We are SuperDinky and we make the most joyful beautiful organic tiny premature baby vests. Over the past 5 years we are so incredibly thankful and grateful to have dressed over 600+ premature babies and given their families a little moment of joy.

Why it matters

Its hard to express just how much dressing your baby means when you've had such a traumatic start to their life. It really means absolutely everything. 

I am 6 years out from my prematurity journey starting and my chest still tightens around my heart when i think of the first few days and weeks of my babies life. I will never forget how scared and hopeless and helpless I felt as a mother; freshly postpartum, In shock and unable to hold my baby or even know which was mine in a room of incubators. 

There is a reason why NICU parents (I use this term to include premature and poorly term babies) suffer from postnatal depression and PTSD at a disproportionate rate. When our baby is born poorly or early instead of happy newborn cuddles they are whisked away from us for medical resuscitation/ checks or life-saving support. 

We agonise about things which parents should NEVER have to think about.. will my baby die? will they need multiple operations?  How can i be a parent to my baby when they are hooked up to so many tubes and wires and look like a tiny broken bird?  Did I fail my baby? Is this all my fault?  (spoiler, it really isn't!)

So when your baby is medically stable enough to wear clothes and you are their parent can dress them, its a HUGE deal. It can be the first time you feel like you are actually a parent. Or that there will be life after NICU. 

"I cried the first day I saw my boy in clothes because it just felt more normal. It sounds really weird but it made him seem more human? A reminder that he was in fact my baby"

Our Mission (and how we got there) 

Our mission is to support NICU families with moments of joy and connection. 

In 2020 alongside Beth (a neonatal nurse who cared for my baby) we started making premature baby clothes. The are especially designed for preemies with wrap designs for ease of access for skin to skin and cares. 

The vests are made from super soft joyful organic cotton and initially we intended to sell them directly to NICU families (which we still do) but the majority of our orders are for our GIFT YOUR NICU service. We run a big appeal at Christmas and Mother's Day to gift families who are having a really hard time, emotionally or financially. 

When you use our Gift your NICU service you are sending a message to the family that receives it.

You are not alone. We have been in your shoes. We see you. we see you showing up day after day, pumping all night without a baby at home, crying as you exit the hospital each day without a baby. We see your pain. And we send you hope. Hope and community and connection. 

We are working as hard as we can to reach NICU families but we cant do it alone. I've thought of 8 ways in which you can help. Some are free. I really really hope you will pick one to do because there are 90,000 babies in NICU in the UK every year and if you have been in that situation, you'll know how much small acts of kindness can mean.

7 ways you can help us reach NICU Families

1.

If your little one has a birthday coming up, ask for gifts of NICU vests instead of toys and ask them to put the child's name in the order box. We did this recently for Maeve's first birthday and she gifted some beautiful vests to BWH. (thank you Maeve!) 

 

2.

Do a sponsored buggy walk. Codie raised over £500 last winter which mean she could dress the ENTIRE ward of NICU babies in SuperDinky at Bolton (thank you Codie!) 

 

3.

Subscribe on pay day to 'GIFT YOUR NICU' each month and know that ever single pay day you will be helping a NICU family to have a moment of JOY (thank you to Laureanna, Jayne, Liz, Matt & Jessica) 

4.

GIFT YOUR NICU whenever you can. Maybe you can't monthly but you'd like to at certain times; your child's birthday, Mother's Day, Christmas, random acts of kindness day (thank you Celia!)

5.

Share our story everywhere! If you are in any mum or parenting facebook groups (the motherload and similar ones) any parenting WhatsApp groups, any NICU focused support groups, please tell people about Gift Your NICU, direct people to our website and ask them to sign up to our newsletter. 

 

 

6.

Sponsor our overheads. The hard reality is that even though we don't have any paid staff, it still costs money to run a small business. We have website costs, email hosting, bis insurance, accountant, stock, sewing, printing costs etc. Any help with this would help us to get more vests to babies! 

7.

Partner with us. If you own a business or are part of an organisation which makes grants (Lions club? Rotary club?), you can help us gift vests to your local hospital as part of your CSR. There are 90,000 babies in NICU every year. You can help us make a real difference to their journeys. 

Thank you

I really hope you believe in what we do and want to help us. Please send me an email if so at lorna@superdinky.com or DM on instagram and I will support your effort in whatever way I can (providing quotes/ photos/sharing on instagram if you tag us etc) 

Thank you for reading, 

With love,

Lorna & *Beth

Preemie-mum & neonatal nurse

(I include Beth because she is on leave but she is the heart of everything we do)

P.S. Click this link to read more about  GIFT YOUR NICU