While premature babies often need state-of-the-art medical care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), there’s one special, simple service that only parents and caregivers can provide: kangaroo care, or skin-to-skin contact. This well-studied method of closely snuggling newborns offers multiple benefits to both premature and full-term infants — and it’s free!
Read on for more about kangaroo care, including its origins, how to try this skin-on-skin method with your baby and the many advantages you both can enjoy.
What is kangaroo care?
Here’s some kangaroo care history: This low-tech intervention was developed in South America as an inexpensive, practical alternative to incubator care. The goal was to keep preemies warm so their health could improve and they could be released sooner from overcrowded hospitals.
Engaging in kangaroo care offers astoundingly positive effects that boost the health of your preemie baby. It’s a gentle, proven method to make your baby feel more secure and help you bond. In fact, it’s so effective, frequent skin-to-skin contact is often recommended for full-term infants too.
And the beauty of kangaroo care is its simplicity. You, your partner or other family member sit holding your naked baby (except for a diaper and perhaps a cute infant hat) on your bare chest, sometimes with a blanket or robe pulled around your baby’s back for extra warmth. This wrapped bundle looks just like a mama kangaroo with her baby in the pouch — hence the skin-to-skin method’s name.
What are the benefits of kangaroo care?
Kangaroo care is powerful medicine! Your heartbeat, scent and the rhythm of your voice and breathing are all comforting to your baby. When your baby feels your skin on hers, her brain releases oxytocin (also known as the “love hormone”), which, in turn, helps stabilize her cardiovascular system, reduces stress and makes her feel calmer and safer.
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One study found that skin-to-skin care increased oxytocin not only in mothers but in fathers and infants too. Kangaroo care has also been shown to help your little one:
Regulate body temperature (preemies need help maintaining heat because they have so little body fat)
Feel less pain and stress during medical procedures, such as blood draws
Succeed at breastfeeding
Sleep more soundly and cry less frequently
Regulate heartbeat and breathing, as her body adjusts to match yours
Avoid infections
Leave the NICU sooner
One study of 10-year-olds who had received kangaroo care as infants found that they had better cognitive development and sleep habits and dealt better with stress versus kids who did not receive skin-to-skin care in infancy. The same study confirmed the benefits moms get from kangaroo care too: reduced anxiety, better attachment with their babies and a better relationship with each other by age 10.
In fact, there are many proven benefits of skin-to-skin care for parents who give it a try. You may:
Feel comforted during a stressful time
Feel more competent in caring for a fragile baby
Enjoy providing care that only you — not doctors or nurses — can give
Feel a special bond and closeness with your baby
Produce more breast milk, if you’re breastfeeding
How long should you be doing kangaroo care?
While kangaroo care is most often encouraged during your baby’s hospital stay, you can certainly keep providing it for a while once you bring your little bundle home.
Daytime kangaroo care can last for about an hour or two each day (and maybe more as time goes on) and can be practiced with your baby in a sling while you do other things. Newborns especially can benefit from kangaroo care, but babies (and kids) never really outgrow the need for snuggles from you!
You can try holding your baby skin-to-skin when you nurse or bottle-feed or as part of a relaxing bedtime routine. Eventually, as your baby becomes bigger, more active and more interested in the world around her, kangaroo care will become harder (she’ll want to reach, roll and scooch around!). But you can still offer it as a way to settle down for the night or whenever you both want a quiet moment.
How to do kangaroo care
Any primary caregiver or a grandparent, not just Mom or Dad, can provide a baby with skin-to-skin care — and starting it right away is ideal. The reason? A new report underscores the life-saving benefits to kangaroo care immediately after birth, rather than waiting several days while your baby is stabilized in an incubator.
Here are some kangaroo care guidelines:
Don’t smoke. Before you visit your preemie in the hospital NICU, avoid smoking or using perfume. Shower and make sure the skin on your chest is free of cuts and rashes so your baby won’t be exposed to germs.
Arrive healthy. If you’re feeling feverish, sniffling or are otherwise under the weather, stay home from the hospital entirely and let someone else take your place and engage in kangaroo care with your little one until you’re feeling better.
Turn off your phone. You don’t want to disturb your baby or be distracted by incoming emails, calls or texts during this quiet, special time.
Wear loose clothing. Putting on a loose-fitting top that fastens in front is wise, including your bra — as you’ll want to remove it or unfasten it during kangaroo care.
Sit and cuddle. Take a seat in a comfortable chair in the nursery, facing away from the rest of the room or behind a screen for privacy. Cuddle your baby against your bare chest, with a blanket draped over her back. You can close your shirt to keep her cozy and in place.
Follow your baby’s cues. When you’re snuggling, your baby’s doctor may recommend that you avoid stimulation like rocking or singing, depending on your little one's particular condition. What she needs most right now is your warm skin against hers.
Don’t sleep during kangaroo care. Whether you’re in the NICU or at home, you should never fall asleep while holding your baby because of the risk of SIDS in infants.
Start small. Aim to provide kangaroo care for an hour or so, once daily to start. You may be able to work up to a longer session of three to four hours — but know that your baby benefits from shorter sessions of kangaroo care too.
Kangaroo care is easy to try, whether your baby is in the NICU or at home. And the rewards you’ll both reap are off-the-charts. Have fun with this simple method and know that even just a few minutes of skin-to-skin contact is helping your baby.
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