Swaddling in a Womb with a view

Pin It

Standard NICU position does not leave much room for comfort

When I began hunting preemie books I only found one that I recommend,  which is the Sear's book.  In it he refers to the incubator as a "womb with a view" and it made me smile, so I'll use it here :)
There is very little you can do when your baby is in a plastic womb, other than watch.  A few things that we found I'm going to share with you today.

Comforting him during tube change

Swaddling makes a difference

Snug

First thing is to have lots and lots of receiving blankets.  You want the really comfy ones.  Your hospital policy and how your baby is doing that day will determine how they are used.  We had a great nurse who taught us how to "swaddle" him in his tank.

Max Blankets, He loved to prop his foot up

It usually took anywhere from 3-8 blankets to change his bed each time(see why you need alot?)

Swaddle plus passy?  yes please!

At Max-  We would fold 5 blankets in half and roll 4 into little logs.  The 5th would be wrapped around two on the ends making a little bridge between them. The two other rolls would makr a "headboard" and "footboard" for the little sling bed.
Two of the last 3 would be layed flat to cover each end if the bed.  The last blanket would have it's ends tucked over to cover the over lap of the two flat blankets.
All of this helped keep his legs and arm snuggled up close to him in a "swaddled" possition.

Frog (pillow) and snugglie, two of our "happy things" :)

Later on Early Intervention brought us some wonderful cuddly "happy things".  

We belive that it helped keep him calm and kept him from getting the flat "NICU" head.  Don't forget that he was there 5.5 months. :)
What names do you have for an incubator?