How To Make NICU Parent-Child Bonding Lovies
Here’s how to make NICU Parent-Child Bonding Lovies to transfer mama’s scent to her preemie baby to promote smell bonding even in an isolette.
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I want to tell you an amazing story.
We’ve talked about sewing with the Church Ladies and how we make blankets and baby bundles and other things our local shelters, hospitals or fire departments might need.
Well, our sister Church in southern Arizona has Church Lady Sewing also, and they were wondering what their outreach should be this year. They wondered if their local hospitals’ nursery might need something. So they made a trip one day to visit with the nurses.
And then, just as they approached, they realized the nurses were having a discussion, looking a little worried. But the Church Ladies thought they’d talk to them anyway.
The Ladies explained who they were and what they wanted to do, and the nurses gasped a loud group gasp. Now the Church Ladies began getting worried themselves. Had they said something wrong?
But a nurse said, “How did you know?”
A Church Lady said, “How did we know what?”
“We were just talking about how to sew lovies for the babies in NICU!” the nurse exclaimed. “And now here you are, offering to sew for us. Our OB doctor came back from a seminar talking about these lovies he’d heard about there. He showed us a picture, and wanted us to get some. We thought we could figure out how to make them, but none of us knows how to sew, or even has a sewing machine!”
And so, a kind of spiritual shiver passed between the nurses and the Church Ladies, and everyone agreed it was definitely a God thing.
What are NICU Parent-Child Bonding Lovies?
So I had never heard about NICU lovies before hearing this story.
And I fell in love with the lovies idea.
It’s really so simple, and maybe many of you have heard of this. So think about it. A preemie baby in an isolette, hooked up to tubes and monitors, is getting the best of care. The care that will hopefully save its life. But after a month, maybe more, maybe less, when that baby gets to go home, the natural bond hasn’t had a chance to grow as it would with a baby and parents who are together 24 hours a day.
The initial bonding between mother and baby actually begins in the womb. A developing baby has an acute sense of smell, and knows its mother instinctively after birth, largely because her smell has been around its whole life so far. Then, if something interrupts that cycle, the bonding comes to a halt. And for some babies, is never recovered.
And then along comes the brilliant idea to keep the baby’s memory of mommy intact by laying a lovie near baby’s head in the isolette. A lovie, which could be as simple as a nursing pad, that mommy has worn that day. Then mommy exchanges the lovie from the isolette, and wears that until the next day, when she returns to the NICU. (Bonus: mommy gets the smell of baby while she’s away from the hospital.)
How to make NICU Parent-Child Bonding Lovies
While washable nursing pads are perfectly fine to use for lovies, how sweet is it to make something special for these new families to show you’re in the struggle with them?
Let’s do it.
Supplies:
- soft, pre-shrunk cotton woodland animal printed flannel and/or solid flannel
- cotton batting
- scissors, measuring tape, fabric clamps or straight pins, thread, sewing machine
- Helpful for speed: self-healing cutting mat, rotary cutter, 6″ x 24″ quilting ruler
Directions:
- Typically, a set of lovies is two flannel heart mini-quilts pinned together to give to a family. So the directions are for one set of two lovies.
- Cut 4 fabric pieces measuring 6″ x 6″ of flannel: 2 printed and 2 plain.
- Cut 2 squares of batting the same size.
- Make a sewing sandwich: place two flannel pieces, right sides together. Pin a square of batting on the flannel.
- Make a 5″ x 5″ heart pattern out of thick card, place on flannel sandwich and trace around the heart. Sew on the lines, leaving a gap on one straight side of the heart. Cut the excess fabric away and turn. Pull at all the seam edges so you have a nice shape, then topstitch all around. Fold the gap fabric into the heart and catch with the topstitching to seal the gap.
- Sew the other 2 squares of flannel and cotton, and you have a set of lovies!
Tips:
- As stationery people, we promote paper love with sweet words on cards, so print out this little poem and pin to the lovies to give them away:
Welcome to the world, dear child,
and your temporary NICU home.
Snuggle near this lovie heart
while your body heals and grows;
’cause your forever family waits
with eager arms to hold you close.
Dorothy Ensz, kimenink.com
If you want to make lovies,
be sure to share this to your Pinterest board you named loving others.
And if you have made these, please share your tips and/or stories in the comments. Someone asked about the directions. Please comment if you have any questions.
