The mother of a 4-month-old infant, born prematurely, asks the nurse if her daughter will always be small for her age. What is the most appropriate nursing response?

A. Prematurity is associated with short stature but does not affect weight gain: Prematurity can affect both weight and length initially. Suggesting that only stature is affected is inaccurate, as growth involves multiple parameters and catch-up occurs over time. B. It takes about two years for the preterm infant to catch up to a full-term infant: Preterm infants often require 18–24 months to reach growth parameters similar to those of full-term peers. Corrected age is used to assess developmental and growth milestones, and most preterm infants achieve catch-up growth within this timeframe. C. Your daughter will be the same size as other children by the time she is 1 year old: While some preterm infants grow rapidly, many require more than one year to reach the size of full-term peers. Providing a one-year timeline may create unrealistic expectations. D. Preterm infants usually remain smaller than term infants throughout childhood: Most preterm infants experience catch-up growth by age two, so they do not typically remain smaller throughout childhood.