Bonding Squares for premature babies
As I wrote in my last post, about knitting blankets for premature babies, there is quite a demand in UK hospitals for blankets, tiny baby clothes, and also bonding squares. I had not heard of bonding squares until I started reading about knitting for premature babies. I joined a useful Facebook group, and they provide both instructions and some explanations.
Bonding squares are knitted in identical pairs, usually square in shape, around 10-12.5cm square (that's four or five inches). They are used when, for any reason, a mother must be separated from her baby. This happens most often when a baby is premature. There is evidence for the vital importance of 'bonding' in the earliest hours after a baby's birth, when he or she gets to know the mother's scent. This works both ways; the baby's scent is an important part of the trigger for the mother to produce milk.
Normally mother and baby would spend a lot of time cuddling, including some skin-to-skin contact, and the bonding by scent happens naturally. But a tiny or sick baby may have to be in a special incubator, and this is where bonding squares come in. One is given to the mother, and the other to the baby. The baby will have it to lie the head on, and the mother will also keep hers close. Every four to six hours, they are switched, so each becomes familiar with the other's scent.
Bonding squares don't take long and can be made in any pattern so long as there are no holes. A beginner knitter could simply knit without any purl or other pattern to produce suitable squares. They can also be crocheted.
The number of stitches needed depends on the size of needles, and the pattern used. I have learned from experience that on 4mm needles, using double knitting yarn, I need between 24 and 30 stitches for around 12.5cm, and I have to knit about 36-40 rows. Some patterns require multiples of three, or eight, sometimes with one or two extras - so it's impossible to give an exact number.
I had tried knitting some earlier in the year, but they were too big so, as explained in the previous post, I sewed them together to form a blanket. However, on returning to Cyprus, I learned from a friend that babies are more often separated from their mothers routinely. She was visiting someone whose baby was being kept away from her, so I quickly knitted some bonding squares, in the hope that they might help.
After that, I knitted a pair or two each week for about three months until the weather became too warm for much knitting. I had to keep the cats well away, of course; babies cannot have any allergens nearby. I wasn't sure if local babies would need more, but knew I could send some to UK hospitals next time I'm there.
I decided to experiment with as many different patterns as I could find. The Facebook group has several suggestions, and I found one or two others elsewhere, and adapted a few myself. Since my first pair was blue, I thought I would do a pink set in basket weave stitch, which is one of my favourite styles. It doesn't need a border, and the effect is quite pretty:
I then started a pair in ordinary rib, wondering how that would work. They don't take much wool, but unfortunately, half way through the first one, I realised I would not have sufficient yarn for the pair. So I decided to do a two-toned effect:
It was the turn of pink again - while I am not a fan of matching colours to genders of babies, a lot of people liked to do so. I did this pair in double moss stitch, a stitch I find very easy to do in company (unlikes some of the more complex ones!).
I still had plenty of the dark pink, and decided to try a pattern with a raised heart in the middle, which I found on the Ravelry site. It didn't come out square, although I knitted some extra rows once I'd realised it was wider than the height. And as a plain knitted border was needed to stop the stocking stitch part curling, it wasn't entirely even. Perhaps that's my knitting tension at fault. Still, the effect was rather nice:
I decided to adapt this pattern a bit to make a diamond shape around the edge and in the middle; the outside part was quite effective, although again it wasn't particularly even, but the middle bit didn't work too well. I don't suppose a newborn baby would mind, but I decided not to repeat this idea.
My next effort was a diagonal moss stitch pattern which I found on the Facebook group. I quite liked this, although it was hard to keep track of where I was and I had to back-track a few times:
I then tried the leaf stitch pattern, which was even more complicated - not one I could have done with anyone else in the room! I liked it, but thought it perhaps a bit over-fussy.
Back to a simple moss stitch for my next pair:
Then I thought I would do the diamond effect style, another pattern from the Facebook group. I realised it would curl so I made a border, and was pleased that it turned out reasonably even:
Caterpillar stitch was the next one I tried - another one that was tricky to keep track of. Again, it needed a plain knitted border. This picture doesn't really show the detail:
This is what it was like close up:
Next I followed another pattern, a simpler 'waffle stitch' which I had tried before with a blanket.
I didn't take photos of all of them, but those were the main different patterns I tried out. I think I'll be sticking to double moss, waffle stitch and basket weave for most of my future bonding squares.
We're soon flying to the UK, so I gathered up all I had done - thirteen in all, in addition to the blue ones which I had already given away.
