Presents for friends who have just had a premature baby

[Eggmcmuffin]

Does anyone have any recommendations for useful thoughtful gifts for my friends whose daughter arrived a month early? She's thankfully OK but will be in hospital for a few weeks which will be hard so just want them to know I'm thinking of them

If the baby is really small maybe some baby grows in prem size? Mittens and socks and a hat?

Meal vouchers eg Cook - if they're spending a lot of time at the hospital they won't want to make dinners?

Does the hospital have any branded concessions in it like Costa or Starbucks? If so what about a gift card, they'll be spending a lot of time at the hospital so may appreciate a few minutes sat with a nice coffee and a cake.

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo

Does the hospital have any branded concessions in it like Costa or Starbucks? If so what about a gift card, they'll be spending a lot of time at the hospital so may appreciate a few minutes sat with a nice coffee and a cake.

Worth checking before you do this. Someone bought me a costa card & the hospital costa wouldn't accept it.

That's pants @greyinganddecaying Leicester Royal Infirmary did a couple of years ago,I was there every week for months, first with a serious eye op, then I was stupid enough to break my hand in a way that needed surgery and then extensive physio and the only thing that made all the trips bearable was being able to multi-task it as a cake and reading trip 😂

Nice bottle that holds both hot and cold drinks, meal vouchers (or make them meals), a nice notebook to record their baby's journey, a book token/Amazon kindle book voucher if she likes reading as you can spend hours doing skin to skin with your baby,

Definitely food. Like any traumatic time, it's hard to plan eating or cook. My mum/aunties would bring a huge stew or lasagne and it was so comforting to sit down to (what felt like) a pot of love.

If they have older children, could you take them out for an evening or day of fun?

Cook vouchers or food that can be frozen.

Also some nice handcream - you have to wash and sanitize your hands a lot in NICU.

When my ds was in nicu he was so much smaller than we expected so we had no clothes that got him .. my mum went out and bought us prem clothes and we were so grateful we then had something he could wear when he was out of incubator and got a few weeks once home.
A nice hand moisturiser can be useful with the amount of hand washing and sanitizer- and that was in non covid times I imagine it's even worse now although maybe something not too perfumed for handling baby too.
A just eat voucher or the like for evenings when too tired to make food.
Chocolate / coffee/ lucozade .. their caffeinated drink of choice
Hope the baby is doing well

I had an unexpected premie, the things I remember needing most were practical items for the extended stay in hospital, so things like comfy Tracksuit bottoms, t shirts, toiletries, all my washing had to go home with my husband but he was trying to spend all his free time at the hospital with us, clothes were a real struggle and I was so grateful for the cheap asda trackies that he picked up which were a few sizes bigger than I usually wore but I just needed and appreciated those clean clothes.

Offer to mow the lawn, weed, take out the bins? Finish any small DIY tasks already started? They won't be thinking about them now, but the work will still need doing.

Premie clothes & nappies.

All of these are VG suggestions. I'd also add one from my SCBU experience (like your friend, baby was fine but just a bit too small to go home yet).

One family member turned up with the usual balloon, card and cuddly toy, posh bath stuff for me and just celebrated the safe arrival of the baby as a good thing, rather than a crisis.

She did it deliberately and was also very supportive; I just thought it was lovely that someone took the time to say my baby was a source of joy. Helped me think of it that way at a dark time.

My DS was 5 weeks prem and I had nothing at all which fitted. My mum actually went home the night he was born and quickly knitted a couple of tiny cardigans so he had something (he had to be kept warm). I would have really appreciated something I didn't have to fold the sleeves up on 4 times before they'd go anywhere near him. The nappies were much too big on him too.

I vote for food vouchers.... Just eat or something.

And the specialist prem baby clothes. I think I saw some in matalan, they join at the seams with velcro which is easier to put on if there are lots of cables etc.

Depends upon hospital some allow parents to stay over night others don't.

I second meals/vouchers, hand cream, doing the garden, giving the house a clean if you have access, checking what they need picking up such as preemie clothes.

I would also suggest maybe some nice bath products for when mum gets a chance to relax.

Also dropping a text and being at the end of the phone. So many people didn't get in touch with me because they didn't want to disturb me but it actually made me feel really alone. Obviously don't bombard them with calls but a text just to say hope all is well.

Maybe offer to go and get them the key buts from a supermarket to tide them over a few days when they first get discharged.

Premature baby milestone cards. They’re different to normal ones like today my feeding tube came out etc… they didn’t have them 7 years ago when I had my ds id have loved them.

My best friend (who doesn't normally knit - I didn't know she could) knitted bonding squares. One stays with mum, and the other with baby, and you switch them over each day so that the baby can always smell mummy. Really helped me feel better about leaving baby, and feeling connected when I wasn't there. That present meant the world to me.