By continuing to browse, you agree to our use of cookies.
Privacy Policy
Log in
NICU Parents Say These Products Made Their Journey Easier
NICU Parents Say These Products Made Their Journey Easier

NICU Parents Say These Products Made Their Journey Easier

NICU babies, especially preemies, need special care both in the hospital and at home—and that means special gear.

author-Briana Engelbrecht
By Briana Engelbrecht and Michelle Glenn
Fact Checked by Amylia Ryan
Updated On
Updated On
Our editors independently test and curate products. If you make a purchase via our links we may earn a commission.

In This Article

What NICU Parents Packed for Baby
NICU-friendly clothing
Something to read to baby
Loveys that smell like you
Products for Taking Care of You in the NICU
What NICU Parents Packed for Feeding & Pumping
What Actually Helped (That Wasn't a Product)
Coming Home After the NICU
A carrier
A simple baby monitor
A bottle washer and sterilizer

About 1 in 10 babies in the United States spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) each year. But even though the NICU may be a part of many families’ stories, it can be hard to feel fully prepared for it—especially when you’ve spent months preparing for your baby’s arrival.

It can be tough to anticipate everything that your baby (and you) might need during and after a NICU stay. Between traveling back and forth from the hospital, pumping around the clock, and for birthing parents, recovering from birth—there can be a lot to manage.

We talked to Michelle Glenn, a parent whose baby arrived early and spent 109 days in the NICU, for her firsthand experience. She also talked to other NICU parents and NICU nurses about what helped them through their NICU stays, and we polled parents in the Babylist newsletter for their recommendations. We collected their tips, advice, and encouragement below.

What NICU Parents Packed for Baby

Most parents we heard from said they didn’t need to bring many of the everyday essentials for their baby’s NICU stay. Hospitals typically provide many diapering and feeding supplies, though exactly what’s available will vary by facility, so it’s worth asking your baby’s care team what they provide.

Parents did tell us there were a few things they were glad to have from home, including clothing that worked for their baby’s size and NICU care, plus a few books or toys.

In the NICU, your baby may have wires, leads or other medical equipment attached to them, which means not all baby clothes will work. Look for clothing that makes it easy for your baby’s care team to access what they need, along with options designed for smaller babies if needed.

NICU-friendly clothing

When Michelle talked to NICU nurses about clothing, two-way zip sleepers came up again and again. They can make it easier to accommodate monitoring wires while still keeping your baby dressed and comfortable.

Several parents we polled in the Babylist newsletter also recommended magnetic clothing, and a few named Bonsie Baby’s skin-to-skin sets. Note: magnetic clothing may not be suitable for babies with cardiac devices.

Something to read to baby

Board books were one of the main non-clothing, non-feeding items NICU parents told us they brought with them. They shared that NICU nurses encouraged reading to their baby during visits as a way for baby to hear their voice and spend time together. One Babylist parent also loved having a recordable book from loved ones who weren’t able to visit their baby in the NICU.

NICU nurses often encourage reading to your baby to help develop their language pathways, but as one parent put it: "A picture book goes really fast when your baby is on a ventilator in an isolette." So they started reading their own books to her instead: "She has now read a Civil War history book, The Odyssey, a book on Scandinavian parenting techniques and the NICU-appropriate parts of Fourth Wing. It was way more entertaining for us and provided the same benefits to our little girl."

Loveys that smell like you

A few parents told us they brought small pieces of fabric that carried their scent for their baby to keep nearby. One parent wrote in our poll, “A small knotted square. One for me, one for my baby, and we'd switch when we saw each other so they'd have our scent on them.”

You can find bonding squares made specifically for this purpose. Typically, you keep one against your skin or clothing to transfer your scent before swapping it with the one your baby has. Check with your NICU care team first about what they allow and how they recommend using them.

Products for Taking Care of You in the NICU

Whether your baby arrived earlier than expected or was born with unexpected complications, the NICU journey is an emotional rollercoaster. You're thrust into a new and overwhelming world of tubes, monitors, medical terminology and the relentless back-and-forth between home and hospital. It’s an especially tender time because you're still recovering from childbirth while balancing time in the NICU and responsibilities at home. 

