Kristie McNealy, MD

I remember sitting in our preemie’s isolation room in the NICU, where she spent a couple of weeks after she was diagnosed with NEC and rota virus, holding her and listening to the conversations going on outside our door. More than once, I heard the mother of a newly admitted baby ask the nurses about dressing her preemie. Almost universally, the nursing staff would brush the mother off, telling her that preemie clothes were expensive, and her baby wouldn’t wear them for long enough to make them worth buying. They advised parents to just buy 0-3 month clothes and let their baby “grow into them”.

I was always annoyed when I heard these discussions. Even my 6 lb 5 oz, 19 inch 36 weeker swam in newborn and 0-3 month clothes when she was born. She only had a couple of preemie outfits that she wore in the first couple of weeks, but I cherished the fact that they fit her. When our 31 weeker was born, I was very thankful for all the beautiful preemie clothes, socks and hats we received from family and friends. Seeing her in them when she was stable enough to be dressed in the NICU always brightened my day. She was born weighing at 3 lbs 15 ozs (1780g), which made her the biggest baby in the part of the NICU where she spent her first month, and she still managed to wear preemie clothes for several weeks after she was discharged.

I highly recommend that parents of preemies buy at least a couple of outfits that fit, when their preemie is able to wear clothes, because being able to dress them in their own clothes will make you happier. They don’t need a huge wardrobe. A few pieces of their very own should do the trick.

• General Guidelines: First off, check with your nurses about when and if your baby will be able to wear their own clothes. If the NICU won’t let you dress your preemie until they reach a certain weight, there is no sense in buying the tiniest sizes. When you do select clothes, look for ones that will be easy to dress your preemie in. I found that when I first started dressing our 31 weeker, the easiest thing to put her in was a snap or tie front t-shirt. Look for clothes that will work with whatever lines or monitors are attached to your baby. Typically, a sleeper that snaps all the way down the front and legs works well, because you will be able to pull wires and tubes through the spaces between the snaps. Look for fabrics that are soft on your baby’s skin, over outfits that are frilly or have scratchy trim or embroidery.

• Micro Preemies (1-3 lbs): If you’re looking for clothes for your micro preemie, you’ll most likely need to find them on the web. A good one stop shop for clothing for babies who are 1-3 pounds is The Preemie Store. They carry a variety of t-shirts, hats and other clothing from different manufacturers. They also carry clothes for larger preemies, as well as a variety of preemie gifts and accessories.

• Larger Preemies (3+ lbs):If your baby is a little bigger, you’ll probably be surprised at the number of options you have in clothing. Major chain stores like Wal-Mart and Target, a well as major department stores usually carry preemie clothes that will fit babies who are between 3 and 6 pounds. If you’re shopping at a chain store however, make sure you hold up the outfit and really look at it. I’ve found that many of the preemie onesies I’ve seen at stores like Wal-Mart tend to run kind of short and wide, leaving your typically skinny preemie swimming inside.

• Specialty NICU Clothing: If your baby is still in the NICU, or will be coming home with an apnea monitor or other equipment like feeding and oxygen tubing, you should check out the clothes made by Anna’s Preemie. Their clothes are made super soft, without tags, and have special features like openings at the shoulders for easier dressing, and tabs to hold tubing in place. They also make clothes with a special opening at the chest to accommodate apnea or heart monitors. Best of all, even though Anna’s sells specialty items, they are reasonably priced, with sleepers running around $16, and fancier homecoming outfits between $25-30.

The bottom line here is that preemie clothes, even specialty ones, don’t have to be expensive, and you baby doesn’t need to spend weeks or even months swimming in the wrong size clothes. So, go out and buy a couple of outfits that fit your preemie and brighten your day.

If your baby has grown out of their preemie clothes, and you’d like to pass them on to another family, please join our forum, and put a post in the Preemie Gear Exchange section.

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