Premature baby gift

[kaytee87]

Friends baby was born at 27 weeks 4 weeks ago and is doing well in hospital.
We can't visit them but I'd like to send a parcel of gifts. Can anyone advise what to send? Is there any point in clothes when the baby is in an incubator?

Ds was born @35 weeks. We found a tiny hat /mitt set that is now framed (3.3 years now!) it was great to have some that actually fit!! Some tiny clothes are nice!! Asda do prem ones at the bigger stores with velcro fastenings !

The baby may not be in clothes yet, but a prem size outfit would be lovely for when the baby progresses to a crib from the incubator. Remember the baby will still likely need a hat when in hospital but out of the incubator. And how about a small soft toy to go in the incubator?

A few places do special vests for preemie babies that allow for wires etc to be placed, What about those?. Or a teddy bear?

I had a micro preemie( 23 weeks + 5 days) , clothes for a prem baby weren’t very easy to find then but my mum bought a little dress to fit a 2 lb weight baby which I still treasure . Anything for a small baby would be appreciated and a little teddy . Also a congratulations card now as lots of people waited until my daughter came home from hospital. I would have like her birth acknowledged when she arrived instead of when she was 3 months old .

What ever you get please make sure it can be washed on a hot wash as when ours was born whatever went in his incubator had to go through a 60 or 90 degree wash. I can't remember which!

My friend was delighted with a teeny tiny preemie babygro from Boots as her 28 week DS could only wear 'hospital clothes' as everything was too big.
I think the size was upto 2.5 lb - but it was a good few years ago.

Definitely get some prem clothes- ideally vests and basics as that's what they're going to be focusing on needing

I would suggest a nice warm easy to wash blanket that's nice and big. DD was 28+4 and didn't wear anything for about a month but we did kangaroo care (cuddles) and so needed plenty of blankets to keep her warm so we could always use a nice clean one - plus it's good once baby is home.

To be honest just the usual new baby stuff was nice - celebrating our new family regardless made everything more normal - I still have all the cards and I'm not usually a card person.

If you can find nice premie clothes they would be appreciated I’m sure. It is something to grow into.

How about these milestone cards from bliss especially for premies here

Or a pair of picture frame for putting a picture of themselves (the parents) on the incubator and they can have a picture of the little one with them at home.

Other gifts that would be nice for the parents are a good hand cream (you wash your hands a lot) and some nice coffee.

They will appreciate you acknowledging the birth.

Those that have had prem babies. Roughly what weight did your little ones come out of their incubator?

I remember my cousin saying she got her daughter some clothes from toys r us from the big baby doll section (like the Annabelle babies)

I think maybe a little blanky would be lovely

Ok I think I will get a lovely white knitted blanket, cardigan & booties

I came on to suggest the premature milestone cards from Bliss, they are lovely x

I was given a Mini Cuskiboo for DD1 and I bought one for friend who also had a preemie.

www.cuskishop.co.uk/award-winning-miniboo-2-pack-656-p.asp

It's a comforter which mummy can wear to make smell of her and then leave with baby.

I have bought premature baby clothes from www.earlybaby.co.uk recently, which were lovely and arrived quickly.

Our little girl wasn't allowed any toys in the incubator but Poole Maternity were knitting octopuses to help prem babies. They had a pattern and advice about putting them together. Apparently the babies loved holding onto the tentacles as they were like the umbilical cord. Look on Poole's website if you're a knitter or you know someone who is.

We were give this, a baby record book for premature babies. I was very touched by how much thought had gone into choosing this.

earlyarrivalinc.com

My babies were preemies. Earliest was my 2nd child, a lg born at 30+6 weighing 3lb 1oz. I loved my prem baby clothes but actually, once she got home she grew SO fast so was glad she had been gifted newborn size clothes too! I was appreciative of some meals that had been frozen as we spent so long at the hospital each day I couldn't be arsed with cooking and also treasured a beautiful fairytale book. I read to my babies in neonatal ALL the time, just so they could hear my voice amongst all the beeps, alarms and other voices.

My lg started off intubated for a week, cpap for a few days and was then moved from incubator to heat cot before normal cot. Cant remember her weight when she was moved to cot but she was only 4lb when she left hospital 4 1/2 weeks old. It's not so much to do with weight for when they move to a cot, its being able to maintain their own temp. Chances are, they're gradually turning down the temp of the incubator.

Blanket and booties sounds nice x

Kaytee my ds Was about 3 and half pounds when he came out of an incubator and was then in a NICU crib for a while before coming home at 4 and half pounds. So prem clothes will definitely get wear for quite a while

My boys were both over 7lb when they came out of the incubator. They were both late premature babies though. There is an official term for that but I can't remember it.

My favourite present with both my early babies was an "it's a boy" balloon that I tied to the end of my hospital bed and then had at home. It was awful being on a ward where all the other mums had their babies, partners, visitors, flowers etc and I was on my own so it was nice to have the balloon.

I also used a lot of hand cream. Vouchers for the hospital shops would have been nice, or a bag to carry stuff back and forth.

My friend had a baby at 24+4, she asked everyone to get books. She read to him all the time when he was in NICU

My DS was also born at 27 weeks. I would have appreciated nice hand cream, snack type foods and a nice notepad. I found it helped to write down how I was feeling and what was happening each day so I could look back on progress on tough days. Nice blankets help as well.

When my eldest was born early I was all over the place.

We got sent loads of flowers and baby clothes but to be honest, what would have been great is if someone had promised to bring us a nicely cooked dinner when we got home from hospital, so we could focus on our baby. Offer to do chores somehow, to give them more time to bond and recover. That would be great.

@OnTheRise unfortunately I can't help out practically as I have broken my ankle / leg in 3 places, they live an ours drive away and I have my own wee one. That would have been my first thought otherwise.

Hours*