How to Care for Premature Baby At Home
February 3, 2024
Are you bringing your premature baby home from the hospital? This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about how to care for premature baby at home.
Preterm or premature babies are those born before 37 weeks of pregnancy. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 15 million babies are born prematurely each year, and the figure is still rising. Delivering premature newborns before their due date may leave some of their internal organs not fully developed, rendering them particularly vulnerable. As a result, before their parents are allowed to bring them home, premature babies stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)for a few days.
For new parents, the move from the hospital to their house might be concerning because a preterm newborn needs specialized care and attention. However, parents should rejoice as their preterm child has stabilized enough to be discharged from the hospital and brought into their cozy home. Parents can nurse their premature infant back to health by strictly adhering to medical advice and remembering a few key pointers.
5 Tips to Care for Premature Baby At Home
1) Feeding a premature baby appropriately
The ideal nutrition is mother’s milk. However, premature newborns require additional nutrients, therefore feeding a preterm baby involves combining expressed breast milk with fortifiers and supplementation with breastfeeding. To promote healthier growth and development, caregivers should be knowledgeable about feeding procedures (paladai, spoon feeding, and tube feeding).
This will help to prevent spills. A premature infant needs to be fed eight to ten times a day, spaced no more than four hours apart. It’s critical to recognize the baby’s signs to initiate and finish feedings, ensure appropriate feedings, and prevent overfeeding. Remember to give the infant a burp after each feeding.
2) Sustaining the ideal temperature
The doctors tend to the premature baby’s body and maintain room temperature while they are in the hospital or NICU. For a newborn to grow, their body temperature must be maintained because doing so should not need any energy. When they get home, parents need to be especially careful to keep their room between 20 and 23 degrees Celsius.
Similarly, the temperature of the baby’s body should be between 36.5 and 37.0 degrees Celsius. Layering needs to be done correctly. The best way to take a baby’s temperature is to take a comparison between the belly hands and foot temperatures. Steer clear of both low and overheated temperatures. If in doubt, attempt skin-to-skin contact to regulate temperature more effectively.
3) Kangaroo mother care for premature baby
One of the most important methods of caring for premature babies is kangaroo mother care, also known as kangaroo family care. After learning it in the hospital, caregivers should practice it regularly with their premature child at home. A unique technique called “kangaroo care” involves holding the infant up against your chest so that you can touch their skin. In a warm environment, mothers, fathers, and other caregivers can try this technique by wearing the baby in a diaper, cap, and front-open shirt. The infant can then be placed on the caregivers’ chests inside their robes or covered with a towel until the baby is comfortable.
Establishing skin-to-skin contact with a baby can improve growth and strengthen the link between parent and child. It can also help to regulate the baby’s temperature, accelerate weight gain, improve sleep patterns, and give parents a greater sense of control and confidence.
4) Properly assisting the baby in sleeping
Parents should closely monitor their preterm baby’s sleep needs and patterns during the first few months of life. Sleep is crucial for promoting optimal physical growth and brain development. It is quite common for a premature infant to sleep during the day, and parents should make sure the room is at the right temperature, has low lighting, and is noise-free. Sleep with your head and face exposed on your back, never on your stomach or side.
Wrapping and swaddling have established advantages. Parents should also make sure the baby is sleeping on a firm mattress, preferably on a separate cot, and free of any cushions or additional blankets that could suffocate him or her. Skin-to-skin care routines encourage sleep as well.
5) Avoiding tourists and public areas
Due to their weakened immune, preterm babies are more susceptible to infections and illnesses. For those first few vital weeks, it’s best to keep visits to your home to a minimum, especially if they’re sick. Don’t let anyone smoke inside your home or close to your infant. It is recommended that all guests wash their hands well before handling or interacting with the premature infant.
Because preterm newborns are very sensitive to touch and noise and easily tired, having too many guests may potentially overstimulate the young ones. Additionally, you should stay away from crowded and public areas to protect the unborn child from smoke or unintentional infections. This is how you can care for your premature baby at home.
Conclusion:
A premature baby’s journey can be quite a roller coaster, especially for the parents. Therefore, it can be difficult and exhausting to go from a premature newborn to a mature, stronger infant and back to your home from the hospital.
However, new parents and the baby can find stability and safety by engaging in routine check-ups with the doctors, heeding all essential advice, and providing additional time and care for the little one. It’s a blessing to receive your child early rather than to view prematurity as a burden.
Where to Seek Help?
If you require further information about tips to care for premature baby at home, please get in touch with medical professionals at Medipoint offers exceptional healthcare services in Pune, providing expert guidance on maternal concerns. Our dedicated medical professionals ensure personalized care and reliable support for a safe and informed birthing journey.
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