Glucose Testing

You have to be very careful! We had a baby brought in to our unit with blisters on a foot from someone doing this.

Don't worry - we had to do this for YEARS before we got the heel warmers. We just use very warm water - not hot. Our water on the unit doesn't get very hot to begin with. I mainly do this on bigger kids - the tiny ones do just fine with the heel warmers. It's the kids where the warmer is just on the heel but the rest of their foot is hanging out, that's when I find that warming the whole foot - ankles to toes - works better than just doing the heel.

I hate heal warmers. It's often hard to get them to stay on. I prefer the wash cloth meathod with the caveat that one has to be careful not to leave a baby with a cold, wet foot because something came up. I'm pretty sure this was why we got heal warmers years ago because they do cost money.

I hate heal warmers. It's often hard to get them to stay on. QUOTE]

I agree but I solve this by putting a small piece of tape across it to secure. The little "sticky" that is attached to our heel warmers does not hold and the next thing you know, they have kicked 'em off! The tape holds it in place well, and we have a clear tape that tears very easily for fast removal.

Jenny

Even with tape, somehow they still get them to come off. They wait till we're not looking. LOL.

Not to stray OT, but wasn't there a British study years ago that said heel warmers don't make that big a difference? I don't use them every single time, if I know the kid is a really good bleeder and I never use them to get blood sugars.

We use... wow. I can't remember the name right now. They're lavender and oval, and I've used them on kids from

We use... wow. I can't remember the name right now. They're lavender and oval, and I've used them on kids from

We use those too, they're preemie lancets. We don't usually warm the heel if it's just an accucheck because only a tiny drop is needed, but you really should be using something to warm them up if you're doing other labs. It really does make a world of difference and you don't have to pump and milk the poor baby's leg/foot, which can cause damage.