Developmental Post #19

This week's developmental post is focused on the developmental milestones of preemies who are 6-8 months old. Previously I have done posts for 3-5 months old and 0-2 months old.

If your preemie is 6-8 months old (adjusted), you can start to look for these developmental milestones:

Large/Gross Motor:
- Can sit up straight when in a high chair
- When she/he is on his/her stomach, can reach for a toy
- Can roll from back to stomach
- Can sit alone for one (1) minute
- Can crawl forward on stomach
- Can bounce up and down in a supported standing position

Small/Fine Motor:
- "Scoops" up a small piece of food using all fingers
- Can bang two objects together
- Holds a toy with fingers and thumb - without the touch touching his/her palm

Social/Play Skills:
- Holds and looks at a toy for at least one (1) minute
- Will explore toys (waves, squeezes,bangs, etc)
- Plays peek-a-boo with a cloth
- Smiles and reaches for self in mirror
- Claps hands in imitation

Communication:
- Vocalizes consonant sounds
- Repeats same syllable 2-3 times (ma-ma, ba-ba, da-da)
- Imitates sounds that he/she already knows

Ways to optimize your preemie's development at this age:
- Put your preemie on his/her back and place toys out reach on one side to encourage him/her to roll over onto his/her stomach
- Let your preemie explore his/her environment. Place (clean and safe) toys in his/her mouth
- Encourage banging and sound production
- Continue talking, singing, smiling and laughing with your preemie

Favorite Product #22

This favorite product post is actually dedicated to the preemie clothes found in RedSparks.

RedSparks is a fabulous online store devoted to preemie and newborn clothing and toys. The shop was started by the parents of a preemie. You can read their story on the site. What I love about their preemie clothing is that they feature adorable designs that you would also see on newborn sized clothing. Preemies need cute stuff too! Take a look at these pictures - there is some serious cuteness going on:
RedSparks also sells clothes for bigger kids too. Have fun shopping!

Favorite Products are featured weekly on this blog. To check out past entries, click here.

Prevacid Savings

Calling all Parents of Preemies on Prevacid - did you know you can save up to $25 each time you fill a prescription for Prevacid?

Prevacid has a Beyond the Burn savings program that allows you to save up to $25 each time you refill your prescription. The program is free - all you have to do is submit some information and then they send you a savings card. The pharmacy will treat the card as a secondary insurance. Our insurance did require us to pay $25 each time so this program was love at first sight for me. I got the card yesterday and pretty much did a happy dance at the pharmacy counter when all I was charged was the tax for the medicine.

I hope some of you can take advantage of this program. It is actually for adults as well so pass it on to anyone you know who takes Prevacid. They do offer some nice tips, recipes, etc for helping stop reflux through dietary measures as well.

Developmental Post #18

This developmental idea/project comes courtesy of my sister. She just had a baby (full term) and yesterday she was telling me about a little project she made for him. I thought it was a great idea that would work well for preemies so I wanted to share.

As you probably know, when babies are small they can only see black and white. They like to look at high contrast pictures. Images such as checkerboards, circles, simple animal faces, etc. are a great way to keep a preemie interested and looking around. Here are some great, inexpensive ways to provide your preemie with some fun things to look at.

At home:
1) Paper plate faces - my sister took a black pen and drew simple happy faces on some paper plates and then hung them on her son's swing. This is a fast way to give your little one something to look at.

2) Paper mobile - create a simple mobile to hang over your preemie's crib, swing, diaper changing area or bouncy seat. Click here for some easy designs and instructions. Or create your own - you don't need to be an artist to draw faces, squares and circles for your little one to look at.

In the NICU:
When my daughter was in the NICU I cut out squares of paper with simple black and white designs on them. I covered each one in contact paper and then taped them to the sides of her crib. She really liked looking at them and I felt good being able to provide something simple and fun for her while she was in the NICU. Ask your preemie's nurse what is allowed in your NICU.

Developmental Tips are part of a weekly series. To read more developmental tips and ideas for preemies, click here.

Book Recommendation

I just finished reading a book that you might be interested in. It's called I Will Not Be Broken by Jerry White.




The author is a recognized leader of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines, and co-founder of Survivor Corps (formerly Landmine Survivors Network). In 1984, Jerry lost his leg—and almost his life—in a landmine accident. He has endured the pain of loss and the challenge of rebuilding.

