Why isolette covers?

Hi Tina, it's not just eye development that noxious stimuli affects, more importantly, it's brain development. By shielding the isolette, you can cut down on light, noise and movement from outside, all factors which can have detremental effects on the preemie brain development. Look into Developmental Care for preemies, fascinating stuff!

I've noticed that some babies are really sensitive to the light (even in a dimmed room) and to other distractions going on in the pod. If I put a nice big blanket over the isolette to darken up their "house", they go right to sleep and will sleep for longer periods (very important!).

Also gives a signal to others that "This is a quiet area!"

I look at it this way...the womb is pretty dark and quiet...sounds are muffled, and the predominant sound the baby in utero hears is mom's heartbeat, blood and bowel sounds. The more we can re-create that setting for a baby who really is supposed to still be in that environment, the better.

I wonder if there has been any research on artifically re-creating those sounds for the premature infant and the effect on their growth and adaptation?

I wonder if there has been any research on artifically re-creating those sounds for the premature infant and the effect on their growth and adaptation?

A few months back, a mom and dad on our unit brought in what looked like a tape player, but it was a little machine that played cycles of noises that were said to simulate the intrauterine environment. For the life of me I can't recall what the thing was called, and I haven't seen any research that deals with its effectiveness.

I read a study done where they recorded mom's voice and fed it though a distortion program so it sounded like it was going through fluid - trying to recreate the sound of mom from in the womb. They used it as a non-pharmacological pain relief, and it did exactly nothing.

We used to do the blankets over the top of the isolettes, but we recently got actual covers made specifically for the isolettes donated from a couple of our support groups. They are lined with dark colored fabric, and the have cute patterned fabric on the outside. They look like a quilt almost. They have several different panels that can be folded up or down to allow visualization of the baby, to allow for phototherapy and for shooting x-rays. They were met with some resistance (as many changes are) from the nurses who weren't totally happy about "covering up" and not being able to see the baby as well, but are now pretty much accepted by everyone. I really like them, especially for those micropreemies and withdrawing babies. We still do the blankets over the top if we are out of covers, or for the babies that are not in isolettes for that long.