Early intervention & therapies for premature babies
If your baby was born early, you don’t have to wait and worry. A whole world of gentle, effective support exists — and you can reach for it without a diagnosis.
Early Intervention (EI)
In the United States, Early Intervention is a public program for children from birth to age 3. It offers a free developmental evaluation and, where helpful, services like therapy and family support. Many babies born preterm qualify.
You can usually self-refer — you don’t need a doctor’s note to ask for an evaluation. Your pediatrician or NICU follow-up clinic can also refer you.
The main therapies
- Physical therapy (PT): gross motor skills and muscle tone — head control, rolling, sitting, crawling and walking.
- Occupational therapy (OT): fine motor skills, hand use, feeding, sensory processing and self-care.
- Speech-language therapy (SLP): feeding and swallowing early on, then sounds, gestures and language.
When to reach out
Trust your instincts. Consider an evaluation if movement, feeding, or communication seem delayed for your baby’s corrected age — or simply if you have questions. Earlier support tends to help more.
How to get started
- Ask your pediatrician or NICU follow-up clinic for a referral.
- Contact your state’s Early Intervention program directly for an evaluation.
- Keep notes on what you’re seeing — LittleSteps makes this easy to share.
There’s no “behind” here — only your baby’s own path, and the people ready to help along the way.
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