Written by: Elissa Lauber on July 4, 2023
Because my blog is primarily focused on helping other preemie parents and caregivers, I wanted to make a list of preemie-specific baby item recommendations. My last post, My Favorite Baby Items, was not preemie-specific, although there is overlap between these two lists.
Note. I'll continue to add to this post as I think of additional items!
Clothing
Clothing
The first thing to know about dressing your preemie is that the NICU will not put clothes on your baby or babies until your baby/babies reach(es) a certain size and/or gestational age. Preemies' skin is really fragile, so depending on when your baby or babies was/were born, it can be a considerable length of time until your baby or babies can start wear clothing. Looking back at pictures, it looks like our twins started to wear clothes around 31/32 weeks.
The second thing is to check with your NICU on what their clothing policy is. Our boys' NICU provided preemie clothing. We were never obligated to bring our own clothes for the boys. Our NICU's policy was that if you brought your own clothing, you needed to take it home to wash it, or else it would end up in hospital laundry and would be available for anyone to use. Our NICU also didn't accept hats (i.e., suffocation hazard). IF you do decide to bring your own clothing, ask if you can donate your clothes to the NICU once your baby or babies outgrow(s) them. The clothing our NICU provided was all donated.
When our twin boys were in the NICU, we bought them some preemie clothes from Carter's. Carter's has a nice selection, and is affordable.
We received a few Kissy Kissy gowns as gifts for our boys when they were in the NICU. The clothing is expensive, but it's super high quality and incredibly soft. One thing I love about this brand is that the "convertible gown" they offer can be used as a gown or can be fastened to become pants.
Note. The flexibility of Kissy Kissy gowns are great particularly if your preemie is on oxygen and you want to run tubing down a pant leg.
We never bought clothes from the Preemie Store, so I can't speak to the quality, but this site has clothing for all preemie sizes. It's super nice that they group their clothes by weight.
Shop by Size
Micro (1-3 lbs)
Teeny (2-4 lbs)
Preemie (3-6 lbs)
Newborn (5-8 lbs)
Above 8 lbs
The Bump has a great list of other preemie clothing brands they recommend in their article, 10 Best Preemie Clothes Brands.
Note. When you bring your baby or babies home from the NICU, you will need to consider what type of clothing will be easiest for your baby (or babies!) to wear if, for example, the baby is on oxygen, has a G-tube, etc. We used sleep sacks to manage our twins' oxygen tubing. We specifically had to buy sleep sacks that zipped either bi-directionally or top-down, so that the oxygen tubing would come out near their feet.
Sleep Sacks
We have always tried to follow the ABCs of safe sleep, which are: Alone, Back, and Crib, so we used sleep sacks to keep our kids warm for the first few years. For the first 6-9 months, we really liked the Halo Sleepsack Swaddle.
Note. If your baby is on oxygen, be sure to look for sleepsack swaddles with either a bidirectional zipper or a zipper that zips down toward the baby's feet. This allows you to pull the oxygen tubing down the back of the swaddle, and decreases the risk that your baby will become tangled. The photo I linked above shows that the zipper goes from top to bottom in the photo.
If your baby is on oxygen, he/she/they may eventually start pulling out/off a nasal canula or sleep mask. Some people prefer sleep sacks that keep the baby's arms inside, so you may like something like the SleepingBaby Zipadee-Zip Transition Swaddle. Unfortunately, this brand's zipper goes from bottom to top, so that's something to consider if you want to run your baby's oxygen tubing through the sleep sack.
Bath Products
Bathtub
For the first few months after the NICU, we used the Summer Clean Rinse Baby Bather that we could put on the counter since the boys were so small. It worked really well and is a great option for a mom recovering from a c-section who can't bend over and lift. I wanted something that I could adjust (this has 3 recline positions), and that would be easy to clean.
Output Container
We still use the Plastic Graduated Triangular Intake Output Container we got from the NICU to bathe our boys. It's such a simple thing, but it works so well for rinsing kids in the bathtub. This isn't the exact one we use, but I've linked a cheap option (5-Pack for $8) on Amazon.
Note. Be sure to take home the supplies they offer you when you are discharged from the NICU, so you don't have to buy this stuff once you're home.
Towels & Washcloths
Honestly, any baby towel or wash cloth will work, but I recommend trying to find ones that are thin. Thin towels allow you to give your baby or babies a "swaddle bath," which is when you bathe your baby swaddled in the bathtub. You unwrap the baby's limb to wash it (e.g., arm), and then put it back into the swaddle. Our NICU encouraged us to bathe our boys like this because it keeps them warm and contained. We had Burt's Bees Baby - Hooded Towels, and we really liked them. Burt's Bees Baby Washcloths are also nice, too.