I Will Not Be Broken is a book devoted to helping people overcome a life crisis. I have to be honest with you. When the Survivor Corp's offered to send me a copy to read/review, my first thought was "this isn't right for me or my readers." Just to make sure, I read the first couple of chapters and found out more about the concept of the book. I quickly realized that this book WAS a good book for me and other preemie parents. Having a baby who is born premature is certainly a life crisis and the after effects of it can stick with you for a long time. There are a lot of books about prematurity but many of them don't deal with the personal feelings and deep impact that it can have on parents and other family members. There is a tremendous amount of guilt, confusion, anger, sadness, etc. that comes with having a baby born too soon. I definitely think this book can help parents get past the devastating effects of having a premature baby and the issues that come with it.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Jerry has put together five (5) steps for overcoming a life crisis. In between Jerry's own perspective and comments on the steps and how to get through them are stories from other survivors. The ability of these survivor's to not only just get on with things but to really live life after a crisis is truly inspiring. I felt motivated and encouraged just be reading their stories. The steps that Jerry discusses are:

1. Face Facts - preemie parents have to do this step pretty darn fast. Whether you get 3 months or 3 minutes to "prepare" for a premature birth, it doesn't really hit you until you enter the NICU and see your little one hooked up to monitors, ventilators, feeding pumps, etc. You don't get time to take it all in and really digest it because right away you are there trying to make the right decisions for your little one.


2. Choose Life - I've noticed that a lot of the time parents of preemies find themselves retreating from the world. Many people don't understand what you are going through and sometimes there can be too many things to deal with. It's important however to try and move past this and choose to be a part of the world. Take care of you and take care of your little one with the help of others.


3. Reach Out - This is also important for preemie parents - finding a way to reach out. Whether it's through a hospital support group, an online message board, other parents in the NICU - finding a way to connect can help yourself and others through the painful process both in the NICU and at home.


4. Get Moving - This is a tough one. Especially when your preemie is in the NICU. Try to keep going with your life. Make new goals and plans. Find a way to move forward (even if your little one is taking a step back at the moment).


5. Give Back - I firmly believe in this step. Giving back can be a really great way to feel like you can help other parents and babies. Whether you volunteer for the March of Dimes, make hats for babies in the NICU or get involved in some other way, giving back can really help you feel better and move forward.

If you would like to find out more information about the book or the author, you can go here. Also, the author Jerry White is going to be on ABC's Good Morning America this Thursday August 7th at 8:45am. I would encourage you to listen in and see what you think.

Life in our preemie world

A couple of weeks ago we took the kids to ride on Thomas the Train. If you have Thomas fans in your house and have never been - I highly recommend it. They have a life size model of Thomas and you get to ride behind him on regular train cars. In addition to "riding" Thomas they also have crafts, trains to play with, jumpy houses, etc. Dominic has been a Thomas fan for several years so this was our third year getting to ride however it was Olivia's first year and I really wasn't sure how she was going to handle the experience. It turns out I didn't have to worry at all. She loves the motion of trains and was very interested in watching the beautiful scenery around us.

So interested. So intent. Loving every minute. Now that's what I call a fun day.

What do you like to do with your family?

Favorite Product #21

This week's favorite product post is dedicated to baby/infant bathtubs. I've featured my personal favorite as well as one of our reader's favorite bathtubs.

For my daughter my favorite infant bathtub was the "Sure Comfort" Deluxe Newborn to Toddler Tub with Sling by First Years from Learning Curve.

My daughter was born 4 months early and was very small however once we started using a feeding pump for her feedings, she quickly gained enough weight so that she was the size of her actual age vs. her developmental age. The problem? Developmentally she was very far behind (esp. in gross motor) so by the time she was big enough to outgrow the baby bathtub she wasn't anywhere near being able to sit up on her own.

This bathtub came to the rescue. One side has a sloped side for bath time "lounging" and the other side has support for sitting straight. It also comes with a newborn sling for the top however I never used it as my daughter was too old/big for that when I got the bathtub. Although it seemed awkward at first (to support the lounging there is a raised portion on the bottom) it really did work. My daughter could take her bath without needing my constant support which made it much easier to get her washed up and encourage her to play in the water.

This next bathtub comes from one of our readers - Martha. She recommends the Clean Water Infant Tub with Built-in Thermometer by 4Moms

I love the concepts behind this bathtub. It has a built in thermometer so you can tell how hot/warm/cold the water is at all times. Once we get our little preemie into the bath it's often hard to remember to check the water temperature to make sure it isn't getting too cold. The other cool thing about this bathtub is that you can constantly have the dirty water flow out and clean water flow in. The water goes through the thermometer part first so you know that any water coming in is not too hold/cold. What a nice way to keep your preemie warm and clean. Thanks for the suggestion Martha!