Isolette covers

[elizabells, BSN, RN]

I keep seeing references in threads to Isolette covers, like they're a specific thing. We use... blankets. Often it's the same hospital-issue blankets we use to swaddle, make beds/rolls, etc. You know, the white ones with teal and pink stripes. Once in a while the volunteer group will send up a big load of crocheted blankets and we throw one of those on, or a parent will bring something in. Do y'all have some special thing you use? I could sort of picture a shaped, maybe quilted kind of thing.

I'd be shocked, SHOCKED to discover that this is some EBP developmental care thing that the entire rest of the universe has caught onto and that my unit stubbornly refuses to acknowledge. [/sarcasm]

[danissa, LPN, LVN]

Liz, we use our sheets, or blankets that parents bring in, take home and launder. We had some covers made to fit over the wee ones homes, but they went amiss in the laundry, so it's any port in a storm, a sheet a blanket, any shield from the noxious stimulation all around!

[Sweeper933]

All of our isolettes come with covers from the company that supplies them. The Giraffe beds have their own covers (w/ little giraffes on them) as well. I tried googling the isolettes / covers, but couldn't find anything. If I remember at work tonight, I'll get the specific model number of the isolettes that we use and will post it when I get home in the morning (the hospital has allnurses.com blocked....)

[littleneoRN]

We have isolette covers also. And yes they are quilted-looking. Some of them appear to be Children's Medical Ventures...based on the print. And then some from some other random company. And the giraffe printed ones for the giraffes. They're a little thicker than blankets and properly shaped, so they do a much better job blocking sound and light. But yes, we too resort to our ugly koala bear receiving blankets when it's a slow laundry day....or month.

[texas2007, BSN, RN]

We only use the hospital blankets if we have a fresh admission and haven't had a chance to grab anything else. Otherwise we have tons of colorful pattern type ones that seem to have been made for this purpose as they have slits on them to slide into some buttons on the top of the giraffe. I don't know if this is a developmental thing but lately I've noticed that the covers on our former micropreemies (34+wks adjusted) are inside out so the baby can view the colors from inside the isolette. Also parents can bring a large blanket and we can use that if they wish.

[Olivereindeer]

We have rather nice quilted thick ones that reduce the sound and lighThey have flaps to enable easy viewing.

I suggest you gather as much research as possible - summarize it all and present it at your next meeting - the only way forward is to sometimes push your way.

[ScammRNC]

We use the giraffe covers or quilts/blankets that parents have brought in.

[MandaAnda]

We use something like this:

These look like older ones to me. While we have some of these older ones, we also have heavier quilted ones with snaps/poppers for the corners that fit quite snugly - I couldn't find an image of one of those though. I think ones like these older ones are made by some of the volunteers that make our blankets, socks and cardigans - they may even make the heavier quilted ones. Not sure if we order them. I'll try to remember when I'm back at work in a couple of weeks.

Our heated cots also have covers made for them:

[Sweeper933]

Here are the pictures I was talking about :)

We have a few different varities - depending on the age of the isolette / cover. But the covers always come w/ the new isolettes.

[UTVOL3]

That thing over the heated cot (we dont have those but I imagine it is similar to an open bed warmer?) is the coolest. We are always getting into trouble for trying to fashion "tents" for those horribly sick or drug addicted kids who need low stim but are in an open bed. I guess it is a fire hazard.

[MandaAnda]

I don't see how it is any more of a fire risk than a cover over an incubator. And, at least for my unit, a heated cot is merely a cot with a temperature-controlled water matress (we slide these into covers with bumpers on the edges so the babies don't roll all over the place...even though they still try!).

[iyqyqr]

Elizabells, Iso covers are a big part of developmental care, esp if one is working in a an open room NICU where if you tunr on lights for one, you turn on the lights for many!! I traveled last year and saw them used everywhere I worked. The companies who make the isolettes do sell their covers, but they tend to be white or white with print and made of fabrics that can go through the hospital laundry. Of course, over time they get yukky looking and need to be replaced. Some units separate out baby clothes and developmental linen and have a washer and dryer and do these items in the NICU to avoid putting these things in the hosp laundry where they get faded and ruined. My unit does this and over the years we have collected an amazing stash of beautiful donated preemie clothes, bedding, etc. I sew and have made 40 iso covers and at least that many bassinet and big kid crib covers. I sew them out of two pieces of fleece, a disnet print on one side and a matching solid colr fleece on the other. If you do your own laundry, this is the way to go as the fleece is as soft and the prin ts as bright as the day I made them . . . over two years ago. (You have to know which fleece to get AND buy it when it's half price so this is affordable!!) I have made covers to fit all types of isolettes, including the giraffe. Parents and staff love them and it makes the unit appear homier. You can see some of mine featured at http://www.preemie.com. Expand the page so you can see the heading for Isolette covers. I am debating having my own web page and selling them myself, because the cost would be much cheaper without her markup. Material on sale makes cost $35/a cover. I would sell them for $60. They are no brainers to sew, it is just time consuming to prepare the fleece, cut it, pin and stitch. The parents delight, thoug, and the benefit in decreasing sound and light to baby make them worth the effort. Any other questions, let me know.