Keeping watch on your Premature Baby

The baby needs to feel safe, protected and cuddled, and that is more then enough. Since your intention is to clam him down, try to place one hand over his or her head and the other over the baby’s bottom. You can also place one of your hands over the baby’s thorax and the other on the baby’s bottom, all of this in order to pass on heat, love and security. Keep your hands this way for a few seconds until you notice that the baby’s skin is no longer pale or blue and that his or her respiration has calmed down. This is a good relaxation signal in premature babies. When taking your hands off the baby’s body, it is very important you do this very slowly and progressively, since if you do it too quickly the baby might experience a feeling of abandonment. This last point is very important because when you remove your hands softly the sensation of contact will still last for a little while on the baby’s body. And the baby will continue to notice your presence.

• Use the “Kangaroo Method” but focus all your attention in the contact with the baby. If you think it convenient, walk around the room while softly singing a song or talking to the baby in a very low voice. Sometimes there are babies that calm down with slow walking movements. If for some reason you cannot stand up, rock a little bit while sitting. Do not forget to hold the baby’s back without moving too much. Sometimes when premature babies are very excited, cuddles can be too much stimulus.

• You can hydrate your baby’s body with sweet almond oil. Doing this has a two-way advantage, which is that the baby will feel the mommy or daddy’s touch and it will hydrate his or her skin at the same time. Remember that your baby is being touched by many different hands during the day, so you will need to know how to how to differentiate when something is going to hurt and when something isn’t. You need to give the baby a sign that you are not going to hurt him or her. How can you do this? Well, you can start off by always touching your baby in the same place. Choose a spot in the baby’s body where he or she does not get poked with needles, or where there aren’t any electrodes or where his or her arterial pressure is taken. This spot can sort of turn into your “magical spot” in other words, the place where the baby knows he or she will not become altered if you touch it. if you need to place oil on your baby’s skin first, leave your hands on the “spot” for a few minutes and then place the oil on the baby’s skin. It’s preferable to not make forward and backward movements when doing this, but to rather always go in the same direction, like starting from the head to the feet. Try to make your baby feel comfortable and that he or she does not have their arms and legs extended. This open posture makes them feel like they are alone and lacking warmth. Try to apply the oil when the baby is curled up. For example, you can place the baby on his or her side and then help him adapt into the fetal position. This will allow you to place the baby’s body back to another position more easily.
• Talk to the nurses and ask if any tests have been done on your baby that day, such as if they withdrew blood or if the baby was given an injection etc. A lot of times this will cause a baby to stay altered for a while. If it is the case, try to stay with your baby for more time and make skin-to-skin contact with him or her. 
• When you need to leave your baby inside the incubator, make sure that he or she is comfortable. Sometimes when they are restless, they prefer to be on their side. In order to do this, you will need to roll up a small towel and place it behind the baby so that the baby is well supported. Try to make sure the baby’s position isn’t too open as this is not reassuring and comfortable for the baby.
• Remember to always talk or sing to your baby before leaving.