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Do nurses in NICU hold infants? - Page 2

post #21 of 45
5/14/09 at 10:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dbsam View Post
Unless it was to feed them, I didn't see the nurses hold the babies. We didn't have volunteers. When the nurses weren't busy, we saw them chatting or on the computer. This really concerned me once I had one baby home and the other was still in the NICU. My husband had to go back to work after a month and we were unable to spend as much time in the NICU since they do not allow the released infant to return to the NICU and we live an hour away. I often wonder how this time affected my son. (He stayed 24 days longer than my daughter.)
oh wow about the nurses chatting.

I asked my NICU nurse today about if there are any volunteers coming in to hold babies. She said "yes" and that they usually come at night time and nurses there are required to cuddle/hold babies if any of them cried. I was glad to learn that.
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post #22 of 45
5/15/09 at 1:24am
When DS was in the NICU, the nurses didn't just sit around holding babies but they would hold them for a while after feeds and comfort them if they were crying.

DS wasn't held very much. He was a quiet, sleepy baby and his jaundice was so bad he just could be out from under the lights for very long. They never let him just cry though.
post #23 of 45
5/15/09 at 1:36am
Yes they certainly did in our NICU. Both our NICUs actually.
I was so glad to see them interacting with the babies who's parents wheren't there atm., or not as much as I was. I was there 24/7 so they would have to fight me to hold mine, but there where incidents with other babies being held, I saw it repeatedly.
And thank heavens for that, they can't let the poor kiddos cry alone now can they.
post #24 of 45
5/17/09 at 8:51pm
Ours never held babies. They also chatted or played on the computer when they had free time. But I don't think they had much free time. One once offered to give my daughter her binky if she cried during the night, because I was so upset about leaving her one night, but that was as nice as they got in regards to comforting the babies. One baby cried constantly and they put a mobile in her crib to entertain her, but that was about it. Kind of sad. In fact when they held them for feedings they frequently talked to each other instead of interacting with the baby.
post #25 of 45
5/18/09 at 3:24am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleCrisp View Post
Ours never held babies. They also chatted or played on the computer when they had free time. But I don't think they had much free time. One once offered to give my daughter her binky if she cried during the night, because I was so upset about leaving her one night, but that was as nice as they got in regards to comforting the babies. One baby cried constantly and they put a mobile in her crib to entertain her, but that was about it. Kind of sad. In fact when they held them for feedings they frequently talked to each other instead of interacting with the baby.
That would upset me if I saw them doing that. My girls was moved to intermediate care last night and I visited them this morning. There were 2 nurses chatting and laughing while my girls' nurse spent most of her time talking with me by giving me updates on my girls and I could see by the corner of my left eyes that there was a baby crying, my girls' nurse got annoyed then she turned around to tell one of the nurse to comfort the crying baby. I was happy to see that because I was worried that my babies would have been left crying and nurses are just sitting there chatting.

One of my girls is coming home on Wednesday and I hope the other is coming by this weekend. I can't wait for both of them to be home so I don't have to worry if anyone is letting them to cry it out. *sighs*
post #26 of 45
5/19/09 at 7:45pm
At our NICU, on the feeders/growers ward, we didn't necessarily see nurses holding/cuddling babies all the time, but they weren't allowed to let babies cry much because it uses too much calories. If they could pacify them in the crib, they did that, but if not, they'd pick them up and cuddle them. I would have loved to have volunteers come and cuddle my babies though.
post #27 of 45
6/4/09 at 9:50am
My daughter was in the NICU for 6 days and I NEVER saw a nurse hold a baby other than to hand them to a parent. They didn't even pick the babies up when they started to cry (I was in the non-critical part of it). The few times I saw them feed a baby they would sit them up in their bassinet and feed them a bottle, they didn't even pick them up for that. I was scared to leave my baby because i knew if she cried no one would respond to her.
post #28 of 45
6/4/09 at 10:09am
My youngest was in the NICU for 10 days. I was there the whole time - as such, I got to witness a fair bit of nurse-babe interaction.

Some nurses picked up some babies some of the time.

If I had to leave my baby there for any length of time, I really would have worried about cuddle time. It was hardly their first priority.
post #29 of 45
6/21/09 at 3:26pm
My NICU nurses held my son when he was A.) eating (even when he was still tube fed) and B.) if he was crying. My son rarely cried though so I requested that he be held a couple of times a day while I was gone (I had 3 kids at home and little to no help; my ex was working all day and we couldnt afford a sitter so I wasnt at the NICU much ) and they did just that. As much as I disliked the thought of him bonding to someone else or something, I felt the holding time was important for him. I also held him non-stop while I was there
post #30 of 45
6/21/09 at 3:59pm
When DD was in NICU (only about 12 hours) I was able to sit with her and cuddle her the entire time myself with the monitors on her.

When DS was in NICU (9 days) in Level 2 - they held some babies when they had time. Others not so much. Once he went to the nursery (feeders and growers) they were held quite a bit more by the nurses.
post #31 of 45
6/28/09 at 1:00am
I noticed this thread so I thought I would respond. My son was only in the NICU for 6 days, but the whole time he was there, I only saw one baby being held in my sons room. The other 4 couldn't be held. They were on limited contact and the nurses tried to reserve the "holding" time for mom and dad.

My son however could be held, but I don't think the nurses did. We were there every day though from about 10 am to 11 pm so he got lots of snuggles once we could pick him up and as soon as he got his umbillical line out, he was constantly in my arms. I guess that was the difference of having a full term baby with RSD vs. a 26 weeker still on a vent. I think my son was put in that particular room originally because he was on a vent for 12 hours, but stayed because he was so easy. The other babies constantly had a monitor or something going off.

