During pregnancy, uterine, cervical, or placental complications, as well as infection with the amniotic fluid, are some of the causes behind your giving birth to baby earlier than your due date. That means, a preterm birth usually happens 3 weeks earlier (in the 37th week of your pregnancy) than a full-term baby’s due date. However, based on how soon you may give birth to your baby, your premature neonate may be classified into:
- Late preterm: In which, your baby may be born between 34 and 36 weeks of your pregnancy.
- Moderately preterm: In which, your baby may be born between 32 and 34 weeks of your pregnancy.
- Very preterm: In which, your little one may be born in less than 32 weeks of your pregnancy.
- Extremely preterm: In which, your little one may be born at or before 25 weeks of your pregnancy.
What Are The Characteristics Of A Premature Baby?
Well, as far as characteristics of a preterm baby are concerned; your premature infant may have such symptoms:
- Your premature infant may seem fragile. She may have small and skinny chest, as well as bird-like legs and arms.
- His or her skin may look pale or blotchy. Since there are more chances of your preterm little one being sick with jaundice so he or she may develop yellowish skin.
- He or she may be covered with tiny hair, which is also known as lunago.
- Adding on to the above, since he or she may be born small in size, his or her nervous system may not be fully developed. Therefore, he or she may develop a few premature birth complications like breastfeeding problems, as well as respiratory distress. As a result, he or she will need special care and monitoring in the intensive care unit of the hospital before you bring your infant home.
How To Take Care Of Your Premature Baby At Home?
Due to the pre-birth complications, babies born prematurely need extra care and attention not just in the hospital, but also in the house. We are aware that you’re also quite new in this journey of motherhood. It is obvious that you mustn’t be experienced enough in nurturing your premature baby at home. Therefore, before you leave the hospital, gather all the information from your doctor about how you can confidently take care of your premature baby at home. Here’s a list of things you can do as far as premature infant care is required.
Your Preemie Needs To Be Fed Well
Since your premature infant needs to grow well and might even have to catch up to the growth of a full-term baby, you need to feed her well. Of course, breastfeeding is the ideal way to nourish him or her and help your infant to grow fast, however, sometimes, your little one might have a problem with latching, as mentioned above. That doesn’t mean you’d stop breastfeeding your premature infant. You can alternately formula feed your little one as per your doctor’s advice.
Be Consistent With Your Little One’s Feeding Schedule
Most preemies need 8 to 10 feeds a day. However, you shouldn’t wait much in between feeding your little one. You shouldn’t even wait for your little one to get dehydrated. Ensure that you feed him or her at regular intervals.
Keep A Track Of Your Baby’s Growth
Your premature little one may not grow in the same manner as a full-term baby. However, with proper nourishment, your preemie will be able to grow faster and healthier. Not just that! Your doctor might give you a different growth chart for your infant. As per your doctor’s advice, you can include some activities like sitting up and crawling, which will help him or her grow faster. As you see your little one growing up little by little, start keeping a track of your baby’s growth.
Practice Skin–to–skin Contact
This is indeed a very good exercise not just for your baby, but also for you. Practicing skin-to-skin by breastfeeding, or by making your infant take some rest under your shirt or blanket tends to reduce the stress or pain of your infant and promotes health and weight. Additionally, skin–to–skin contact helps in regulating your little one’s heart rate as well as breathing.
Keep Track Of Your Baby’s Vision
Crossed eyes or retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)are usually common eye problems in some preemies. Although this problem might disappear, as he or she slowly grows up, your healthcare provider might still ask you to keep a constant check on your little one’s eyes. The doctor might even suggest you take him or her to the eye doctor for a check-up.
Constantly Keep A Check On Your Little One’s Listening Power
Just like the vision problem, your preemie may develop a hearing disorder. Make some noises around your little munchkin to check whether he or she turns his or her head in response to your sound. If, somehow, he or she doesn’t consult the doctor immediately.
Check On Your Preemie’s Immunity
Vaccinating your preemie earlier than necessary wouldn’t help much. As per your doctor’s advice, let your premature little one be at least 6 months old, just like a full-term baby, and give him or her all the necessary vaccines and flu shots.
Limit The Visitors To Your House
Since your preemie’s immunity might be lower, it would be advisable for you to not allow many guests to your house to see your baby who knows, one of them may have smoked, had a fever, or not had clean hands, causing certain issues with your baby’s health.
Avoid Going Out
At least till such time that your baby is carefully vaccinated to stay safe from infection from outside. Even if you plan to visit the doctor, try to fix the schedule and visit the doctor in the first hour of the morning or wait in the waiting area outside the doctor’s cabin. The doctor’s chamber also might have several kids with infections, so that may not be safe for your child.
Take Care Of Your Little One’s Sleep
Your premature little one may spend a lot of time sleeping. Ensure that he or she is sleeping on a firm mattress without pillows. Also, ensure that your baby sleeps on his or her back.
With the above-mentioned ways out, you can certainly take care of premature at home and help your baby grow fast. However, you can constantly consult the doctor for anything that concerns you about your little one. Besides, if you need any other information regarding pregnancy, postpartum as well as baby care, and the benefits of cord blood banking, you can follow our blog page.