Entertaining baby in NICU

[fola_e]

Hello ladies,

As some of you already know, my baby boy has been in NICU 6.5 months now. His corrected age is 3.5 months. Born at 26 weeks, he's still on continuous high flow oxygen (Vapotherm)

He has been doing really well and is in High Dependancy...has a chest infection at the moment which is very crappy..but just another hurdle I know he will overcome.

Anywho....I am so worried about him getting bored. Whenever he's awake we have active playtimes, I put him in his bouncy chair, or we play on his playmat or i'll rock/dance with him. Sometimes I'll sit him up in his widgey in his cot and we'll just play toys or put his cot mobile on and watch/touch the lighted animals as they spin around. We've got a physio who comes to see him and I use her tips giving him tummy time a few times a day. I also help him do leg exercises as he's really been trying to stand for a while now.

He's a very curious chap, always gazing towards the door or the windows but sadly his high flow oxygen is not mobile. His oxygen had started to wean down so he can go onto low flow oxygen which is portable and more importanty can be used at home but then this stupid chest infection has put a spanner in the works and he's right back up to 8 litres oxygen on the Vapotherm.

I suppose what I really want to know is....am i doing enough? I have ordered a swing for him...the Fisher Price Rainforest one which looks AWESOME but need to wait another 14 days for delivery. Aside from that I've run out of ideas for play, its really hard considering he can't move too far from the oxygen

Any ideas/suggestions especially from mums who has babies in NICU for a while?

xx

 

[Foogirl]

I found this really useful. https://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/development/letsplay/?intcmp=tnav_baby_play

There are some good games you can play with non mobile babies. I found it when Abby was about 3 months and went back to do some of the earlier stuff with her.

 

[whistle]

My baby was not in SCBU as long as your little one, so he was home at 3 months corrected, but I do remember really worrying about him getting bored. I found that he didn't have much energy or concentration for playing, and that because he wasn't very interactive I didn't know what to do with him. It was about the 3 month mark that he turned a corner I think and started to take an active interest in toys, faces etc, and we could gradually increase the stimulation. Now at nearly 5 months corrected, he likes to play most of the time that he is awake.

It sounds like you are doing a lot of great stuff, a lot more than I had been doing by the 3 month mark. Does he like to look at board books? My LO has always been interested in them, although he doesn't always have the attention span to get to the end of the story. We love singing songs too, especially songs with actions like 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes', 'I Like to Ride my Bicycle'.

I really feel for you having such a long SCBU journey. You sound like you are coping so much better than we were after being in for 3 months, let alone 6 - I hope you get your bubba home soon. It doesn't sound like he is getting bored - he's a lucky baby to have such lovely structured playtime!

 

[25weeker]

I think you are doing lots of things to stimulate you little boys development. It must be extremely hard to be in NICU so long. I have always been a fan of the lamaze toys and my lo seemed to love them when she was younger as well.

One of the first things I got her was the wrist bands and socks. Here is a link and you can buy them in most places.

https://www.lamazetoys.co.uk/lamaze-gardenbug-wrist-rattles-and-foot-finders--toy--refresh-783-p.asp

I hope your lo is over their chest infection and you get him home soon.

Good luck

 

[Lottie86]

Things like the black and white high contrast books are good for babies to look at and help stimulate them too.
It's worth asking if your hospital has anyone like a play specialist who can advise about things to do to help stimulate your baby.

I hope he gets over the chest infection quickly so he can get back onto low flow and be home as soon as possible.