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Attachment Parenting
Baby Wearing in the NICU?
Hi everyone! I haven't posted in a while, but I'm trying to decide what kind I carrier to buy my cousin who had her baby at 31 weeks. She hasn't had her shower yet and did register for the moby & an ergo, but I know she only did that because they are sold at BRU & I told her they were the best there.
Anyway, I was thinking that a ring sling might be nice for her to use while her baby is in th NICU. What do you think? Any experience with this or any better ideas?
Thanks!!
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Re: Baby Wearing in the NICU?
Wrapping seems to be the preferred carrier for preemies. I don't know what kinds of rules NICUs have, but a friend has a preemie with health issues, so I started to gather info for her.
A Moby is a stretchy wrap. These are fine for limited wearing but not very versatile and they max out in comfort early on. High-quality wraps that have very limited stretch are called woven wraps and these can be used for front, hip, and back carries from newborn to child. As their name implies, they have been woven and are specifically designed for babywearing in every way from baby-safe fabrics and dyes to the fact they only stretch slightly on the diagonal, so they yield incredible supportive carries.There seems to be some debate on if stretchy wraps are appropriate for preemies, but wovens have a great reputation for preemies on up.
The best carries (ways to tie) for a preemie seem to be the kangaroo carry (this is not the same kind of front-facing kangaroo one would do in a ring sling) and the front-wrap cross carry (FWCC). If you search around on the thebabywearer.com forums you will find links to video and picture tutorials as well as several threads specifically on preemie wearing.
More Green For Less Green
Very few NICUs will allow babywearing because of all the monitors and things attached to babies. I do know that the Babyhawk has been used in at one. I think I would focus on something she can use at home-babies can't go far in the NICU anyway, their cords only reach a few feet from their beds in most cases.
Once the baby comes home, anything that holds the baby close is perfect. I loved my Moby when preemie was tiny because it kept her close to me, was easy for skin to skin (very important for preemies), and kept her warm. As she grew we used the ring sling a lot and now we use the Ergo most of the time.
If you are looking for other ways to support her, here is a list of things the preemie board has compiled that were helpful to many of us!
Our precious girl, born at 27 weeks.
As a NICU RN, I probably wouldn't advise a parent wear a premature baby while in the unit. Likely, the issues that will keep the baby in the hospital will require him/her to be on constant monitors, and to protect all of the babies, parents aren't allowed to carry their child around the unit. That said, there have been several times that RN's have used carriers (I brought my Moby in) with our drug withdrawl babies who need constant holding and aren't stuck on monitors.
My girls were in the NICU for 2.5 weeks before they could come home. With all the wires attached to them, I would expect babywearing would not be feasible. Also, at first, I was only allowed to hold for a short period of time. I did a lot of skin-to-skin time with them, though, and my absolute favorite day was when they got permission for me to kangaroo with them both. That was the best. I had to be sitting the whole time and there was no time where I actually carried a baby anywhere except the very last day I was there.
Encourage her to work with her doctors and nurses to get as much skin-to-skin as possible and within reason that is healthy for the baby.
Congrats to her!