Dad bonds with his baby in NICU with words and songs

Dan Yashinsky shares his story telling in the NICU for baby Jacob on Tapestry. Starts at 1 minute 30 seconds.

"I had this very strong feeling that this may be the only time I would ever get to sing to this son of ours. I just said 'look, I know I am probably not supposed to, and I will be real gentle, but I am not letting my son leave until he has heard a lullaby and he's been rocked'. So I reached in ... maybe a half millimeter each way and just rocked him a tiny bit, and I sang lullabies. I sang 'Dance to your daddy, my little laddie, dance to your daddy, my little boy'.... It was the song I sang to his older brother. He made it through the first night. And I still remember the doctor, a dark haired Irish woman, was explaining this and explaining that to me and I just keeled over. I fainted."

Dan bonded with his son with family stories, songs, lullabies, rhymes and even hours of Chaucer that he had once memorized. "I felt like I was trying to persuade him not to die." He offers a simple aid to parents and especially Dads struggling with hope and fear at the isolette or bedside in those confusing first days when staff seem to do all the care. Share your voice. Offer your baby words and songs as an alternate soundtrack to the beeps and ICU noises. The Sickkids NICU has books to read to your kids, ask a nurse or social worker.