Urgent! Prem baby packing list please

[ThreeAngels3]

Hello,

Help needed please. Are there any mums of prem babies that could give any advice on what to pack for a premature baby (will be delivered at 32 weeks). My lovely SIL has just been told that she may need to have her baby next week due to a problem with the placenta. Her bag is packed and ready but will she need to take nappies, clothes, etc, for the baby?

Many thanks for all your help.

You can get tiny baby clothes and nappies, although these may still be too big. Lots of tiny hats too!

Lots of luck to your SIL and her baby

Sainsburys do prem nappies.

Mothercare have a good choice of prem baby clothes, Boots have prem Pampers. Don't make the mistake of buying loads of clothes like I did though, tiny babies aren't tiny for long!

Get her some decent handcream as she'll be in and out of the NICU and you have to use the hand sanitizers constantly.

Good luck, 32 weeks isn't too early so tell her not to be worried :)

We brought 5-6 babygros and vests. My dd3 was induced at 34 weeks.
Make sure the clothes are washed beforehand as scbu wont let you put brand new clothes on.

I think ours were mothercare, we had little body suits and baby grows, nighty for ds that were all done up with soft touch velcro as the sound of a popper startled him a lot and obviously velcros far easier to use. Pampers micro nappies were great. He wore them until he was 6lb 3! Although our scbu did give us some to begin with.

I agree with hand cream for sil, I had a basic nivea one. Comfy clothes for her ofc aswell preferably with front opening for kangaroo care. Dry shampoo may be an idea, I know somedays I needed to freshen up but the time a shower took frustrated me. I also took my breastfeeding pillow as holding ds still with wires attached was something that worried me so resting my arms etc made me feel more secure.

Tell her not to panic, all you need are small baby grows (mothercare) and prem nappies (sainsbury's). My ds made an appearance at 32 weeks! Wasn't expecting it. He was 4lbs and spent 1 night in scuba, then on ward with me. Special care were brilliant they have stuff to tide you over. She may need to consider formula (hospital provided mine, but that was years ago) as my milk hadn't produced. Baby won't feed too much early on so don't worry. Hope that helps.

Ditto on the nappies - we used pampers micro nappies, large stores of boots were the best place to find them, I found.

Asda do good value vests and babygros for tiny babies, and i think tesco do too. I agree it's not worth buying too many of the really tiny ones - we bought one for DS from John Lewis and the first (and only) time he wore it, he was already straining the poppers!
But generally tiny baby size goes up to 7.5 lbs, so should be good for a while. Watch out for tiny baby and early baby labels - their meaning differs between shops, so make sure you get the size you really want by checking the weight range (I screwed up on this more than once!)

Also a hat and cardigan or two are good, especially once baby is off the heated cot and trying to stay warm. Maybe a pair of mittens too (DS had to wear socks on his hands!)

And yy to the hand cream - DH and I suffered with cracked skin for weeks!

Sending lots of positive thoughts to your sister. DS was born at 31+5 and has been absolutely fine. They are essentially fully formed at that stage, and just need to build up fat.

Not sure if you know your sister's feelings re breastfeeding, etc., but if she does want to, encourage to seek out as much support in SCBU as possible. Babies at 32 weeks haven't always developed the sucking reflex and it can take quite a bit of time and effort to get breastfeeding established, and the danger is that bottles get pushed as an easier way of getting them off the NG tube so they can go home. Thankfully this didn't happen in the SCBU DS was in, but I have heard it has happened to others.

Will you come back and update us once baby has arrived?

There's also a premature birth forum on MN which you or your sister might find useful. MN has helped me make friends with other mums who had preemies around the same time as DS, and it has helped me massively to share my experience with others who have been through it too.

(sorry for the essay )

Thank you so much for your replies; TeaandHobnobs, the essay was fab and it's good to hear 32/33 weeks isn't so early.

We both have children (I was getting ready for DC3 arrival this time last year) but our conversation this morning proved we were both clueless about what you need for a prem baby and both thought the hospital would provide everything (as I said, clueless). And, although I hope I don't have to go shopping tomorrow, at least I know what to buy if I do (and thank you for the reminder about washing everything first ? sounds like a job for MIL ).

I've pointed my SIL to Mumsnet and this thread so she can get some more help from you lovely ladies if she wants. In the meantime, many thanks again for all your kind replies. x

SCBUs usually have a stash of clothing and nappies (and cotton wool! Forgot that one) for babies who don't have anything, so don't fret if she doesn't have everything straight away.

