Environmental Sensitivity: Little Known Facts About Your Premature Baby

Premature babies are more sensitive to their environment than full-term babies.

Premature babies react more to changes in temperature, light, sound, scent and activity than full-term babies. Parents of premature babies usually tune into this sensitivity early on.Friends and family members, however, who spend less time with the baby, need some educating in this area.

A premature baby does not need to attend a baby shower. For some new mothers, there baby shower may actually be scheduled after the surprise birth of a premature baby. Attending family and friends somehow think the premature baby should be at the shower. At most baby showers, the baby may be present, but is not born yet.

A premature baby who may only be recently out of the hospital does not need to be around a whole group of people. When a preemie has too much stimulus, he or she will basically shut down.

This slight transition may only at first be recognizable by parents. The pre-term infant, when overstimulated will seem to "zone out" but not always fall asleep. The preemie will disengage from the activity. This is his or her way of saying that enough is enough.

Part of this may be caused by too many senses being stimulated at once. Too much stimulus, and the proximity of external stimulus both affect the preemie. When people get too close to the baby's face, this could also cause the preemie to shut down.

The other sensitivity that pre-term infants have may be unknown to family and friends, is to scent. Strong perfumes and fragrances can cause discomfort in the preemie. When heavy fragrances are worn around a preemie, he or she may show discomfort by crying.

Another environmental factor that premature infants show sensitivity to is sound. For pre-term babies who have passed their hearing test, they can be easily disturbed by sudden noises. At the same time, pre-term babies have grown accustomed to soothing white noise, after spending time in a NICU, where there is a low hum of activity.

Per-term children do respond well to white noise created by a fan, a humidifier, or a white noise machine.

Preemies can also respond negatively to any extreme lighting. This includes not only harsh or too-bright lighting, but also to rooms that are too dark. Any pre-term infant that has spent time in a NICU also spent his or her days and nights with some kind of lighting. Hospital NICUs are never completely dark.

When a pre-term infant finally does come home, he or she may need to have some kind of soft lighting in the room, or coming into the room from a hallway light.

Being aware of a pre-term infant's hypersensitivities will help parents, family and friends curtail their behavior to make the child as comfortable as possible.