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What Is Adjusted Age?

Adjusted age — or corrected age — takes a preemie's chronological age and subtracts the weeks they were born early. It gives you a fairer way to look at developmental milestones because it accounts for the development time they missed in utero. Most pediatricians use it until the child hits 24 months chronological age.

What Adjusted Age Actually Means

Adjusted age = chronological age minus weeks of prematurity. That is it. Born at 32 weeks? You were 8 weeks early. At 6 months chronological age, your adjusted age is 4 months. When someone asks "how old is the baby developmentally?" this is your answer.

Why You Should Care About Corrected Age

Without corrected age, preemies look like they are behind. They are not — they just started the race late. Adjusted age accounts for that, so you're comparing them against the right milestone timeline.

Use our adjusted age calculator to compute corrected age instantly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does adjusted age mean?
Adjusted age (or corrected age) is a baby's chronological age minus the number of weeks born early. It provides a more accurate benchmark for evaluating developmental milestones in premature infants.
How long do you use adjusted age?
Most pediatricians use corrected age until the child is 24 months old chronologically. After that, chronological age alone is typically sufficient.
What is the difference between chronological and adjusted age?
Chronological age measures actual time since birth. Adjusted age subtracts weeks of prematurity to estimate where the baby would be developmentally if born full-term.