Kangaroo Care: The Best You Can Do to Help Your Preterm Infant

My baby girl was born at 28 weeks and stayed in the NICU for more than 3 months. The NICU nurses encouraged me to do kangaroo care from the very beginning. It was the first time I had heard about kangaroo care. Given my baby was born so premature and underweight I was ready to do whatever I can on my part to help her, including 9 hours of straight kangarooing if it would benefit her. And which I did. Obviously I wanted to learn more about it. Searched internet, but found only bits and pieces of information here and there. Given I am a biomedical researcher by profession, I wanted to know the nitty-gritty details about the kangaroo care including what scientific evidences there are to confirm its effectiveness.And this book gave me those answers.I know when you are a NICU parent, you feel so powerless at times. Kangaroo care gives you that power because it positively helps your baby. Even if you don't purchase this book, please do kangaroo care. My baby girl improved so much through kangaroo care. Now that my baby is home and almost 6 months old, I plan to donate this book to the NICU where she was cared for.Pros:Well written.Easy to read.Very detailed which included a lot of scientific research findings on this topic.Cons:NoneHowever, I would not buy a hardcover. Not worth the money for a hardcover.

For anyone who has anything to do with infants (want grandkids?), I highly recommend this book because much of the thought behind the concepts for preterm infant care are applicable to regular infants, too. How can doctors not know this stuff? Like the best way to regulate an infant's temperature is to put them next to the parent's body skin-to-skin? That has been the gold-standard for saving victims of cold exposure for over 100 years, but I guess no one bothers to do research in fields outside their own.

My son was born at 28 weeks gestation and shipped to the NICU, where he was deemed "the sickest baby in the NICU" simply because he was so tiny, so young. I was simply terrified of my own child, terrified to touch him, terrified of what might happen. On day three, a wonderful nurse told me I was going to hold him and in precise detail, told me how to strip down to Kangaroo my son. I held him and cried. For that day forward, I selfishly told each nurse that I wanted to Kangaroo my son, selfish because I craved holding him.When I read this book (a mere 4 days later), it was so affirming to read how beneficial the technique was to him. Yes, I had heard it from the nurses and neonatologists. However, it wasn't until I read the book that I realized it was proven and factually better for him ... and that while I thought I was being selfish, I was actually being a wonderful mother to my little boy.He is now sleeping peacefully in his crib. I happened upon my Kangaroo Care book earlier today and started crying happy tears, thinking back on our journey and how successfully he has grown and matured. Without the warmth instilled by this book, I am not sure those tears would have been as happy. If you have a preemie, you need this book ... it will completely affirm everything you may selfishly think is for you ... it is best for your Little One.

Upon reading this book, one finds that it's very clear the author is extremely supportive of the use of Kangaroo Care to cure just about whatever may ail your premature baby. Despite the repetitiveness of this, the book is chock-full of just about everything you'd need to know about Kangaroo Care.I also found it was quite informative in the realm of not only the care of preemies (and their signs of distress/contentment), but of full-term infants as well. So, if you're wondering how best to help your small and/or sick baby in the NICU, or are wondering just what benefits the act of such skin-to-skin contact can bring to both you and your full-term newborn, the book is a very good--and helpful--read.

I cannot count the number of times that I have recommended this book. I read it for the first time when I was in the hospital with my then 7 week premature baby girl and have bought it as shower gifts since. This book was so amazingly empowering for me as a woman, mother, parent and human being. I think that everyone should read this book - parent or otherwise.

This book seems to ship out EXTREMELY SLOW. I have paid for 2 days shipping but it has been MANY days since I have placed the order and the book has not shipped yet... It is a great book overall, and I have enjoyed having it when my daughter was born at 29 weeks 6 yrs ago... I am ordering it for a friend who has a just born preemie and I can't get the book to her fast enough... Very frustrated..

My son was born at 32 weeks...barely 4 pounds...in 1995 and now he is a 6 foot, healthy 14 year old. This book is a MUST HAVE for any preemie parent. A neighbor lent it to me back then and I am now on Amazon and happy to find it here so that I can pass the favor on to a friend of mine expecting preemie triplets.

I discovered this book in January, 1995, when it was very little known. My son was born 8 weeks premature in a Honolulu, hospital that had never heard of Kangaroo Care. He was transferred to NICU at a military hospital after 11 days so I never did the KC there, but I did pass my book on to my son's neonatologist in hopes that this would be available for future parents/premies. I did KC as often as I was able at the military hospital and my son came off all meds and monitors 3 wks after his early birth. All he had to do was gain weight. He come home a mere 4 weeks after his birth, and 4 weeks before he original due date! I continued to Kangaroo him at home, all day long some days and he gained so fast it was miraculous!Two and a half years later I gave birth to a full term daughter but used KC again because, "it couldn't hurt" and we never suffered those backwards hours that newborns have and I bounced back faster after this birth because I was resting more. Kangaroo Care is worth buying, in fact buy two so you will still have one when you pass one on!! :-)