Premature babies who leave their mother’s body too early have immature brains and are susceptible to damage from adverse external environments and diseases such as asphyxia, hyperbilirubinemia, hypoglycemia and infections. If your baby is born at gestational age <37 weeks or with neonatal period diseases, you should go to a child health care facility for examination and neuropsychological behavioral development assessment as early as possible to determine if early intervention is needed. 1. Developmental characteristics of preterm babies Awakening and sleep: preterm babies do not have a complete cycle of awakening and sleep: gently shake a baby born at gestational age between 28 and 31 weeks, he can wake up from sleep and last for a few minutes; babies born at gestational age between 32 and 36 weeks have an alternating cycle of awakening and sleep, can open their eyes and turn their eyes spontaneously, but the awakening time is shorter than that of full-term babies. The newborn period is about 20 hours of sleep per day. Response to light stimulation: Premature babies between 28 and 31 weeks show blinking, and those between 32 and 36 weeks show eye closing movements. There is no response to follow the light. Response to sound: preterm babies at 28 weeks of gestational age only have blinking and startle response to noise; as the gestational age grows, the response to sound is gradually sensitive and clear, when hearing sound, preterm babies will abort the action in progress or appear open mouth response, preterm babies at about 40 weeks of gestational age only appear clear directional response. Muscle tone: In the quiet state, the posture of preterm babies at 28~31 weeks is natural extension or slight bending of limbs; at 32~35 weeks, the flexor tone of lower limbs of preterm babies increases and their posture is hip and knee flexion; after 36 weeks, the flexor tone further increases and the typical flexor posture of limbs of full-term newborns appears. Movement: 28~31 weeks of preterm babies mainly show slow movement of twisting and occasional large limb flexion; 32~35 weeks when the movement of flexing hip and knee joint appears; 36 weeks after the emergence of active limb flexion movement, the head can be erected for a few seconds. 2, communication and play Communication: When the baby can wake up quietly for a while, you can gently look at the baby's eyes and talk to him, especially when breastfeeding. Babies are interested in people's expressions, and family eye contact, smiling expressions and gentle words are good parent-child communication. Play: Let your baby look, listen, move his limbs and touch caregivers freely. Show your baby's face is a good stimulus, when your baby is not interested, such as the appearance of closed eyes, head turning, yawning and other fatigue, to stop in time. Listen to soft and soothing music to your baby, or gently shake the flower bell stick with soft ringing sound about 20cm away from your baby's ear to lead your baby to turn his head. Look at brightly colored toys: Hang brightly colored toys about 20 cm from your baby's periphery. When the baby pays attention to the toy, slowly move the toy to attract the baby's eyes to follow the movement. Listen to soft sounds: Little babies like to listen to soft, soothing music and soft, high-pitched speech. Speak softly to the baby and look at the baby's eyes; make smiles, open mouth, tongue and other expressions to encourage the baby to imitate. Touch your baby: When your baby's physical condition is stable, give your baby a full body massage daily. When doing massage, use kind words to talk with the baby, so that the baby's emotions happy, the whole body relaxed. The bed surface should be flat and comfortable, but not too soft. By gently patting and holding the baby close, the baby's skin is close to the mother's or father's skin for skin contact, which not only helps to promote parent-child bonding, but also helps to calm the irritable baby. Mom and dad should learn to recognize the baby's movements, sounds and cries, and meet the baby's needs in time, such as feeding the baby when hungry, changing diapers when wet, and adding clothes when cold. This will reduce the baby's tension and build trust between parent and child. When playing with premature babies, the action should be slow and gentle, when the baby will turn his head to the other side, or no longer look at you, that he has played enough, tired of playing, should stop the activity, let the baby rest. Premature baby's visual and auditory function is still immature, more than the baby's ability to accept visual and auditory stimuli such as noise, bright light, etc., will affect its normal development, the baby will appear apnea, rapid fluctuations in heart rate and blood pressure and other abnormalities, may also produce sleep disturbance, inattention, hearing loss, poor weight gain and other long-term effects. The color of the baby's room supplies should not be too bright and bright, and speak softly with the baby to avoid the adverse effects of bright light or noise on the baby's growth and development. Prone head raising training: Do it 1 hour before feeding, on an empty stomach and in the awake state. The bed surface should be flat and comfortable, not too soft to prevent blocking the mouth and nose. Put a small pillow under the baby's armpit, put both upper limbs in front of the pillow, the height of both elbows flexed hands can reach the bed, adults in front of the baby talk or tease with toys to promote its head. Training 1 to 3 times a day. Correction of preterm babies within 40 weeks of gestational age is based on developmental supportive care, avoiding all kinds of sound and light stimulation. For nervous babies, kangaroo-style care is available to avoid causing anxiety. For babies with severe brain damage should be given appropriate stimulation according to their state, long or frequent stimulation is not conducive to recovery from brain damage.