do babies in the nicu wear clothes?

i should probably know this, but...do you have to bring clothes and diapers for premature babies (who will need nicu time) or does the hospital provide those? i know my babies will be early and small and i am wondering if they are going to be in nicu for a couple (or more) weeks, do i need provide have clothes/diapers for them that whole time? what kinds of clothes do babies in the nicu wear? pictures i've seen mostly show them in long sleeve tops and diapers. what about hats? also, is it good to get preemie sized clothes or will they be in 0-3 months by the time they get out of nicu? thanks!

 

You won't need to provide diapers or clothes. The NICU will make sure that the babies have little T-shirts and diapers. I guess for a long NICU stay, some Mommies will bring in clothes if their babies are able to wear them. My DS was in for 1 week and my DD was in for 3 weeks and I didn't bring clothes in for them until the day I brought them home.

 

The NICU will provide everything your baby needs while in there. Mine actually had diapers smaller than preemie diapers, which is what my two needed. As for clothing, they may not let you put clothing on them until they are able to be in open air cribs or something similar. With my two at the beginning, they were only allowed out one time a day for kanagroo care. Plus your baby will be hooked up to monitors so will have a few wires that any clothing you have on them will need to accommodate. I know some people did bring clothing in for their babies, once they got the go ahead, but honestly it would have been too much trouble, at least I think, to change the clothing with the wires hanging out. They will have little hats for them, and will put a little t-shirt on them and blanket if needed. You will need to talk to your NICU about clothing.

We did bring our own blankets from home to cover the isolettes to block out the lights for them. As for clothing when they come home, if they are born early, I would think they would probably still be in preemie or newborn clothing when they come home from the NICU. I guess it would depend on their size. I know some full term babies who wore newborn sizes when they were first home.

 

Yes, they will provide everything you need. Good luck!

 

My son was born at 35w 6d and was in the NICU for feeding issues for 10 days.

They provided the diapers (sometimes the nurse pulled out a pack of Preemie size other times a nurse would just pull newborn) and after about 5 days I was changing his diaper and all he had were 3 preemie size in his drawer, I asked if I could have the newborn size as the preemie were looking too tight on him, the nurse was happy to oblige and got him a whole pack of newborn out and we refilled his drawer.


On day 3 the nurse said that since he was not on any vent or anything, but the monitors I could bring in some baby clothes for him if I had any. They had some there from other babies but would be swimming on him. I had 2 preemie outfits (footed sleeper and closed bottom gown) and 2 preemie hats given to us as gifts. I took 1 in each day I went to visit and would dress him in them. The footed sleeper opened at the legs and then again at the top, so that his monitor wires could go through the bottom at his foot pretty easy. His gown was snap down the front so just thread his wires through to the bottom and he was good to go. The NICU was a bit chilly one day and I had taken his outfits home to wash (they would have, but didn't want to risk losing them) and they had a snap shirt on his arms, snap shirt turned upside down on his legs, 2 hats on his head, several blankets and moved him to a warmer spot in the NICU. Dressed him in his sleeper and got him all bundled in his blankets and held him, he warmed up pretty quick then.

If you take clothes write the babies name in permanent marker

 

Mine were in the NICU for 10 days. You won't need to provide anything while in the hospital, they pretty much keep them in shirts and diapers and hats. Like a pp said it's just easier with the monitors etc. When it's time to bring them home you will bring up the clothes you want them to come home in and you can change them. We brought them home in preemie outfits. They stayed in preemie clothes for about a month and preemie diapers only about a week. We didn't go out and buy alot of preemie clothes (since we knew they wouldn't be in them that long), we just kept them in long sleeve t-shirts and hats, and we swaddled them in blankets all the time for the first month or so.

 

Our NICU provided everything they needed from clothes to diapers. We didn't have to worry about a thing. A lot of women whose babies had been in the NICU will donate their preemie clothes to the NICU after they are done with them. So, they have a stash of preemie clothes to put on the NICU babies. We donated ours to the NICU after they were done. Really though, the tee shirts and diapers are fine. They are goign to be swaddled and stuff anyway. Plus, I swear, any outfit I brought in for my girls to wear, always ended up getting popped on all over the place, so I quit bringing them in and saved them for when they came home.

My girls were born in June and they spent most of the summer in footed, long-sleeved sleepers b/c we weren't out much and they were still right at 5 bls. and just a bit under when we brought them home. They needed the extra warmth.

I would get a few preemie outfits, but if you do mostly sleepers adn that type of thing, newborn or 0-3 month should be fine. I wouldn't buy too much preemie stuff...it cost about twice as much as regular baby clothing and they outgrow it SO fast

 

I didnt read the previous posts, but my children wore the white shirts that they provided until I got them their own individual colors/ outfits to wear. They also kept them in diapers and wipes and formula until they left. There is so much for you to be worried about, but not that!! The cutest thing is that the old ladies in the area knit clothes and blankets for all the nicu kiddos so we have a very special blanket/hat/bootie keepsake for each of our girls!

 

u never know how long your babies will be in the nicu....mine have been there for 6 weeks now and are outgrowing preemie clothes. when they were born my family went out and got them preemie outfits and diapers and now they wont fit in them. the nicu provides everything they need so u dont have to worry about all that, good luck

 

I brought my own preemie clothes. We were taking so many pictures and I hated the little white t-shirts they put on them. But other than that they provided everything.

 

The NICU will provide everything that the babies need.

Jen

 

Natalie was in the nicu for 6 weeks and I swear that 3 of those weeks she was naked but for a diaper. We kept on telling her this was the only time she would be sunbathing topless. She was having a hard time holding her temperature, so she was under the warmer most of the time, I forget what the right term for it is. Because she had been naked, we had no idea about clothes etc. Until one day we walked in and saw her in clothes that weren't hers. People donate clothes and our nicu had donated afgan blankets from local nursing homes. We felt terrible that we hadn't even thought about clothes (we had Brooke at home wearing all of the girls new clothes!). So we brougth in some clothes for her to wear, but we didn't bring any blankets in. They supply all of the diapers. And the nurses were so great, because they knew we had Brooke at home, they sent us home with a supply of diapers and formula at least once a week.

Good Luck!!

 

You won't need to provide the diapers, and they will have hospital issued gowns for your baby to wear (at least mine did) but they were way, way too big. I got some preemie sleepers at my shower because it was pretty certain mine were coming early. Walmart has super cheap, cute preemie clothes. I wouldn't spend a lot of money on preemie stuff though.