Question for Mamas (& Daddies) of Preemies

[Butterfly89]

Hi ladies (and men if you're here)! I hope no one minds me posting here but I have a question that I thought can really only be asked to parents of preemies. I want to make something to help make the journey easier for parents and LOs. This has been something that I've always thought is so important and you don't hear enough support for. My mom was a preemie and my grandma has always talked about how hard it was to find things that fit.

What is most needed for your little ones in terms of clothes/accessories? I know some companies are starting to get more aware and make preemie sized onesies and things but I am wondering what I can make that would be most helpful? I can knit, sew, crochet and since I'm unable to work while pregnant, I want to put my time to good use! Eventually I would love to get other people involved locally too.

What would be most helpful? :] Little booties, mitts, sweaters? I'm even thinking of making up little gift baskets with items for LO as well as maybe some things that would be useful in hospital for parents that have to spend extra time there. What are some things that would've been useful to you (or would be now for those brave parents currently there)?

 

[mommy0629]

The things I've found the most difficult, well impossible really, too find small enough is socks or booties and hats. Like you said, I think most companies are making clothes now and I've had good luck with Carter's brand fitting well, but can't find hats or socks small enough.

 

[toothfairyx]

My sister in laws mum is a midwife and when Jamie was born she knitted us a few little cardigans, which were great. My mother is also a knitter and crocheter and she made a load of hats. I never got much use out of booties that were knitted for us - they didn't stay on!

Our NICU had a little stand selling knitted stuff - blankets, hats, etc for a small donation too.

 

[Foogirl]

Hats and cardigans. Bootees and Mitts are cute and all that, but not really practical for in hospital. We struggled to get hats and cardigans small enough though and had to rely on what was in the NNICU.

Also, lovely soft crocheted blankets for cuddles and colour in SCBU.

Such a wonderful thing to do. Thank you.

Also wanted to add, things that would have been useful for me whilst there? Frozen home cooked dinners! I never had time to cook!

 

[AP]

I would agree with Foogirl. Units always appreciate clothing but in incubators clothes arent really required until a lil later. It was the time we were leaving that we desperatly needed clothes to fit! Blankets are always a great thing to have, and little quilts. You might want to speak to your local neonatal unit and see what would benefit them most

 

[WantsALittle1]

NICU-friendly preemie clothes, i.e ones that button up in the front (instead of slipping over the head) and open in the bottom for all the monitoring wires (as opposed to closing up with pant legs or booties). A lot of preemie outfits are over the head slip-on with a hole in the bottom and that is a bit of a pain. Some of them even have bunched up elastic at the bottom and that's an awful pain when changing diapers. Preemie sleepers/onesies should be straight and relaxed at the bottom.

 

[Dinah93]

Ask your local unit. Mine once hauled in this huge, huge bag of knitted stuff that had been donated when we were trying to find a cardi for my LO as she'd been sick on one and had blood on the other. She waded through literally hundreds of hats, and commented while it was really nice people kept donating them, what they needed was blankets and prem baby grows. They were also in desperate need of the less thought of things, for example they only had 8 bibs at one point to a 15 cot unit, so were using paper towels down the front of the babygrow. I went out and bought them 20 bibs that day, and while they were very appreciative, they really didn't fit these teeny babies all that well.

 

[Crayz]

Small hats! I had to ask a friend to crochet some because I couldn't find any that fit. As a PP mentioned, tiny bibs would be great too! We used towels as none of our bibs fit.

I have some swaddle pods for preemies that have holes in the back for leads. That would be a great idea to sew because those wires are always in the way.

 

[AuntBug]

I have to agree, little bitty hats. I always had to keep a hat on her, and my fav was a knit hat donated to our nicu

 

[Stanners]

I struggled to find hats that fit her for while she was in hospital and then when she came out of hospital and was still getting to a healthy weight, I couldn't find tights that fit her little legs if I wanted to actually put her in something other than a babygrow!