Baby Apps
Particularly if you have multiples, I recommend using some type of smartphone app to track feedings. You will be incredibly sleep deprived, and you will forget who you fed, how much they ate, when you fed the baby, etc. We used the Baby Connect app because multiple people can add information on to the app, and it tracks information for more than one baby. Our twins' nanny, for example, was able to log their feeds each day. The Baby Connect app can track all kinds of things: medications, sleep, diapers, etc.
Personal Story: A few days after we brought home our twins from the NICU, we were concerned when one of our twin's pulse oximeter kept beeping indicating that his oxygen was dipping low. We checked the Baby Connect app to see how much he had drank that day, and quickly saw that he had only had about half of his normal, daily intake. After calling the pediatrician, we took our son to the NICU, where he stayed for 4 days due to a urinary tract infection (UTI). A UTI may sound like no big deal, but for a preemie, it was life-threatening, and our son was VERY sick. Without the Baby Connect app, it would have taken us longer to figure out that something was really wrong.
Note. You may normally have an amazing memory, but I promise you that you will not remember everything due to sleep deprivation. Plan to write down your feeds/amounts on a paper chart or in a smartphone app.
I exclusively pumped breastmilk for my twins for 15 months, and I used the Pump Log app to keep track of how much milk I was making for each session. This app is awesome, and I highly recommend it. In addition to the log of your pumping sessions, you can see your Stats, keep track of your Stash, and even do a Countdown to ending your pumping journey based on how much your baby or babies eat(s) each day.
Feeding
Baby Bottles
For our twins we used Dr. Brown's Natural Anti-Colic Baby Bottle. The Dr. Brown's bottles worked well, and I do think they helped with their severe acid reflux. However, there are a ton of parts, so be mindful that you will have so many pieces to wash and dry each day.
Note. There has been research done on baby bottle nipple flow rates, which I'll link below from Dayton Children's Hospital (File Name: "DBM-MilkFlowRates-Dayton-Article"). Particularly if your baby or babies has/have acid reflux, you will want to do paced bottle-feeding and use a nipple with a slower flow.
Bottle Warmer
The bottle warmer we used for our twins unfortunately was discontinued, so I'm going to link a different option here. IF you have multiples and are planning on bottle-feeding at least part of the time, I recommend purchasing a bottle warmer that can heat two bottles simultaneously.
Personal Story: We used a bottle warmer for our twins because we pre-made their bottles each day. We would make two rows of bottles in our fridge the night before (i.e., one row for each twin), and then we would just warm up the bottles in the warmer prior to each feeding throughout the day.
If I were choosing a bottle warmer today, I'd probably purchase one like the Grownsy 8-in-1 Baby Bottle Warmer, because it can accommodate taller bottles, has preset buttons for different amounts of breastmilk/formula, and has a sterilize option.
Tip. Use the sterilize option on a bottle warmer to quickly clean a dirty pacifier.
Diaper/Pumping Bag
Our twins' NICU was kind enough to give me several "pumping" bags to hold my pumping parts, bottles, labels, ice packs/ice pack zippered bags, etc. If, however, your hospital doesn't provide this for you, any diaper bag or backpack will work.
Tip. I recommend purchasing a diaper backpack, so that you can be hands-free. I tried the more traditional one-strap diaper bag design with our eldest son, and ended up ditching it pretty quickly in favor of my husband's diaper backpack. It's so hard to wrangle everything you need to take when you have a baby or babies, so make it easier on yourself and opt for a backpack.
Check out Babylist's Best Diaper Bags of 2023 for a list of top brands.
I personally used the JuJuBe BFF Convertible Unisex Diaper Bag Backpack, because you could use it as either a Messenger Bag or Backpack. It was also easy to clean.
Nursing/Feeding Pillows
This was definitely a splurge, but I have zero regrets on purchasing The Nesting Pillow by Blessed Nest. We used this pillow (well, pillows since we bought 2) for years for when I nursed our eldest son, and when we bottle-fed our twins. This nursing pillow is super thick, and it saved my back from bending over to feed our kids. The cover is also machine washable, which is great.
My sister sent me this pillow, and we used it constantly to feed our twins over the first year+. This keeps your babies slightly elevated, which is so helpful for babies with acid reflux. If you have twins, I highly recommend this pillow.
Summary
These are just some of my favorite preemie products. I plan to add to this list as I think of more! As I wrote on my last blog post, My Favorite Baby Products, the important thing to remember is that your baby doesn't need much. Prioritize what is important to you, and spend your money on those items.