Developmental milestones

My baby was born 3 weeks 5 days early. He was large for his gestational age and weighed 2.706 and was (thankfully) a very healthy boy (first Apgar 9, second 10) and didn't spend any time in special care. However, he's still quite a sleepy fellow and I'm wondering what my expectations should be - do I expect things based on his chronological age or adjusted age (he's chronologically almost 8 weeks but adjusted age is 4 weeks). He doesn't seem to react to my voice (but he reacts to sounds) and he doesn't seem to follow objects with his eyes (although sometimes when put on his play mat he will stare at one of the hanging toys) and often just stares - I don't know if he's looking at shadows or light or just the wall but it concerns me. He's my first so I have no idea what to expect.

Every baby is different the sleep is good I was told they grow in their sleep I think if your really concerned consult your gp or get a referral to a paed
I think being a first time mum is hard but he will adjust slowly as for the age thing I really don't know sorry

first of all congratulations!

every baby is different so dont expect your baby to be doing things just because the neighbours baby who is around the same age does! you will put yourself into a tail spin worrying about why your baby seems to be different and not like all the others.

DS was 6 weeks prem and seems to do some things to his corrected age, others to his actual age, and then some in between. we have been trying to teach him to clap but he laughs at us and will grab our hands and make our hands clap instead lol.

your baby is still a newborn so treasure him now! if you are worried have a chat with your gp but to be honest i wouldnt worry too much at this age. HTH

When I worked in perinatal clinical trials, we'd adjust the age of premature babies for follow up. Development begins at conception. Also, if you have any concerns, going by his adjusted age will give him a few more weeks to reach those milestones.

Congratulations! For the first 12 months most premature babies are corrected, some are corrected beyond that depending on how premature they were and how they are going developmentally.

DS1, 30+1, is nearly 4 and is still assessed on his corrected age not his chronological age, despite being told they would stop correcting at two. He is still quite delayed in most areas, so that's why he is still being corrected. He still attends the neo-natal follow-up programme from premature babies.
DS2, 34+3, is 19 months old and has never been corrected. He has never seen a developmental paediatrician, all his assessment are done through the CHN. He is delayed in communication and personal-social skills.

DS1 pretty much did everything for corrected age (or later for some things) where DS2 did a lot of things for chronological age (he was walking at 11.5 months actual age).

Try not to stress, every child is different and does things at different rates :hug:

Thanks everyone. Tomorrow we happen to have a follow-up appointment with the pediatrician (the pediatrician who saw DS in hospital for jaundice) so I will also ask him about this but it helps to understand what others have experienced.

DD was 6 weeks early. (3 weeks corrected) and she's only just starting to look at her toys. 10 minutes ago was the first time.
She doesn't react to my voice or anything yet.
All bubs are different.