You’d think that once a family got home with their neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) baby they would be home free, right? After all, their baby isn’t hooked up to multiple monitors, doesn’t have IVs sticking out of every part of their body and the parents don’t have to travel to and from the hospital every day anymore. So why do the parents still seem so stressed out? Read on to find out about some special challenges of and how to take care of these special parents and babies.
When Annie Krusznis gave birth five years ago, she expected to sacrifice some sleep in the early months of parenthood. She rejoiced the first time her son Will slept through the night, thinking her sleep woes were over. She didn’t know that she would endure three more years of insomnia while he slept peacefully in his crib.
Do you find it impossible to take a shower, work at your desk or even use the bathroom without your little one tagging along, or crying if you leave the room without him? This aspect of separation anxiety is very common. The good news is that all children eventually outgrow this phase, but you can move things along by using some of the following ideas:
When Julie Barrow learned she was expecting her second child, her friends decided to throw her a baby shower. But Barrow, already mom to a toddler son, Austin, said she didn’t want friends shelling out big bucks for baby necessities she already had. So Barrow suggested a secondhand shower, where her mom friends could pass on goodies their own babies had outgrown.
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