie’s developmental age, keep track of his developmental progression and recognize the value of strengthening your preemie’s postural control muscles.

It is important to think about preemie infant development in terms of his “developmental age” not his “chronological age”. For example, if your baby is 6 months old and he was 2 months early, you would expect him to be at a developmental age of a 4 month old. So he should be doing the things that a 4 month old baby who was full term is doing (holding his head up, reaching for toys, smiling, cooing, etc).

The development of a premature infant should generally progress in the same manner a full term baby’s does. Preemies should first learn to hold their head up, then sit up, crawl and then walk. All babies, including preemies, develop at different rates. Some are slower to hold their head up while others are slower to crawl. Some walk early while others walk late. The important thing is that they are consistently progressing in their development.

No matter how early your baby was born, all preemies are at some risk for delayed development due to weakness in their postural control muscles. Postural control muscles are those muscles in the neck and trunk which stabilize the trunk for good coordinated movement of the legs, arms, hands, and even the jaw and mouth.

A weakness in these muscles may or may not be evident during the first year. A significant weakness can cause abnormal movement patterns such as tilting the head back, arching the back, shrugging the shoulders and/or squeezing the knees together during movement as well as a delay in motor development. Research shows that a baby with milder weakness may look normal at 12 months but have difficulty at ages 3,4,or even 5 with higher level gross motor skills (standing on 1 leg, hopping, skipping, riding a bike, etc) or with fine motor skills (hand/eye coordination, writing, catching a ball, etc).

In order to prevent or minimize these problems, it is very important that preemies be involved in an exercise program that works to strengthen and stabilize the head and neck, shoulder girdle, abdominals and hips. The best time to strengthen these muscles is during the first year as the baby is developing his lower level gross motor skills.

The Baby Builders’ Video and Book contain exercises that work to strengthen these postural control muscles to improve balance and coordination. The Baby Builders’ Book contains additional information for working with premature infants including stress signs and calming techniques

Baby Builders helps Amy be a proactive mom
Having a preemie means being hyper-aware of every milestone. When my daughter was born 11 weeks early, I wanted do everything in my power to ensure that her development was progressing normally. Baby Builders helped me feel like a proactive mom instead of a helpless one, and it was fun, too. I only wish I had found this tool earlier!

NICU doctor endorses Baby Builders
Baby Builders is an excellent home-based tool for parents of premature infants to be proactive in their preemies motor and cognitive skill development.
Terrance J. Zuerlein, M.D., Medical Director Intensive Care Nursery, St. Vincent’s Doctor’s Hospital, Little Rock, Ar.

Lisa: Baby Builders exercises are beneficial and easy
the video . . . was a wonderful guide for both beneficial activities and developmental milestones. We were concerned about the developmental ramifications of a premature infant, but the exercises were easy to do, even with our son's monitoring equipment. It was also reassuring to us as parents that we were taking proactive steps to assist in his development.