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?

The alternative then is to send nothing, and the majority of the people on this thread have said they loved receiving gifts.
Every time I've messaged friend to check in with them she has also asked how I'm doing so I doubt she will take a 'late' gift the wrong way. In fact another friend of mine had a full term baby 6 weeks ago, home the next day and they've only just received their gift. I don't usually rush round with gifts as a lot of people like space.

I would just send your present and not worry. If she doesn’t want to open presents yet she will just put it to one side for the time being and tell you that, I can’t imagine anyone being offended by the fact you sent a gift. Likewise though I doubt many people would be offended that it is late. As pp has shown, some people may, as naturally, everyone reacts differently, but I think most people I met in NICU were 100 percent focused on their baby’s recovery and survival and were not thinking about who had and who hadn’t sent presents, or when they sent them.

Don't worry at all about a late gift. You sound lovely.

Hand cream was a life saver for me. Someone sent us a small (buy not prem) outfit with a note saying 'something for ds to grow into' which I thought was lovely.

The prem octopus is fab - I made one for a friend if a friend and it was treasured. Harsh to know whether they already have one and some trusts don't allow them.

A prem mum I know complained that normal bibs were huge on her tiny baby and so didn’t really work well as the neck hole was too big. I looked online and found special preemie bibs for her which seemed to be really appreciated. Although shops like mothercare sell tiny baby clothes they don’t have special bibs.

Octopus for a preemie uk will send her an octopus for the cost of postage, £3.90 when I got one sent to my friend for her little boy. They are made to a very high standard and checked for quality and have been working with nicu and scbu nurses to make them safe for their babies. They are all donated and some hospitals are suppilied by them to give out for free.

Remember to also parcel up some books and magazines for the parents who are spending hours by the incubator. My youngest was born at 31 weeks and even when we were doing kangaroo care, I still got through a few paperbacks. Also a lovely blanket/shawl for when the little one's having cuddles.

I appreciated preemie clothing when my son was born. I would have loved the bliss milestone cards too. He was born at Poole which I think was the first hospital to offer the preemie octopuses and so he received one for free as soon as he arrived at the NICU. I treasure it now
Agree with PP about hand cream, my hands were dry cracked and bleeding from the constant hand washing and anti bac required. A Good, unperfumed hand cream would be very useful as would a baby towel, we had to use a scratchy NHS one for his first bath

My youngest was born at 31 weeks and even when we were doing kangaroo care, I still got through a few paperbacks.

Our youngest was born at 30 weeks, and I studied for professional exams while sitting in NICU. (And I passed!). Sorry, not trying to sound competitive, just boggling now at the thought of how I managed to study at such a stressful time.

An outfit would be lovely for when baby moves from incubator to crib. I was a Prem (29 weeks) and back in those days there weren't any prem clothes so I'm sure an outfit would be lovely.
A teddy/toy/comforer would be great and may be allowed in incubator once baby is a little better. Same with a hat - I'm sure I wore a hat in my incubator

No ideas other then what's been mentioned but you sound like a lovely friend.

I hope the baby continues doing well

(I have a 6 month old ex-28 weeker who is thriving)

Asda do lovely prem clothes in much smaller sizes than most high street shops/supermarkets. They even do nappy covers (iirc) so that even if babies are too small/sensitive/need access and vests aren't suitable they can still be "dressed".
Clothes with all the velcro are a pain as the velcro always sticks to the wrong part and they also cling to the nappies! I'm a NICU nurse, I avoid these clothes if at all possible! Obviously if that's what parents choose for their baby I do use them but if they also have "normal" clothes too I use the normal ones.

A good basic hand cream is always useful. Not too many harsh chemicals as they can react with all the hand gel.

Books. There's so many lovely gift books available. I love the Nancy Tillman ones.

Hand knitted cardigans in tiny sizes. They keep the babies warmer than those padded cardigan that come with outfits.

Blankets for kangaroo care. Ask the parents what the storage space is like tho, a lot of blankets are quite bulky and take up a full incubator drawer.

Anything practical to make the parents lives easier- childcare, proper meals, bags of loose change for the car park/coffee machine etc.

As an aside, babies need a certain amount of body fat in order to maintain their temp so weight is definitely a factor when moving from incubator to cot. It differs from hospital to hospital but I'd expect it to happen between 1.6 and 1.8kg if baby was gaining weight and able to maintain their temp in the incubator.

Yes prem size sleepsuits were really useful at that stage. And prem sized cotton hats. Also just a nice card!

A friend of mine who lived a distance away sent a personalised blanket with DS name on it. I still remember the day I walked into the ward and saw my tiny baby had been moved from an incubator to a warming cot, and the lovely nurses had placed his personalised blanket on top so I could see his name across the room. He still cuddles up in the blanket at nearly 5 years old.