Going home with your neonatal baby

The following information will help you prepare for taking your baby home from our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Preparing to go home

Your baby will be ready to go home when they are either on our GET FED program or can suck all their feeds, and:

• has gained weight
• can maintain body temperature
• is medically stable.

To ensure babies are developing and meeting their milestones, babies born less than 32 weeks, or who have met different criteria, will be followed up by doctors at 4, 8 and 12 months corrected gestational age.

The physiotherapist will also enrol your baby into a developmental ‘playgroup’ so we can make sure they meet their developmental milestones.

Parenting room

To help you become more comfortable looking after your baby on your own, we may offer for you to stay overnight in a parenting room before you go home. Priority is given to parents, carers and families of critically ill neonates about to return home. There is no charge to use these rooms and standard Neonatal Unit visiting guidelines apply to the parenting rooms and lounge.

Both rooms are located in the Neonatal Unit. One room has a single bed while the other room has a double bed. Both rooms share a bathroom. Each room has a television and telephone for incoming calls only. Towels are provided but please bring your own toiletries.

These rooms may also be available at other times throughout your stay. If a parenting room is not available, you can sleep by your baby’s bedside in a fold-out chair. Please speak with your nurse for more information.

Car safety

You must have a car seat suitable for a newborn fitted correctly in your car before you go home.

If you are unsure how to do this, make an appointment at Kidsafe (located on Railway Parade, West Leederville). For more information phone 6244 4880 or visit Kidsafe WA (external site).

At home with your baby

Safe sleeping

It’s important you follow safe sleeping practices once you go home.

SIDS & Kids WA guidelines recommend your baby sleeps on their back in their own cot with their feet near the bottom. The covers should be tucked in and only come up to your baby’s shoulders. The cot mattress should be clean, firm, well-fitting and flat.

Items such as soft toys, cot bumpers, sleep positioners or sheepskins can create a suffocation risk so should never be put in a cot.

More information about safe sleeping is available at Red Nose (external site) and in your baby’s purple Child Health Record.

Air travel

If your baby was born under 35 weeks, your baby may need oxygen if you intend to fly before he or she is three months post term.

You will need:

• a special form from a doctor stating your baby is fit to fly
• to contact the airline and pay for an oxygen cylinder suitable for flying and a neonatal regulator to administer the oxygen.