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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Slow Growth Speech & Physical Movements In Preterm Children?

My Son, Who was born as preterm in 28 weeks, now two years. He is perfectly alright without having any disabilities and having good growth. But still he is not walking independently. He walks with a support of finger and sometimes he walks on tiptoes. However he is very active and crawling fast. And he is not speaking any word correctly. Is there any problem with my child, DOCTOR ?
Tue, 8 Jul 2014
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Pediatrician,  's  Response
Hi, Thanks for asking.
I can understand your concerns.
Age of a pre term child needs to be corrected up to two years of age. So the corrected age of your child will be 21 months because he was 12 weeks premature.
Walking should be achieved by 18 months of age, so his walking is delayed. Toe walking may be a sign of tendo achilles tightning which is very commonly seen in the premature babies.
For this you need to consult a Developmental paediatrician who will carry out a formal assessment of your child and put him on appropriate therapy. He will need physiotherapy. You may try walking him in sand and on grass which will increase the sensory input in his feet.
He also has speech delay as he is not saying any word correctly. How is his non verbal communication. Does he point out things?
The developmental paediatrician will be able to help you with this also. In my opinion he may also require speech therapy.
I hope I have helped you.
Thank you.
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What Causes Slow Growth Speech & Physical Movements In Preterm Children?

Hi, Thanks for asking. I can understand your concerns. Age of a pre term child needs to be corrected up to two years of age. So the corrected age of your child will be 21 months because he was 12 weeks premature. Walking should be achieved by 18 months of age, so his walking is delayed. Toe walking may be a sign of tendo achilles tightning which is very commonly seen in the premature babies. For this you need to consult a Developmental paediatrician who will carry out a formal assessment of your child and put him on appropriate therapy. He will need physiotherapy. You may try walking him in sand and on grass which will increase the sensory input in his feet. He also has speech delay as he is not saying any word correctly. How is his non verbal communication. Does he point out things? The developmental paediatrician will be able to help you with this also. In my opinion he may also require speech therapy. I hope I have helped you. Thank you.