Early stimulation in premature babies

When we start working with premature babies, we must first know what their corrected age is, that is, how old the baby would be if we counted from the date on which he should have been born, and not from the one that was born. It is important to know this information to determine the moment of devel

When we start working with premature babies, we must first know what their corrected age is, that is, how old the baby would be if we counted from the date on which he should have been born, and not from the one that was born.

It is important to know this information to determine the moment of development in which the baby in question is located. In the case of newborns, it is very important because we have babies who, in the first place, have been hospitalized during the first months of their life, and second, when we work with them, they should not have been born yet.

Early stimulation in premature babies

Ideally, when we initiate baby stimulation, it is to start with infant massage. It must be borne in mind that at the beginning they will not tolerate physical contact well, so it is important that we begin with the technique of resting hands and restraint. This technique consists of taking each part of the body of our baby, one leg, one arm, the abdomen and holding it with our hands, without moving them and trying to transmit relaxation and tranquility. Once the babies are assimilating this contact we can start all the movements of infant massage that go from the head to the feet. With this massage we can stimulate all baby systems, endocrine, respiratory, immune, vestibular etc ... helps development, improves learning, growth and muscle tone.

As the baby grows and always depending on their development rhythm, we can introduce some other stimulation activities, among which we will point out some of them below:

The stimulation work must be global, that is, work all the development areas in a coordinated and transversal manner. For them, these activities can be carried out by areas and for the period of 0 to 3 months.

1. Sensorimotor development

Offer the baby different points of view, for that, place the baby in different positions on the side, face up, face down or up, and show him toys of different colors, shapes, that are sonorous, all this to ensure that their periods of care are increasing.

Placing the baby in a lying position, we will place our hands behind the back of the baby and we will raise it, trying to hold its head for a few seconds, this way and performing this exercise in a regular way, little by little He will acquire the necessary strength to be able to hold his head on his own for a long time.

Perform movements on the arms and legs of the baby, move them up and down, open and close them, likewise with their legs and complement the exercise by bending and stretching them carefully.

2. Cognitive Development

We will place our baby in a lying position on his back and we will show him sound toys, or rattles, a toy that emits a sound, etc.

Tell stories using different tones and performing onomatopoeias of animals, or different volumes of voice.

Put music to relax the baby or to activate it, depending on the type of music you choose and the time of day. Musical stimulation is very important for the later development of the baby.

3. Language development

Repeat each sound, babbling, chirping that the baby makes, even if they are only vowel sounds. This way you will understand that this is a way of communicating.

In front of the baby, make gestures with your mouth, eyes, nose or eyebrows, so that you can know the facial expressions, for example, open and close your mouth, take out and enter the tongue, raise and lower the eyebrows, inflate the cheeks, open and close the eyes etc. And sing ... sing a lot.

4. Emotional / affective development

The parents take the baby against his chest and embrace him so that they can cover his body. On the mat, the parents begin to roll sideways embracing their son.

Dance with your child and express your feelings towards him, look him in the eyes, call him by his name and smile at him.

As the baby grows it will be necessary to introduce new exercises, in each of the areas and adapt them at their own pace, do not forget that each baby has its own rhythm, and in the case of premature babies this rhythm It will be somewhat slower.