The baby that was held in there, I never saw a parent, but she was held for every feeding and sometimes just for fun by the volunteers.
post #32 of 45
7/1/09 at 12:08am
In the NICU my daughter was in, if the babies could be held, they were. They usually had 1:1 or 1:2 nursing care. They never let them cry, I was very worried about this. the nurses mostly stood near the beds - they had computers right there and did all their charting at bedside. Same in the PICU. One time I saw a doctor holding a bigger baby in the PICU so much, I finally asked a nurse if that was actually that doctor's own child. She said no, but that baby's mom wasn't there very much, and they all took turns loving on him
post #33 of 45
7/5/09 at 4:17am
Bottle-fed babies get held, tube-fed babies do not. At least that's how it was when DD was in the NICU. I think the tube-fed babies should be held at least as much as the other babies. If nurses can find time to hold and feed babies, they can find time to hold the tube-fed babies too.

We were there as much as we could be for DD, but we just couldn't be there 24/7. The nurses never even fully picked her up. They would lift her to change her sheets or to put a pad under her to give her a bath. Sometimes they would put her in a swing. But she was only held by me or my mom.
post #34 of 45
7/9/09 at 3:48pm
In my experience it depended on the NICU... my son first stayed in the NICU at the hospital in which he was born. Babies were ignored while crying a lot there, which was very disturbing. He received a TPN burn because they also ignored the IV monitors beeping to be changed also. At eight months he still has a very noticeable TPN scar... when he was transferred to the NICU of a children's hospital, he was held in a rocking chair and rocked everytime he was fed and many times afterwards as well. In the first hospital, the babies were mostly left in their bassinet and held up in a sitting position with their heads tilting back and at a slight recline and then burped in a sitting position.
post #35 of 45
7/9/09 at 3:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleCrisp View Post
Ours never held babies. They also chatted or played on the computer when they had free time. But I don't think they had much free time. One once offered to give my daughter her binky if she cried during the night, because I was so upset about leaving her one night, but that was as nice as they got in regards to comforting the babies. One baby cried constantly and they put a mobile in her crib to entertain her, but that was about it. Kind of sad. In fact when they held them for feedings they frequently talked to each other instead of interacting with the baby.
Nurses in my son's NICU would shop online...
post #36 of 45
7/9/09 at 3:57pm
When my youngest was in the NICU I had a hard time sleeping in my room. The hospital set up a spare room with a bed and TV so DH and I could stay in the hospital while DS was still in. One night I was having a hard time sleeping. I had only fed DS about an hour before, and I had put him back in the isolette so he could sleep. Anyways, I went into the NICU and I heard singing. I turned the corner where DS's isolette was and the nurse was in a rocking chair singing and rocking ds. I was a bit concerned when I went in there, and a bit angry that they hadn't came and got me because he was crying, but the nurse said "oh no no, I just love holding the babies so I thought he would like a snuggle while I have free time". It was awesome. The nurses were wonderful. They were always offering hugs and kind words when I was upset. Someone was always near the isolette rubbing ds's head through the little arm holes.
post #37 of 45
7/9/09 at 3:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by vbactivist View Post
One time I saw a doctor holding a bigger baby in the PICU so much, I finally asked a nurse if that was actually that doctor's own child. She said no, but that baby's mom wasn't there very much, and they all took turns loving on him
That makes me cry. What a lucky little baby to have so many people care about him.
post #38 of 45
7/9/09 at 10:46pm

Sometimes

In our nurseries, in the NICU and the step down unit, nurses did hold babies. In the NICU there were babies who's parents were never there. In the step down unit which is the unit they put our son in because he wasn't "critical" anymore he basically just had to get big. The nurses in there held babies all the time, we even had volunteers in there holding some of the babies. We had several babies being detoxed from where mom was on some sort of drug while pregnant. Those babies were always being held, that was pretty much the only way they could keep them comfortable

With my son they didn't hold him because we were there all the time and we held him. Even when he had the NG tube in his nose we still held him. I think for the most part they hold the babies whom don't have a parent coming to see them so they are use to human contact.
post #39 of 45
7/9/09 at 10:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bandgeek View Post
Bottle-fed babies get held, tube-fed babies do not. At least that's how it was when DD was in the NICU. I think the tube-fed babies should be held at least as much as the other babies. If nurses can find time to hold and feed babies, they can find time to hold the tube-fed babies too.

We were there as much as we could be for DD, but we just couldn't be there 24/7. The nurses never even fully picked her up. They would lift her to change her sheets or to put a pad under her to give her a bath. Sometimes they would put her in a swing. But she was only held by me or my mom.
In our nursery if the parents were there the tube fed babies got held, but if mom or dad wasn't there they didn't get held. Usually because they had all the babies on the same feeding schedule. Each nurse had 3-4 babies so they didn't really have time to hold the babies unless they had to for most. I think it generally depends how many babies they have and the severity of the babies needs. I had stated in a another post we had many drug recovery babies in our step down unit (the most the hospital had ever had at the same time) so they pretty much demanded the nurses times. Hayden was always quiet. He never cried, the one time he did cry they searched the whole nursery to find out which baby was crying because they didn't recognize his cry, he was the last one they checked.

If the nurses didn't hold the babies, they would at least stop for a moment or 2 just to hold the babies hands... just so those babies who's parents were never there could have some kind of contact.
post #40 of 45
7/10/09 at 12:05pm
When we were there we some of the babies were held. I remember arrving later than planned one day and finding the nurse holding a crying DD while doing paper work.

When DD was still tube fed we had to keep her still for 20 minutes or so after feeding or she wouldn't keep the milk down. I didn't see many tube fed babies being held for feeding and assumed this was why. The babies taking bottles seemed to be held for feeding.

Most of the nurses seemed to touch the babies and talk to them when changing them and so on even if they wern't holding them.
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