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Welcome! I would not worry! What does he do? Can you list out some things he has accomplished? How'd tummy time going?

@JLC53: my son is very similar to yours. Born at 37 weeks and jaundiced and definitely a little slower in milestones. It seems like physically my son is fine but his smile was slow and he's nowhere near laughing at 12 weeks. It sounds like your son has some strengths that are very impressive. Give it a few more weeks and then maybe call the pediatrician. Keep in mind boys develop slower than girls.

I went into spontaneous labor at 37w3d and DD was born early the next morning. I honestly can't remember when she started sustaining eye contact, smiling, and laughing but I think it was on the later side. Smiling was definitely not until at least 7-8 weeks and I'm pretty sure laughing was after my maternity leave was over, so maybe around 15 weeks? It took her FOREVER to roll back to belly -- after she was sitting on her own, actually -- but she sat, crawled, and walked on a normal timeline. She's almost 2.5 now and no issues.

My son was born at 37+3, and I also can't remember exactly when he smiled or laughed, but I remember being very concerned about his development the entire first year. He was always a little behind on meeting milestones (didn't crawl until 10 months, didn't babble consonants until probably nine months, etc). However, once he turned a year old, it was like he caught up overnight. He is now a very healthy, very smart, and completely typically-developing 4 year old. I am glad I brought up any issues I saw with our ped, but I also really wish I hadn't spent that first year googling and researching so much. I wish I'd spent that time marveling at and enjoying my wonderful son! Easy to say on the other side of it, but still true.

@JLC53: I wanted to tell you too so your son is 9 weeks but let's say really he's like 6 weeks... my son underwent a LOT of changes after he hit 10 weeks (aka 7 weeks). I was getting worried but he seemed to progress well after 10- 11 weeks. It was a pretty big jump. I've read boys also develop physically earlier than socially if that makes sense.

I wouldn't worry at all! He is only 9 weeks old, and if he was born three weeks before his due date (even if he was considered "full term"), he's only really 6 weeks adjusted. The difference of three weeks is 1/3 of his life... which is super significant! That's also assuming your dates were totally correct, many times babies are even a bit "younger" because many women ovulate later, have longer cycles etc.

Good luck but please don't worry! Enjoy the newborn snuggles!

@JLC53: my first was born at 38w2d and I don't really remember eye contact, but she was behind on everything gross motor and social until she was around 1, and she still lags in some areas at 2.5. For her I think it is a personality thing - she is very cautious and not very physical so she doesn't really try anything unless she's sure she can do it.

@JLC53: just checking in! How's he doing?

my lo was born at 37 weeks and I remember that it took her awhile to smile, like not until about 10 weeks, and I remember worrying about it. also she didn't laugh until about 4 months--she was just a very serious newborn, and very busy observing. but in everything else she's been advanced since! she's 26 months now and my pediatrician says her vocabulary is like a 4 yos I think that's a total exaggeration, but physically she's been on track or advanced as well, like she's been jumping for months now. just wanted to give you a positive story!

@JLC53: What a cutie!

FWIW, my daughter is 5 months old and the only interest she has in toys is how fast she can get them into her mouth to chew on them, lol!

@JLC53: So cute!

I just wanted to add that my LO was born at 37+0 and she was three weeks "late" on EVERYTHING during her first year, from smiling to rolling over to sitting unassisted to eating solid foods to crawling, etc. After the first few months I realized I should just use her due date to track milestones. It evened out around, or just after the one-year mark (she started walking a few weeks after her first birthday) and now that she's a toddler I no longer think about adjusting her age when I read books about development, but I remember being freaked out as a FTM especially regarding social smiles and laughing (which she was definitely three or so weeks late on).

My doctor told me 37 weeks is "term", so I had the same worries as you, but LO is super social and smart as a whip these days, so it all evened out in the end!