The Danish Octo Book: How to make comforting crochet toys for babies - the official guide. Литагент HarperCollins USD

      All members of the group – including the main coordinators, ambassadors and webmasters – are volunteers, individuals with a burning desire to make a difference to the lives of premature babies and their families. As well as the core group itself, volunteers crochet and knit cute squids and jellyfish before sending them to the ambassadors.

      The group’s work consists of collecting and then washing and packing the Octos before delivering them to neonatal units. A stay at a neonatal unit is often long, and marked with progress and setbacks. A playful, colourful Octo can bring vibrancy to a harsh, clinical incubator and give some much-needed encouragement to the baby’s family.

      Over twenty-two thousand Octos have already been donated to hospitals across Denmark.

Why newborns love Octos

      Most newborns will benefit from having their subconscious nervous system soothed – and that goes for both full-term babies and premature births. The subconscious nervous system controls their blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing and digestion, so it’s essential to their survival.

      Premature babies in particular often experience stress or pressure on this system and need soothing. This is often attributed to their senses being more delicate, because they’re not ‘fully baked’. Not only that, these babies are often exposed to unpleasant stimuli, such as bleeping monitors, and necessary but painful procedures such as blood tests. These children are often unable to experience skin-to-skin contact with mum or dad, something that is usually both comforting and calming.

      We can help these newborns by stimulating and soothing their nervous systems, and in this way we can steer the nervous system into regulating itself more appropriately. That’s why it is useful to know about our three primary senses:

       The vestibular sense – works a little bit like a spirit level. It is located within the inner ear and registers any head movements. There are three semi-circular canals, each stimulated by turning, jumping and swinging movements respectively.

       Proprioception – found in all our muscles and joints. This sense registers movement throughout the body – whether we are bending or extending a joint – what force we are using and determines the body’s position in space.

       Touch – a sense felt all over our skin and in mucus membranes. It registers temperature, pressure, pain and contact. We use this sense to ‘feel the world’ and it helps us, among other things, to determine what is dangerous for the body to touch, and what isn’t.