incubator?

[tangent]

For after...
The old American Red Cross Home Nursing Manual had a good
set of drawings showing how to produce a cardboard box incubator,
if you can find one in the used book stores. And don't forget
the old trick of soaking a wash cloth in milk and letting the
baby suck on it if for some reason it is impossible to breast
feed.


sooo... has anyone seen this book and if so, can you describe how to make one?

I was thinking maybe lined w/ Al foil to reflect heat, pillow and blanket inside, and air holes for ventalation - open or not... hmm, incubator implies protection from outside and that would include drafts and maybe germs in the air (filtering? - with no power?!) Heat source? or are we back to heating a brick or rock in the fire (NOT one from a stream bed or it could explode), and wrapping that in a towel... ideas anyone?

[Yarrow]

Ah.... Tangent... you brought back many memories...

my 4th child was born early, over a month... and was born at home with the help of an old country doctor.... beings that he was so small.... and we were flat broke .... he suggested using a bassinet with solid sides... then wrap in tightly in blankets... and put hot water bottles on each side... making certain the hot water bottles never touched him... then cover the bassinet except one little cover for fresh air to retain the heat...

now on I nursed him quite often... more often then the other kids... plus the doctor moitnored him..

on top of it... he had jaudince... this doctor had a special flouorscent type fixture and special light bulbs... and within days his jaudince was gone.. and child number #3 (son #1).. had jaudince so bad that he was in the hospital about 10 days for it... later I found out that taking extra vitamin E prior to birth helped with jaudince...

but in the good old days... infant morality was terribly high.... we are blessed with many items that help our children grow to adulthood...

btw... the son born early... today is 19... and weighs about 180 lbs. and 6' tall...:grin:

[Darkangel]

HA,HA. Back in the early 70's there was a TV show called "Emergency" In one episode they had a early child birth , in bad weather. They made a incubater out of a drawer, hot water bottle, blankets, and a plastic cover for the top. Three weeks after that episode aired, one of our teams went out in a snow storm and did the same thing. Got their photos on the front page of the Des Moines Register, Gawd, they were famous.
Good old memories
DA