There are preemie places on the web, but often overpriced. If you have a Burlington Coat factory near you (baby depot) they have preemie stuff, as does carter's. I think some Targets do, not sure on Sears or Kmart (I think the Sears near me does not). I don't know if the baby is in the NICU now or will be for a while, but actually zip up suits could be a problem for the wires and things attached to the baby. Snap up is better, or two piece outfits. Also, keep in mind that if baby is under bili lights, he won't be able to wear any clothes at all for a while. Hats are good, they help maintain body heat. Most likely the baby will be wearing preemie clothes and diapers for a while after he gets home as well. There are good preemie cloth diapers out there, if mom intends to do cloth, but she may have to wait to use them since it is a hassle in the NICU.

If you can bring your neighbor food, or a gift card to a food place, that would probably be really helpful. She will most likely be spending a lot of time at the hospital and taking care of herself might not be first and foremost in her mind. If you (or she) need to talk, feel free to PM me. It is my daughter's birthday tomorrow, one year. She was 4 pounds 1 ounce at birth.

 

Our Wal-Mart here has lots of premie stuff, just in the regular clothes area. The little footed sleepers are the best. My boys weren't quite 7# and they still needed premie clothes for a while. Our TRU/BRU has some too.

 

Our Babies R Us has preemie clothing if you have one of those near by. My vote would be for sleepers, I have not had a preemie but my son was born in November and he lived in those things all winter. No socks to come off and get lost because the feet were attached! I wonder if they make preemie onesies? Those would be great t-shirts for under stuff this time of year.

 

I got Carters stuff for my preemies. Nordstrom believe it or not also sells great preemie clothes for not a lot of money.

Def. snaps or kimono-style wraps. Make sure no closed feet/booties. Also, preemie socks are wonderful, once the babies are able to wear them.

http://www.preemiesrus.com/catalog/index.php/cPath/40

In terms of other gift ideas, I loved getting Takeout Taxi gift certificates - not sure if they are nationawide but some sort of takeout service that allows you to choose from among a bunch of different restaurants.

The BEST book I got was The Preemie Parents Companion . It really helped make sense of all the things happening to the babies in the NICU, as well as everything that followed (ROP assessments, apnea monitors, breastfeeding difficulties, cardiologist appointments, standard developmental check-ups, etc. etc.).

 

I bought a ton of my preemie clothes on www.preemie.com. I did not find the clothes to be overpriced and the turn around time on orders was super fast. Huge selection too. I also really liked Target's stuff. They have preemie layettes that are adorable. Outfits that snap or velcro (some clothes made specifically for preemies are made with velcro) are best. They do make preemie onesies but try to make sure they snap down the front as well as in the crotch b/c that makes it a ton easier.

As far as gifts go, preemie diapers (disposables) were great. BUT, Pampers Preemies and Pampers NB Swaddlers are the same size and I bet that babe can already fit into them. I brought my ds home at 4 lbs. 5.5 oz. and the NB dipes already fit. A preemie head insert to put in the car seat would have been great too (I had to go buy one after I noticed my ds's head flopping around

).

M.

 

I second the suggestion for a good book. There is one out there that is just called "Preemies" and Dr. Sears has "The Premature Baby Book" both of these were immensely helpful. I forgot about a couple of places mentioned, BRU, and http://www.preemiesrus.com/catalog/ Most of our preemie clothing was purchased for our daughter by other people, as we were too busy at the time. And although the one-piece outfits are really cute and snuggly, they won't be able to use them until baby is home, the clothing needs to be "NICU friendly."

 

I hate to say this, but I found the best preemie clothes at Walmart. I will say though, that all the preemie clothes we got were still huge. my guy was only 3 1/2 weeks early (and thankfully didn't require a NICU stay) and a little over 6lbs, and he was still swimming in them. When ds1 (who was NOT a preemie) was in the NICU, they had him mostly in a diaper only, or a shirt and no pants. Whatever clothes you get will probably be most useful after they get home.

 

My dd was 4#2 oz when we brought her home and almost all of her preemie clothes came from Wal-Mart--they had a ton to choose from, lots of footed sleepers, and they were not expensive. Target had some cute things but a very limited selection, more like layette sets.

I would second the suggestion for a double head support for the carseat too--it was alarming to see how much she flopped around in there, and I wasn't prepared for that.

 

I have alot of extra girl preemie clothes and some neutral! I would be happy to send some. Both our girls were premature one 4lbs 15oz and one 5lbs8oz. Our second was born when we evacuated for Katrina so we had to buy more then were able to recover the ones we had for first born. I know they can be hard to find and expensive. Let me know if you are interested.
Pam

Mama to

Marissa 18months and

Makayla 4 months who uses

: and

.

 

i just went to walmart today and saw the cutest premie clothes! i even held them up for my dh to see how incredibly small they were and that i couldnl't believe river was ever that small! they grow so darn fast! but they had a lot of selection there and it all was on the clearence rack

hth

 

I just got some items from the Under the Nile co-op and it is really nice quality and all organic cotton. Of course, the co-op prices were a bit cheaper, but I'd still say it's worth it. They have a few items listed under 'little seedlings' http://www.underthenile.com/underthe...l&subcat=sdlng

 

My dd was little when she was born, although not a premmie. I sent my mom out to the resale shops and she found a ton of premmie stuff. If you are close to your neighbor, would she mind used clothes. You may do well at resale shops.

 

Wal- Mart does have a great selection and at a great price. I also got them at Children's Place. Once Upon a Child also has a Premie section in most stores if she will wear used. Gerber makes Premie onesies, my girl's wore the onesies until they were about 9 pounds.

At the NICU Sage was in they had a stock of premie clothing that the babies could wear in the hospital once they were cleared for clothes

Also I found the Pampers Premie Swadlers to be smaller than the newborn ones, but beware, the regular pampers premies and the huggies premies do not have the double inner leg liner thing and leak poop. I loved the Premie Swaddlers. Sage was 5 pounds 4 ounces when she came home and I think we used the Premies until she was 6 1/2 pounds

 

My daughter was six pounds when she was born and I found lots of great premie clothes at GapKids, Children's Place, Gymboree and Wal Mart. Hope that helps!