Parents who've been through it shared a few things that made the long hours easier. Quite a few picked up a baby book made specifically for preemie and NICU parents to document their baby's day-to-day and tiny wins. And more than one mentioned inkless hand and footprint kits: "[The] stampers were priceless to capture how small her hands and feet were," one parent told us.

They also suggest packing a NICU “go” bag with anything you’ll be taking back and forth with you for those frequent visits—like something to read, earbuds, your journal or baby book, a pouch of personal care items and snacks, a water bottle and a comfy blanket.

What NICU Parents Packed for Feeding & Pumping

How your baby is fed in the NICU will depend on their individual situation and care plan, and that may change throughout their stay. If pumping is part of your feeding plan, you may find yourself pumping at the NICU and at home, plus transporting milk back and forth. Your hospital may provide some of the equipment and supplies you’ll need, so ask your care team what’s available before stocking up. Here’s what NICU parents told us helped most:

Anna Forsberg, a postpartum doula and fellow NICU parent that Michelle spoke to, said she appreciates the book's inclusivity: "Unlike other books that only focus on lactation, this is a non-judgmental guide to all the ways a baby can be fed, which is so essential for NICU families." (As a certified lactation counselor, I've read this book too and recommend it.)

What Actually Helped (That Wasn't a Product)

Not everything that gets you through the NICU is a specific product. Parents told us it was often support from other people—the nurses caring for their baby, the friends dropping off meals, the gift cards that meant one less thing to plan during a week-plus hospital stay. If you're supporting a NICU family, an offer to cook or a meal gift card is its own kind of gear. 

  • "Meal gift cards! I had no desire to do anything other than be with my baby, so it was nice to have dinner taken care of."

  • "Friends providing meals so we didn't have to worry about cooking/living off take-out!"

Coming Home After the NICU

Bringing your NICU baby home is its own milestone—equal parts relief and a whole new kind of nervousness. After weeks of nurses monitoring every breath, you're suddenly the only one on duty. Here's what helped parents ease into that transition.

A carrier

Solly Baby Wrap Carrier - Ballet.

Solly Baby Wrap Carrier - Ballet

From $74.00
Buy
Buy
babylist Icon
Babylist
$
74.00

One thing that helped several parents ease into that transition: babywearing. "A Solly wrap was good for small babies once home," one parent told us. Wearing your baby keeps them close, keeps your hands free and helps you both settle after weeks of being cared for by machines and shifts of nurses instead of just you. A stretchy wrap like Solly's is especially forgiving for a smaller or preemie-sized baby (if they meet the minimum weight limit of seven pounds and their doctor has signed off on it) since you can adjust the fit without needing a specific size.

A simple baby monitor

VTech VM901 5" 1080p WiFi Smart Pan & Tilt Video Baby Monitor.

VTech VM901 5" 1080p WiFi Smart Pan & Tilt Video Baby Monitor

From $106.99
Buy
Buy
babylist Icon
Babylist
$
106.99
$
139.95
amazon Icon
Amazon
$
111.99

After months of alarms and monitors doing the watching for you in the NICU, it can be tempting to bring that same tracking home. Michelle, a NICU mom herself, chose the opposite: after her daughter's medical team warned that breathing and sleep trackers can create more anxiety than reassurance, she opted for a simple WiFi-enabled monitor with a parent unit instead—enough to check in on baby without a constant stream of data.

A bottle washer and sterilizer

Momcozy KleanPal Pro Baby Bottle Washer and Sterilizer - White.

Momcozy KleanPal Pro Baby Bottle Washer and Sterilizer - White

From $299.99
Buy
Buy
babylist Icon
Babylist
$
299.99

Between pumping, feeding and near-constant sterilizing, cleanup can start to feel like its own part-time job. A bottle washer and sterilizer takes one more chore off your plate during an already exhausting stretch.

Stay Up-to-Date with Babylist