Every parent of a premature baby in the first two years of life knows how important it is to monitor the development and medical condition of their child. The growing premature baby is closely monitored by doctors and health professionals in the child's development. Studies also show that early and intensive intervention as much as possible allows for a better quality of life for the premature baby later in life.

Some premature babies (approximately 8-15% of the premature population) will grow up to be happy and content children with complex developmental difficulties that require treatment in special education settings and continued developmental treatments throughout their lives.

Most premature babies, approximately 70% from the premature population, will grow up to be happy and content children with mild to moderate developmental difficulties, and will be integrated into regular education settings with the need for child development treatments.

The rest of the premature babies (note, a very small percentage of them) will grow up without any developmental difficulties.

This time we will address the population of premature infants – in the second group – who are integrated into regular education frameworks, kindergartens and schools, and need continued monitoring and developmental treatment.

It is known from professional literature that children born prematurely are 2-4 times more likely than children born at term to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) accompanied by learning difficulties. In kindergarten, this will be characterized by high distractibility, difficulty completing tasks, difficulties perceiving color, quantity, and shape. Sometimes difficulties are expressed in drawing abilities and fine skills. Sometimes these children show language difficulties both in expression (pronunciation and conversational abilities) and in linguistic comprehension (understanding a story, understanding instructions, etc.). 40-80% Premature children, in kindergarten, show hypersensitivity/reactivity, which is expressed in avoiding different textures (sand/dough), sensitivity to noise, sensitivity to vestibular experiences such as swings and carousels (related to the organ of balance in the ear), and more. Some premature babies (30-50%) will show coordination difficulties that will manifest in multiple falls, difficulty jumping/playing ball/riding a bike.

Some premature babies will still have difficulty falling asleep, waking up gradually, and staying asleep even at preschool age. Some will have eating difficulties that are more characterized by picky eating, a disorganized eating environment, eating too little or too much, and eating for too long or too short periods of time.

Not all premature babies will experience all of the difficulties, and some will experience several difficulties combined together.

A preterm child who grows up with developmental difficulties and whose environment does not understand and does not address his difficulties, because he is no longer preterm and is a child in a regular education, sweet and cute, and "all children grow up" can grow into more difficulties (a growing snowball) and emotional and behavioral problems due to his difficulties.

Sentences I heard from parents:

“He’s playful – so let him run around a lot, why do you need to sit and play” (to learn and practice fine skills)

“He’s lazy so he doesn’t move” (There are no lazy children, maybe he fell a lot so he doesn’t dare anymore or maybe he didn’t succeed so he gave up)

“He will grow up – in the end everyone will talk” (along the way he will be frustrated – frustration can cause the child to have behavioral problems or become withdrawn and withdrawn)

“He keeps falling – how awkward” (it’s a really unpleasant experience to fall a lot)

“So he doesn’t touch the sand and dough” (True – not required, but it is often also linked to eating problems and picky eating)

It's true, every child with developmental difficulties needs treatment, and every child who is not treated will carry the difficulty with them.

But it's important to remember something unique to premature babies! Premature babies are born with a less mature brain. Many studies show that premature babies (even in later weeks) have less brain tissue that develops outside the womb compared to full-term babies – meaning they have less to work with… That's why there is an increase in the general population in the prevalence of attention and learning difficulties.

I scared you… right… but – the encouraging statistic is that the more we treat a premature baby early, identify the difficulties before school, we can influence learning and the brain's ability to learn and grow into a person with a good quality of life (in terms of indicators of education, economy and health) – how amazing!

Finally, some recommendations:

Identify the difficulty early – if you see a difficulty, go check it out.
Continue routine developmental monitoring until first grade.
Listen to and implement at home the recommendations of the team caring for the child.

Wishing prosperity and prosperity to all premature babies and their parents.

Keratin songs
She has a Bachelor's degree in Physical Therapy (BPT), a Master's degree in Occupational Therapy (M.Sc in OT), Neurodevelopmental Therapy - Bobet NDT approach, and is a clinical instructor.
In addition, Shiri is a member of the executive board of the Lahav Association – for the premature babies in Israel.