We had nothing at all, as we weren't expecting him to arrive so early, and we had to make a mad dash to sainsburys for supplies! (and bought all the wrong stuff). But SCBU kept him going until I could get the right clothes and nappies (in fact I bought newborn size nappies, and SCBU swapped them for micro ones, as they need newborn size for poorly term babies too)

When my DTs were in SCBU we had to provide cotton pads (round makeup remover type ones), nappies and cotton buds. They had some we could use at first then we had to get them.
It's also worth thinking about breastfeeding now and if it's something your SIL plans to do then think about hiring a hospital grade pump for use at home if mum is discharged and baby is still in hospital. This was a really stressful thing for me trying to express and needing the best type of pump and not wanting to leave my babies to try and organise this!

The sleeveless vests are really good for getting over a cannula that they might have in their arm. Our SCBU asked you to bring in nappies but even when we did they still used their own. Also cotton wool balls good for little bottoms. Agree Mothercare do a good range of clothes. Hats essential. Diet don't like to change their clothes unless they're sick or poo on them ime so won't need loads

When LO was in scbu (Sunderland) they provided nappies, cotton wool etc. Got perm nappies in Boots when we came home. He didn't need clothes at first as he was in an incubator but Asda do tiny ones.

Deffo on the handcraft front. Also a million bottles of water - scbu wards are hotter than hell! Also reading stuff - kindle / magazines etc. DH went back to work after a couple if days so he could be home with LO when he got out and sitting in scbu alone makes for a very long day - we were only allowed to hold LO before nappy changes / tube feeds so not much else to do but sit.

Ask at the hospital reception about car parking - ours do a months pass for £10 if your baby is in long term - worth it even if they're only in a few days as ours charge a fortune per day!

Good luck :-)

Ooh - and lots of blankets - scbu provided them but using our own made LO feel more 'ours'. DS was on a heat mat and under 8 blankets at one point - remember thinking that every time a blanket came off was a major achievement! Lol

DS was born at 31 weeks, and in neonatal for 5 weeks. He didn't wear anything except a nappy for the first week as he was in an incubator and under lights for jaundice. NICU will have some clothes for baby to wear at first, if necessary - if you do buy stuff, and he's likely to be in NICU for a while, try and make sure the fastenings are bog standard poppers that go all the way down, they make getting the wires into the right place much easier for the staff. Vests are tricky to get on & off if his breathing is supported and/or has any lines in for anti-bs/feeding/etc. DS also didn't take any colostrum/milk for about 3 days, he was given TPN (total parental nutrition) via a long line - it's a fake umbilical cord type idea so that he took nutrients intravenously to give his stomach a bit more time to develop.

This organisation (don't think they're registered as a charity yet, but I know they're going through the requirements to be) can provide prem/SCBU clothing if you contact them: www.popngrow.co.uk/

Pampers Micro nappies - we got ours from a large Tesco, or Boots.

Hand cream - flexitol hand balm was great.

If she wants to breastfeed, then don't resist a dummy if staff suggest it, DS had one so he could learn how to suck (it worked!).

Ask at the hospital about hand expressing colostrum (into syringes, fiddly but worth it) and borrowing/hiring/using one of their breastpumps when her milk comes in. Even if she doesn't want to breastfeed, if she can do this for the first few days it will really help.

Thank you. Have just txt my SIL to have a look at this thread... really helpful, thank you.

You won't need clothes - SCBU will have plenty. You might have to provide your own nappies though. We ordered micro nappies from Mothercare. Handcream is a good idea. Also a good idea to order an insert for the car seat for taking the aby home as it will still be very small. 32 weeks isn't bad though, so hopefully should be all fine.

Forgot - also buy a clothes marker pen and name EVERYTHING - if clothing/blankets etc get pooed/puked on then sometimes it just gets bunged in the general washing heap rather than set aside for you to take home, having a name in it really helps prove it's yours!

They will have everything you need to get you started in the neo natal unit - vests with velcro etc make it easier to dress them when they have canulas in. I second the breast feeding comment - if your SIL wants to tell her to be patient and stick with it - even if born before the sucking reflex they learn it. I was put under some pressure to go for the bottle as the unit was filling up, but stick by your guns.

Good luck to your SIL - one thing that struck me about my DS was how stoic he was. In actual fact the first recognisable feeling I had for him was admiration. They are remarkable and though they look so tiny they are tough.

The supermarket nearest to the hospital will stock small size nappies (at least ours did). Clothing wise you won't need much and SCBU will have clothes you can borrow. Ds had the most lovely knitted hats and other clothes.

Car seat insert is an essential - I wouldn't have been allowed to take ds home without it. Any baby supplies shop like Mothercare will sell it. Here is one on Amazon.

best present you can buy for a preemie is a sling, imo. my baby spent her first couple of months down my top. good luck!

lipbalm too, is really useful, I found it really drying on lips as well ad hands in hospital for long periods.