Temperature

JennaNAaron

For the moms with the "grown up" preemies.  How long did you have to worry about keeping little one's temperature just right?  I feel like I'm constantly taking her temp and obsessing if she's too hot or too cold.  I worry about dressing her so warm when it's 100 degrees outside, but obviously it's necessary.  When does this generally becoming less of an issue?

urbanflowerpot

Hmmm...I think when I realized it was out of my control JK, he came home in the summer and we only had a window unit in the bedroom. PA summer's are hot and humid so that's when the swaddle stopped and we hung out in the bedroom as much as possible with controlled temp, but he did not even like blankets by the end of summer (still doesn't, drat). I almost never took his temperature, though...or maybe I'm forgetting. So to answer your question, I guess the more NICU fades into the background the less you obsess.

haziedaze

Once they are past term and a good size it shouldn't be too much of an issue anymore. I took his temperature for about a week after we got home but stopped when they were all ok. It's hard to let go of though, I obsessed about his weight instead :oP.

One good rule of thumb is that for the first few months they need about 1 more layer than you do. So if you're wearing shorts and a T shirt and are fine, just add a sweater or a blanket for them. 

jacque_z

This stopped being an issue after we left the NICU. 

katie4253

For us, our guy came home at 4lbs.  So, it was actually still an issue until he hit 5-6 lbs (which was a couple of weeks after his due date).  We put him in long sleeves/footed stuff at night, and he was swaddled.  He came home in July.  After that, we just had him sleep in onesies and he was still swaddled.  It really seemed like 5/6 lbs was the magic number for him.  We never took his temp though.  We just felt his neck and chest.  Don't judge temp. by feet and hands.  Babies have poor circulation, so that isn't a good measure. 

gringa78

I didn't take their temp at all when they got home except for when L felt warm one evening.  It turns out she had a UTI and had to be readmitted, but she was noticeably hot...she felt different to me right away.