I also will tell you how Lovely Eco Chic would like to help.
This is my son Sonny. Born at 35 weeks. He had trouble breathing at birth not being full term. We were lucky that our stay was only 5 days. I met Mom's in NICU of babies who stay in NICU a lot longer with babies more delicate than you can ever imagine.
Babies wont stay tiny forever. Sonny was not tiny for a preemie by any means. Even he needed to wear smaller than a standard new born size for a little while. Lovely Eco Chic has decided to carry Happy Heinys Micro Mini Stage. These diapers are the tiny cloth diapers you will ever see. If you have the same belief I do cloth is a healthier choice than disposable across the board.
We have decided to do a Preemie Rental program similar to the rental programs you may see for newborns. Happy Heinys Micro Mini Stage diapers are sold for $10 each in our shop. If you want a more economical way to cloth you preemie we can help you. After reading the information Happy Heinys has to say please review Lovely Eco Chic program and send an e-mail or call us and we can set the program up for you.
This is straight from Happy Heinys:
Happy Heinys is proud to present our brand new Happy Heiny Micro Mini Stages diapers. These diapers are a true all in one so there is no guesswork for medical staff. No need to worry about them refusing to "take the extra time to use cloth diapers" because there is no extra time. These diapers use a very high quality hook and loop closure and they go on just like a disposable.
Each diaper stage weighs the same amount so if the nurse needs to measure the baby's output she can do so the same exact way as she would with disposable diapers.
Since the layer closest to baby is made of our own super soft micro fleece, the only thing next to baby will be softness, not paper. There is less chance of skin break-down, diaper rashes, and increased breathing problems which in a NICU full of ventilated babies is a life and death issue.
We have 3 stages: Stage 1 is for 1-3lbs, Stage 2 is for 2-4lbs, Stage 3 is for 3-6lbs. Each stage has enough absorbency for a baby of this size.
It is our hope to eventually have these available in every NICU around the world. Until then they can be purchased through any of our retailers. A portion of all sales will go to the March of Dimes who without their medical advancements many of us would not have our precious preemies.
Here are some great talking points for the NICU staff:
The micro stages is a relatively new product so we are working on getting more information about them but here is our web page on them:
http://www.happyheinys.com/our-products/micro-mini-stages
Re micro mini stages:
There are several reasons why I developed these. 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
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.
At happy heinys we know from our experience just how important it is to protect the smallest and most vulnerable babies when they are born. After experiencing the stress, the anguish, the fear, & finally the absolute happiness of the NICU I have to admit that as happy as we were to finally have her home we were also terrified. She had "coded" several times while there & the fear of that happening at home was tremendous. When she came home from the NICU we were dealing with steroids, nebulizers, too many doctors, ER, and hospital trips with even more medications. This poor baby had taken more medication in her first 3 months of life then her older brothers had taken in their combined 6 yrs. As many similar mothers experienced I was at the point of willingness to try anything at all to help save my daughter. There is nothing more heart breaking then to watch a small body struggle to breathe each and every tiny breath, her little nose flaring, the front of her neck being sucked in, & the fear on her face. Imagine my surprise the day that a simple email changed her life and thus my familys life. A simple email saying: "Hey Linda, why don't you try cloth diapers, disposable diapers off-gas!" That email changed our life. While I watch disposable diaper company print their "scientific evidence" stating that disposable diapers are not harmful to babies. I LOOK AT MY LIVING HEALTHY PROOF THAT THEY ARE WRONG!!!! HER NEED FOR MEDICATION AND HOSPITALIZATION DROPPED BY 50% as charted by her non-pro cloth diapering doctor. Thus began my desire to help to improve the health of as many babies as possible. Our biggest challenge has been in creating awareness in the NICU setting but as more parents are researching their diapering choices earlier in pregnancy if they are forced with the NICU experience they will now know that their child does not have to needlessly have these toxic chemicals near them. |
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Lovely Eco Chic Premie Rental program
Deposit of $50.
Set up fee $35
Monthly $15
- You will have 24 diapers in your baby's size and 6 diapers one size larger for easy transition.
- Planet Wise Wet/Dry bag will be included for easy transportation of the diapers too and from the NICU.
- A bag of diaper safe detergent will also be provided.
- Lovely Eco Chic will cover your shipping cost to and from.
- The deposit of $50 will be refunded when the rental service is not longer needed or you can choose a $85 in store credit. All diapers and wet/dry bag need to be returned clean. Any items not returned will be invoiced at full price.
- A rental agreement will need to be signed and you will need to agree to an auto payment from a confirmed PayPal account.Please contact rentals@lovelyecochic.com or call (925) 364-4761
Lovely Eco Chic does not have a newborn rental program but highly recommends Earthy Crunchy Mama if you want to continue with a great budget friendly program with a personal touch.
Deanne of Lovely Eco Chic uses this program for her new son Joey.
Thank you,
Mary Lutz
Owner
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