Ten Gift ideas to get the family in the NICU
Having your baby admitted to the NICU is so emotionally hard on parents, and if they are staying with their baby in the NICU like my husband and I did, it’s also physically hard. There were so many people who had reached out to us and asked what they could get for us or do for us. At the time, I just didn’t know. I was so overwhelmed that by the time I realized what we needed I didn’t feel like I could ask. Here are some ideas that helped while we were in the NICU that I wish I would have thought of at the time.
- Grub hub or door dash gift cards.
Simple, but so necessary. Hospital cafeteria food can only be tolerated for so long. Even if the hospital has some other options, it’s nice to have the option to order food to be delivered right to the hospital.
- Premade meals
Our NICU had a family lounge with a fridge and microwave, if the NICU you are at has something similar, having premade meals in the fridge that can be microwaved are great. There were so many days that went by so fast, that by the time it was dinner I had no plans. Not to mention after my C section and the hormones and emotional rollercoaster of having a preemie, i was never hungry and food was the last thing on my mind. The grocery store near us had pre-made meals that were easy to heat and eat last minute. Trader joes has some really good pre-made food for both fridge and freezer.
- A preemie hat, or two..
Newborn hats don’t fit preemies, they fall off constantly and are huge on their tiny heads. Premies also lose their body heat really quickly, especially through their head. So it’s best to keep a hat on their heads any time they are out of the isolette.
Here is a link to the preemie clothes we used, I loved the hat we got from this website. It fit my son’s little head perfectly and didn’t fall off, plus it had this soft fleece inner lining to keep him warm.
- Preemie clothes
Most preemies will be in a temperature controlled isolette for a while in the NICU, they will be swaddled in a blanket and probably have a swaddle positioner on top of that to help mimic the womb. Over time the nurses will start to wean the temperature down as your baby is able to maintain their own body heat. During this time it’s nice to have an extra layer to help them keep warm. But it’s hard to find clothes that fit a small baby. The preemie store has so many nice “hospital gown” type clothes that open and close easier for the nurses. Once your baby is big enough to fit in regular preemie clothes, you will want to have a small stash for when they are going home. Carters has a pretty big selection online and in store. I had found that amazon’s sizes were all over the place, most were way too short for my preemie and he never fit in any of them. Carters brand I have found to be true to size regardless of your baby’s age.
- Preemie diapers
A few packages of preemie diapers are necessary when bringing your preemie home, in the hospital they aren’t necessary because they provide the diapers for you. But bringing your baby home, it’s a good idea to have some already there so you’re not going to Target or Walmart in the middle of the night. There are limited brands with preemie size diapers for sale, either huggies or pampers are really the only ones I saw at major retailers.
Don’t stock up on too many though, your little one will be in newborn diapers before you know it. It’s true when they say babies grow and gain better at home. I’d say three to four packages would be sufficient to start because they only have 30 in each pack.
- A long phone charging cable
Sometimes there is nothing to do besides sit on your phone while your in the NICU. You can’t have the TV volume on while trying to provide that calm peaceful environment for your baby. So your phone with headphones is really the only way to pass the time.
I had my ipad and wireless apple headphones that were a huge lifesaver for me to be able to listen to music, or download an ebook, and the long phone chargers worked for all of them at the time which was really nice.
- A notebook
I advise all my ICU patient families to get a notebook and take notes of what is going on. First off because most of the things explained by the doctors or nurses goes right out of your head within 24 hours just because you’re in fight or flight mode, you don’t tend to remember everything. This is a good reference for families, as well as for the patient to look back on because more often than not, patients don’t remember their ICU stay for a number of reasons. However, while your baby is in the NICU it will be good to journal occurrences and feelings. It’s really therapeutic to write things down, as well as something to look back on one day.
Keep an area of the notebook for questions, most of the time you can’t think of all the questions you have after the doctors have finished talking and explaining things… most of the time you think, well they just said a lot so i must not have any questions left, but you will. It’s good to write them down so then after the information overload you can just read your questions from your notebook.
- NICU milestone cards
These are great for pictures, and give parents something to look forward to. There are so many things that you miss out on when your baby’s in the NICU. You don’t get to take those amazing professional newborn photos, their first bath is usually done by nurses, your first snuggles are while they are hooked up to wires and tubes, and it’s emotional for parents. I was so so grateful for the NICU and that they were able to support my son until we got to take him home but I do feel like we missed out on a lot, a baby shower for one. These milestones were something i looked forward to and are a great gift for mom to be able to take pictures of her baby while in this stressful situation
- Memory box
This doesn’t have to be in the NICU, it can be for christmas or any other occasion, and can be for any baby. A memory box for a place to put keepsakes. Unlike a book, this one has small compartments so you can put things like your baby’s hospital band, the teeny tiny blood pressure cuff, their first outfit or hat. I loved having a special place to keep these items.
- Last but not least, offer to help out at home
More likely than not, when you go into the hospital for your emergency c section or induction, you were not planning on it happening this early. I know I wasn’t. I went from having two months before my due date to having a 5 week hospital stay between my son and I. Things in the fridge went bad, the garbage needed to be taken out, and mail/packages/gifts needed to be brought in the house. My house was in utter chaos, but I didn’t want to leave this hospital to go do these things, I wanted to be taking care of my son. On top of living an hour away from the hospital. It was really nice when people asked if they could do anything to help, because we did really need help sometimes. Especially if you have pets, I was so grateful for my in-laws who took care of our puppy the entire time we were in the hospital. It was so comforting knowing that he was being cared for and that he was happy to be with them.
All of this being said, I know there is no gift or favor that will make up for the emotional turmoil of having your precious little premature baby in the NICU, but I hope this helps give other people some ideas on how to support you and your family.
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