Premature babies need the same care as any full-term child, only some care needs to be adjusted.
Many parents are a little scared when leaving the hospital with the premature baby, but it should not be forgotten that if they have already discharged it, it is because it is in good health:
1. Maintains stable temperature
2. Is able to suck and swallow well
3. Gain weight
4. Does not need oxygen
5. You do not have apneas or they are very brief and do not need treatment.
From this moment, the parents will be in charge of providing the affection and care necessary for their child. These are the same as those of any newborn, only adjusted to their corrected age.
How is the corrected age calculated?
It is calculated by adding the weeks that the child was born and those that pass outside the uterus. For example, a child born at 34 weeks gestation will be 37 weeks of corrected age when he turns 3 weeks after delivery (34 + 3 = 37).
Extraordinary precautions
– Wash your hands before touching the child.
– Do not allow smoking in front of the baby and preserve it from contaminated environments.
– Avoid contact with toys and objects that sick children may have played with.
– Avoid closed places with people (supermarkets, public transport, nurseries).
– Throw away the tissue after use
When to go to the pediatrician?
– If the baby eats badly, cries excessively, sleeps more than usual, or is irritable or less active.
-If you cough often, you vomit or spit up frequently.
– If you breathe faster or with difficulty, with visible movements of the chest.
– If you have frequent or liquid stools.
– During the first three months, and especially up to the first month, the signs of an infection are sometimes very subtle, so you should go to the pediatrician or to the emergency room as soon as possible if the baby is more down, listless or has a worse color.
When should you go to the emergency room?
– If you sleep badly two nights in a row.
– If your body temperature exceeds 37.5º or, conversely, it does not reach 36º.
– He cries inconsolably for an hour.
– Your skin is bluish, pale, or blotchy.
– It takes awakening.
– Shows signs of dehydration.
– Suffer changes in breathing.
Beware of visits
1. The baby should be in a separate room and, if the older siblings are sick (with a cold, diarrhea, etc.), contact should be limited as much as possible.
2. If they are healthy, they should wash their hands before touching it and avoid kissing it, since they may be incubating diseases that have not yet manifested themselves. This is more important the smaller the baby is born.
3. Adults (family and friends) can also pass infectious diseases on to you. Sick people should not visit it.
4. We must avoid the bustle of the little ones, even more so than those born at term. An orderly and calm day is the best for them.