Three of them had turned out slightly larger than the 5 inches/12.5 cm required by UK hospitals, so I kept those for my friend in Cyprus who visits newborn babies, and will be sending the other ten sets to the relevant contact on the Facebook group.
Bonding squares are knitted in identical pairs, usually square in shape, around 10-12.5cm square (that's four or five inches). They are used when, for any reason, a mother must be separated from her baby. This happens most often when a baby is premature. There is evidence for the vital importance of 'bonding' in the earliest hours after a baby's birth, when he or she gets to know the mother's scent. This works both ways; the baby's scent is an important part of the trigger for the mother to produce milk.
Normally mother and baby would spend a lot of time cuddling, including some skin-to-skin contact, and the bonding by scent happens naturally. But a tiny or sick baby may have to be in a special incubator, and this is where bonding squares come in. One is given to the mother, and the other to the baby. The baby will have it to lie the head on, and the mother will also keep hers close. Every four to six hours, they are switched, so each becomes familiar with the other's scent.
Bonding squares don't take long and can be made in any pattern so long as there are no holes. A beginner knitter could simply knit without any purl or other pattern to produce suitable squares. They can also be crocheted.
The number of stitches needed depends on the size of needles, and the pattern used. I have learned from experience that on 4mm needles, using double knitting yarn, I need between 24 and 30 stitches for around 12.5cm, and I have to knit about 36-40 rows. Some patterns require multiples of three, or eight, sometimes with one or two extras - so it's impossible to give an exact number.
I had tried knitting some earlier in the year, but they were too big so, as explained in the previous post, I sewed them together to form a blanket. However, on returning to Cyprus, I learned from a friend that babies are more often separated from their mothers routinely. She was visiting someone whose baby was being kept away from her, so I quickly knitted some bonding squares, in the hope that they might help.
After that, I knitted a pair or two each week for about three months until the weather became too warm for much knitting. I had to keep the cats well away, of course; babies cannot have any allergens nearby. I wasn't sure if local babies would need more, but knew I could send some to UK hospitals next time I'm there.
I decided to experiment with as many different patterns as I could find. The Facebook group has several suggestions, and I found one or two others elsewhere, and adapted a few myself. Since my first pair was blue, I thought I would do a pink set in basket weave stitch, which is one of my favourite styles. It doesn't need a border, and the effect is quite pretty:
I then started a pair in ordinary rib, wondering how that would work. They don't take much wool, but unfortunately, half way through the first one, I realised I would not have sufficient yarn for the pair. So I decided to do a two-toned effect:
It was the turn of pink again - while I am not a fan of matching colours to genders of babies, a lot of people liked to do so. I did this pair in double moss stitch, a stitch I find very easy to do in company (unlikes some of the more complex ones!).
I still had plenty of the dark pink, and decided to try a pattern with a raised heart in the middle, which I found on the Ravelry site. It didn't come out square, although I knitted some extra rows once I'd realised it was wider than the height. And as a plain knitted border was needed to stop the stocking stitch part curling, it wasn't entirely even. Perhaps that's my knitting tension at fault. Still, the effect was rather nice:
I decided to adapt this pattern a bit to make a diamond shape around the edge and in the middle; the outside part was quite effective, although again it wasn't particularly even, but the middle bit didn't work too well. I don't suppose a newborn baby would mind, but I decided not to repeat this idea.
My next effort was a diagonal moss stitch pattern which I found on the Facebook group. I quite liked this, although it was hard to keep track of where I was and I had to back-track a few times:
I then tried the leaf stitch pattern, which was even more complicated - not one I could have done with anyone else in the room! I liked it, but thought it perhaps a bit over-fussy.
Back to a simple moss stitch for my next pair:
Then I thought I would do the diamond effect style, another pattern from the Facebook group. I realised it would curl so I made a border, and was pleased that it turned out reasonably even:
Caterpillar stitch was the next one I tried - another one that was tricky to keep track of. Again, it needed a plain knitted border. This picture doesn't really show the detail:
This is what it was like close up:
Next I followed another pattern, a simpler 'waffle stitch' which I had tried before with a blanket.
I didn't take photos of all of them, but those were the main different patterns I tried out. I think I'll be sticking to double moss, waffle stitch and basket weave for most of my future bonding squares.
We're soon flying to the UK, so I gathered up all I had done - thirteen in all, in addition to the blue ones which I had already given away.
Three of them had turned out slightly larger than the 5 inches/12.5 cm required by UK hospitals, so I kept those for my friend in Cyprus who visits newborn babies, and will be sending the other ten sets to the relevant contact on the Facebook group.
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