Taking a Prem Baby Home?

[FraggleRock77]

I've posted in the prem section three times now and while trying not to jinx our little boys progress, we may be heading home next Wk.
Our boy will hopefully be demand BF with no breathing issues or any other medical complications.
Any tips/information/obvious stuff about taking a prem baby home that they don't tell you or is different from a term baby. I am a first time Mum too. Thanks in advance x

[ipswichwitch]

Oh and DS is 2 now and still a grunty sniffly farty sleeper!

[ipswichwitch]

DS was too small for sleeping bags for a good while and would always kick blankets off during his wriggling, grunting fart-fest at night, so I got him a couple of quilted sleep suits (from mothercare I believe) to keep him warm at night. Yes it was a bit faffy for nappy changes but meant he kept warm during feeding and no more twisted/lost blankets.

[Pipsmilkmaid]

Congratulation and well done to you and your ds.
We found after ds went back a bit after coming home was quite unsettled by the new environment. I nurse him to sleep so to be able to put him down we have to warm the crib with a hot water bottle.
We ask all visitors to wash their hands but gradually introduced him to new people, no one got a cuddle on their first visit. Don't be scared to say no to people holding him especially now through rsv season.
A slung is also useful for when you want to do things like make s cup if tea, ds hates to be put down or lied flat!
Enjoy your ds and as has been said already spend your days cuddling him for a while at least.

[eatyourveg]

I remember the hospital ordering us to put the heating on 25 and to keep it on all day and all night - it was roasting! For the first month we weren't allowed to take him outdoors (save from house to car - no walks in the park with the pram) and then one afternoon the HV rang to say the temperature was warm enough to take him out if I wrapped him in swaddling clothes and used loads of blankets.

Took forever to get out the front door with all the layers of wrapping up

[clabsyqueen]

How exciting! Good luckI'd say the noise when they sleep is likely to be spectacular, especially if he had a feeding tube. It's like they're constantly clearing their throat to hear it.

[MoominsYonisAreScary]

Yes the grow ones are good. I also had a digital one that you put in the ear but I cant link.

Yep we had a little farter, god awful noise and Smell

[Mabelface]

www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3768772.htm Sorry!

[FraggleRock77]

Did you add a link MadLizzy i can't see it?

[Mabelface]

This has good reviews, and we do seem to sell a lot of them where I work.

[Mabelface]

At least you can blame them when you let one go though.

[Mabelface]

Ah yes, grunty babies. :D My triplets were in their own room as we couldn't fit them in ours. Good job too, we'd have not slept a wink with their little chorus going on.

Oh yes, I had a travel cot downstairs that they slept in during the day, hoovering round them and having normal noise and they slept right through it all.

[FraggleRock77]

Also what an amazing thing to do Parsnip x

[FraggleRock77]

Can I ask which one? Being a bit thick here about which one to get? X

[MoominsYonisAreScary]

We had a thermometer but didnt use it very often

[MoominsYonisAreScary]

Oh yes, id forgot about the noise! I found it really hard to sleep at first. the hv used to come round to weigh him so we could avoid baby clinic

[FraggleRock77]

Would anyone recommend a thermometer please? Although we will have a temperature gauge on the Angel Care monitor do i need to test our baby like they do in NICU to be sure he is not too cold or hot? X

[TeaandHobnobs]

Agree with the points re background noise and lights. Also expect a noisy sleeper! Our neonatal outreach nurse told us they are notoriously grunty and snuffly at night.
Don't feel you have to accept visitors if you don't feel ready to, and do insist n good hygiene - but equally don't feel you have to avoid all other people and stay indoors.
DS came home at effectively 34 weeks, and like your LO, no problems, and I just got on with getting out and about with him. I did avoid baby groups for quite a while though, until I felt comfortable his immune system could deal with it.

[FraggleRock77]

Thank you. Some really good tips that i had not thought about. He is currently in a three hourly routine and I'm very keen to try and keep this going.
I've posted twice by mistake so there are two threads running which are the same. Thanks MNers, brilliant as ever x

[Mabelface]

Continue with the routine that he had in hospital as much as you can as it'll help keep him settled. As Parsnip said, keep people to a minimum and anyone who has even so much as a sniffle needs to stay right away. Worth keeping some antibac gel for visitors to use before they hold him as it's bronchiolitis season. Most of all, enjoy being able to cuddle him in your own home without anyone else around.

[Methe]

Congratulations :). You might ind you need a bit of background noise t help little one to sleep for a while. NICUs are noisy places and it can be very weird leaving for your average peaceful house!

YY to limiting visitors. Tbh the absolute best thing you can do is sit around in your nighty with your baby attached to your boob eating biscuits and drinking tea. You have plenty of time for people to come and have a nose.

[RhondaJean]

One thing I found with dd2 was that she was in a great routine but she had never been in the dark as dimmed lights are always on in the ward. It took me a couple if days to figure out she was terrified when I put all the lights out.

Sounds daft but I wish I had know. To watch for it when I brought her home.

[MoominsYonisAreScary]

Just what parsnip says really, a comfortable temp is key as from my experiance they sleep lots anyway and you dont want them struggling in this weather to maintain their temp as it affects feeding

Congratulations and enjoy your baby! Although I know it can be scary when they are prem

[Parsnipcake]

Congratulations! I foster prem babies, and the main thing is keeping them warm enough in this cold weather. I found a portable radiator very useful in the same room as baby otherwise the whole house would have to be very hot. The other thing is that they are often more unsettled when they arrive home and the sleep and feeding can go awry, just take it very easy. I always limit visitors, even though everyone wants to see them. They respond better to a calm environment IMO.