Dear Sling Lady,

I recently had a beautiful baby girl born at 33 wks.  Her gestational age would be 37 wks today.  We brought her home from the NICU after 16 days.  She never had any respiratory problems and is doing great! I’ve read that wearing my baby is great for preemies but I am concerned about her airways.  What type of sling do you recommend.  She is about 5 lbs exactly right now.  Thank you!

- Jessica

Hi Jessica, congrats on the birth of your baby!  You must be so excited to have her home with you and doing well.

I am so glad you are planning to wear your baby.  Research has shown that “kangaroo care” (wearing baby next to your skin) has proven physical benefits for premature babies.  It also helps all newborn babies to sleep more and cry less.  Moms who wear their preemie babies also feel more confident in themselves as parents.   Click here for some more information on the benefits of Kangaroo Care for preemies.

One of the most frequently recommended carriers for a preemie are stretchy wraps.  It is important to tie a stretchy wrap very snugly so that it provides good support for your baby’s back. If you are already experienced with wraps, I’d recommend a woven wrap as even more supportive than a stretchy (but a tad bit harder to use when starting out).  Another good option is a Kangaroo Korner fleece pouch if you pull the pouch part so that it creates a very small pouch.  Here is a page that links to all our recommended carriers for preemies: http://www.carrymeaway.com/pages/Baby-Slings-Preemies.html

I’m not a medical professional, so I do recommend that you show your sling to your pediatrician for approval.  Also, here is an article written by a nurse about proper positioning of your newborn in any type of carrier: http://www.carrymeaway.com/PDFs/Correct Positioning[1].pdf

I hope this is helpful, and please let me know if you have other questions!