Sleepy Hollow

My son spent his first two weeks in the NICU almost 20 years ago. It's a scary time!

Good luck to the little ones, as well as the parents. It's such a rough thing to go through.

As mentioned, each NICU has its own set of rules, and depending on which nurse you ask, you may get a different answer. I had started cutting squares for a flannel quilt for him before he was born, and my mom finished it in a rush to get it to the hospital. They encouraged it because it would "smell like me". Might be a good idea to let mom sleep with it for a night before taking it to the baby.

Also, when washing it, use a detergent like All Free and Clear (no dyes, etc).

As for future donations, I'm finally starting to make some myself for the NICU where my son spent those two weeks. It was always a goal of mine as they take such great care of those little ones.

Mary Rita T

Ladies, I appreciate your thoughtful suggestions and kind thoughts. The triplets arrival is a blessing for our family - but scary since they are tiny.

CanoePam

My twin granddaughters headed straight to the NICU when they were born at 33 weeks. As others said, ask the nurses what they use. If they say nothing, respect it and make things for when the baby comes home. As a thank-you gift, I started working with a group called The Preemie Project in Iowa. You can google them for more information. They support a number of NICUs, and they have good patterns and advice.

Mary Rita T

Thank you for the Iowa-linked suggestion. I am from there.

Peaster

The NICU my daughter was at used quilts on the bottom of the incubator and then the hospital "blankest" where she was actually laying. It was nice to see something pink a girly in her bed. As others have covered you just have to ask. Every hospital has different rules. I want to make some slightly bigger ones for the childern's hospital she spent time at later on too.