Premature Baby Care Tips

Premature Baby Care Tips - How to Care for a Baby Born Premature

Premature babies always needed a special care because they are so small and delicate and fragile. After their birth they receive immediately special care. They are usually cared in incubators, under strict supervision. They are fed artificially intravenously and sometimes they are helped to breathe, being connected to special devices. Their vital signs are monitored. The doctor decides how long a premature baby will be kept under supervision. Even after they come home from hospital, they still need medical periodic control, in order to prevent any unwanted problem.

Premature Baby Care Tips

Talk to your doctor about feeding your baby. He can prescribe vitamins, iron and a special diet if the baby is artificially fed. Vitamins are sometimes offered to premature babies in order to help them stay healthy and to grow. A premature baby needs supplementary iron. After approximately four months of ingesting iron drops, your baby will have the necessary amount of iron like a full term baby. Your physician might want your baby to ingest iron drops for a year or even more than a year.
Your baby maybe does not grow as quickly as a full term baby during his two years of life. Premature babies are often smaller in this period. It sometimes happens that they grow in bursts. They often catch up with the others after some time. To have a record of your baby’s evolution, your doctor may use special evolution diagrams for premature babies. Your physician will also want to find out aspects like how dynamic your baby is, when your baby crawls for the first time and when your baby sits up for the first time. These are aspects doctors in general want to find out about all babies.

Your Baby’s Feeding Program

Firstly, most premature babies are fed 8 to 10 times a day. You mustn’t wait to pass more than 4 hours between two feedings, as if you do, your baby can get dehydrated. Six to 8 wet napkins a day prove that your baby is having enough breast milk or artificial one. Premature babies often vomit after a feeding. If your baby vomits too much, he or she might not put on enough weight. Make sure to talk to your physician if you consider your baby is vomiting too much.
Even if they need special care when they are babies, premature children are not that different when they grow up.