Crochet Octopus For Premature Babies

I am glad to know it has touched so many people.

Crochet octopus for premature babies.

Hospital staff observed that the premature babies grasped the curly tentacles of the octopus instead of pulling at their tubes. Octo project is a worldwide project that has crafters help preemies thrive by crocheting octopuses for babies in the nicu. The theory is that the curly tentacles mimic the umbilical cord and comfort the baby. Octopus for a preemie the group started by making 40 octopuses a month for southampton hospital using a pattern that followed advice from british trading standards using 100 cotton yarn and filling them with high quality filling that can withstand 60 degree washing for infection control.

Octopus for preemies 2 0 free crochet pattern and video tutorial octo project. It s basic amigurumi all you need to know is some basic stitches and all the other stuff will be explained in the pattern. 5 41892 make this sweet octopus for preemies and give it away for the good cause. The tentacles of the octopus resemble the umbilical cord and remind babies of the womb and comfort.

Thanks to poole hospital s neonatal intensive care unit nicu your favorite hobby can be put to good use by making these adorable sea creatures to help comfort premature babies. It promotes motor development and sensory stimulation which every baby benefits from. What an amazing thought. This is a modified crochet pattern by anastasia popova to the original octo project pattern.

This amazing idea of giving preemies a crochet octopus originally started in denmark where doctors observed premature babies with their crocheted octos. Crocheters all around the world are making these cute creatures to accompany prematurely born children in hospitals. I am blown away by the response to my initial post and video about the octo project. A few years ago in denmark a father asked for a crocheted octopus for his baby.

Written by anastasia on march 4 2017 posted in free patterns toys. To raise awareness for world prematurity day the hospital is calling upon avid crocheters to help create small octopuses for all premature babies born in the hospital. This crochet designer points out that while the crochet octopus is particularly good for nicu preemies it s also a good toy for other babies as well. The babies that cuddled their octopus had overall health improvements with their breathing regular heartbeat strong oxygen blood levels and were less bothered by the various monitors and ivs.