When to Call a Doctor After Taking Your Newborn Home from the NICU

Once home, call your baby's doctor if your baby has any of the following:

• Unstable or abnormal temperature — a baby’s normal temperature (armpit) is 97.7° F (36.5° C) to 99.5° F (37.5° C)
• Decreased temperature where baby does not warm up with swaddling and holding
• Sunken fontanels (fontanels are the “soft spots” on a baby’s skull)
• Listlessness or weakness, and baby not very responsive
• Jitteriness or shakiness
• Extreme irritability or inability to be calmed for long periods
• Decrease in appetite
• More than one dry diaper in a row (in about six hours)
• Significantly fewer messy diapers than usual
• Diarrhea, or stool that’s watery, green, foul-smelling, or contains mucus or blood
• Increase in respiratory effort (breathing fast, wheezing, coughing, or having any difficulty breathing)
• Increase in apnea (temporary pauses in breathing) and bradycardia (slow heart rate)
• Bad choking episode
• Vomiting more than occasionally or vomit that is green or bloody
• Increased oxygen needs
• Discoloration of the skin, especially blue, gray, or yellow discoloration
• Thrush (white spots in mouth that look like formula but won’t come off with your finger)