Our Micro Mini Stages were developed for several reasons. The most important is because when a baby is born prematurely 99% of the time at least one of the treatments needed will have an adverse affect that can harm the baby. For instance in our case, Sarah was saved by the ventilator and I am grateful that was available for her but she also has CLD-Chronic Lung Disease due to it.

Again, a little about Sarah, we were in and out of the hospital with severe breathing problems, so severe that she coded several times. As a mom we are willing to jump off every bridge possible to fix our babies so when a fellow preemie mom suggested I take her out of disposables and put her into cloth diapers I could not get to the store fast enough. Yes in the back of my mind I was thinking this is crazy, the butt and lungs really have nothing to do with each other and she had never had a diaper rash.

Seriously immediately there were changes in her breathing pattern. It was weird. Suddenly we were noticing less breathing issues, less doctor trips, less ER & hospital stays. In her medical chart we documented a 50% decrease in her need for medications and hospitalizations.  Needless to say she never wore a disposable diaper after that.

So going back to our preemies when they are still in the NICU, they are fighting with all their strength to stay alive and the doctors are doing what they can to help. It does not make sense to have these babies wearing disposable diapers that off-gas especially when many of the babies already suffer from lung issues. By doing something as simple as placing a cloth diaper on baby we have the chance of not aggravating any illness or increasing any health problems.

These babies are often on many medications that can cause severe diaper rash so the softness of the diaper and lack of chemicals can help to decrease these rashes.

Also when a baby is born prematurely, depending on the # of weeks, their skin is often times thinner than paper. A simple rub can break the skin. Most of us have felt many disposable diapers and no matter how much “like cloth” they try to make them they just are not cloth. The super soft fleece helps to decrease the potential of bed sores and rub sores due to the crinkly paper.

Many NICU nurses complain because even the smallest preemie disposable doesn’t fit most preemies so they often times have to fold the diapers over and maneuver things around only to have the tape rip off and then they have to start the process all over. When you are dealing with a young preemie who needs as little stimulation as possible this is increasing that stimulation which is bad for the preemie.

Now-a-days when moms find out they are pregnant they are learning early on that they have a choice between cloth and disposables. I have spoken with many moms who made the decision to use cloth diapers right around the 20 week mark of their pregnancy. At this time in order to spread out the cost of building their stash moms/dads will begin purchasing their cloth diapers.

All of a sudden baby comes along at 26 weeks. Mom/Dad made a decision not to use disposable diapers but they have to. Mom/Dad have had baby ripped from them and placed into an incubator where they can look but not touch. They are unable to bond with their baby. They are not allowed to hold, bath, feed their newborn. Every act of care for their baby comes from a doctor or a nurse. It is the worse feeling in the world. They look around and all the babies look the same, naked except for an ugly white paper diaper.
I’ll never forget what is was like being able to finally hold my baby but not really being able to hold her well because of all the breathing tubes and IV’s and it was timed. I could only hold her while they changed her bed linens.

By doing something as simple as giving a mom/dad a colorful cloth diaper to use for their baby we are giving them a simple way of caring for their baby. At this time it would not be feasible to have the hospital wash the diapers so mom gets to take them home and wash them for her baby. This means she is doing something for her child, she is making a decision for the health and well being for her child. She is finally able to bond with her child.

The main resistance to using cloth diapers in the NICU is 1. pins & rubber pants, difficulty, 2. what to do with the dirties and 3. measuring output (pee)

We have made the micro stages so that they are exactly like a disposable diaper. They go on actually easier than a disposable does because our stages are sized for the smallest of babies. Nurses don’t have to fool around with trying to make a diaper small enough to fit. They are a quick change so baby is disturbed less. Each size of each diaper weigh the same. So the nurse simply weighs the first diaper just like they should be doing with a disposable and then there are no issues with monitoring output. As baby grows into the next stage each first diaper will need to be weighed but then they go on as usual.
Finally, washing/disposal. A disposable diaper is placed into red trash bin and a cloth diaper is placed into a laundry bag. The janitor removes the disposable and mom/dad remove the cloth diaper, wash them, and bring them back.

Having this simple thing for a mother to do for her premature baby will help to decrease the depression and other negative feelings she may be having due to her lack of control over baby.