Abstract:
An infant sleeper used to cover an infant in a medical setting. The sleeper has non-continuous fasteners that allow medical personnel and caregivers access to the infant&#39;s body for the purposes of attaching medical equipment, medical checkups and general caregiving.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Infants in medical settings such as neonatal intensive care units (NICU) and hospital nurseries are often connected to external medical instrumentation such as heart monitors, temperature monitors, intravenous lines, respirators, catheters and feeding tubes which means the infants have attachments and devices running from the external machines to their bodies. While in the medical setting, protocols mandate that the infants undergo regular checks, including checks on external attachments and devices used by the various medical instrumentation. For example, intravenous sites must be checked frequently to ensure the sites are not leaking, infected or swollen. In addition to medical checks, routine infant care such as diaper changes must be performed on a regular basis. To accommodate the necessity of medical personnel having frequent access to the infants&#39; bodies, skin and diapers, most infants are placed in NICU bassinets or beds with minimal or no clothing. Most of the infants in medical settings are clothed only in a diaper. 
     Remaining unclothed, however is not the optimal condition for the infants. Medically fragile infants, and many infants in general, have a difficult time regulating their own body temperature. Clothing, especially warm full body coverings, aid the infants in keeping warm and preventing cold stress by trapping body heat. In turn, when clothed the infants no longer expend calories keeping warm, and instead gain weight quicker which potentially leads to shorter hospital stays. Having the infants in clothing also helps the parents bond in a positive way when they visit the babies, which aids the infants&#39; overall health and welfare. 
     Thus a need exists for an infant garment that covers the infant&#39;s body providing comfort and warmth while allowing access to the infant&#39;s body for medical device maintenance and monitoring and routine infant care. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to one aspect of the invention, a fabric infant sleeper is provided which is optimized for use in medical environments. The sleeper has an upper right front panel, an upper left front panel, a lower front panel and a rear panel which are joined together such that the medical practitioner has access to areas of the infant that are key to the infant&#39;s medical and general care. The access is accomplished by providing separable seams formed with non-continuous fasteners, including without limitation snaps, buttons or hook-and-loop closures in addition to sewn or otherwise fused or joined continuous seams. Specifically the upper right front panel is joined to the rear panel by seams along the side and possibly the sleeve bottom, and non-continuous fasteners along the shoulder and possibly the sleeve top. The upper left front panel is also joined to the rear panel by seams along the side and possibly the sleeve bottom, and non-continuous fasteners along the shoulder and possibly the sleeve top. In addition, the upper left and right front panels are joined to each other by non-continuous fasteners. The lower front panel is joined to the rear panel by seams on the bottom of the legs and in between the leg portions and non-continuous fasteners along a portion of either side and is joined to the upper panels by non-continuous fasteners. The non-continuous fasteners provide possible openings on both shoulders of the infant, between the upper right and left upper panels, between the right and left upper panels and the lower front panel and between the rear panel and lower front panel allowing tubes and wires to traverse the space between the infant and the medical device 
     The present invention provides an advantage to other infant sleepers or clothes that do not provide the full range of accessibility for various medical devices. In addition, the present invention provides an advantage to the infant wearing no clothes by providing protection for the infant&#39;s skin, preventing cold stress leading to quicker weight gain and promoting bonding between the infant and the infant&#39;s parents. Furthermore, the openings in the sleeper allow the parents to hold the baby chest to chest in a kangaroo care technique, while still allowing the baby to remain warm and protected. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Further aspects of the invention and their advantages can be discerned in the following detailed description, in which like characters denote like parts and in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a front view of an infant wearing a sleeper according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view of a rear panel of the sleeper shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 2A  is a detail view of a second embodiment of the sleeper showing buttons and button holes; 
         FIG. 2B  is a detail view of a third embodiment of the sleeper showing hook and loop closures; 
         FIG. 3  is a plan view of the upper right front panel of the sleeper shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view of the upper left front panel of the sleeper shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a plan view of the lower front panel of the sleeper shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is detail showing the hand pocket; 
         FIG. 7  is a view of the infant sleeper shown in  FIG. 1 , illustrating various claims; and 
         FIG. 8  is a view of the infant sleeper of  FIG. 1 , illustrating certain bottom closures. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present invention provides a sleeper for use by an infant in a medical setting such as an NICU or hospital nursery. In the illustrated embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , a sleeper indicated generally at  100  is preferably made from a soft fleece material. The sleeper  100  may also be made from cotton fabric, polyester blend fabric, or a flame retardant fabric. The front of the sleeper  100  has an upper right panel  102  and an upper left panel  104  which may extend to form sleeves. The front of the sleeper has a lower panel  106  to fit the lower part of the infant&#39;s body. In this specification, “left” and “right” refer to the frame of reference of the wearer rather than that of the figures. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the rear panel of the sleeper, shown generally at  200 , has right top margin  202 , a left top margin  204 , and a neck margin  218  in between the right top margin  202  and the left top margin  204 . The rear panel  200  also has an upper right margin  206 , an upper left margin  214 , a lower right margin  208  extending downwardly from the upper right margin  206 , and a lower left margin  212  extending downwardly from the upper left margin  214 . An inside margin  210  extends between the lower right  208  and lower left  212  margins. In addition, some embodiments may include a rear left sleeve section  224  and a rear right sleeve section  226 . In the embodiments with sleeve sections, there may be hand pockets  216  adjacent the hand openings  222 . As seen in  FIG. 2 , non-continuous fasteners  220  are disposed in spaced relation with each other along the right top margin  202 , the top left margin  204 , the lower left margin  212  and the lower right margin  208 . The non-continuous fasteners  220  are preferably snaps but may also be hook-and-loop closures  223  (such as Velcro®; See  FIG. 2B ), buttons  221  and button holes  219  (See  FIG. 2A ) or any other connecting apparatus that does not create a continuous joined seam when implemented. 
     The upper right front panel of the sleeper is shown generally as  102  in  FIG. 3 . The upper right front panel  102  has a top margin  302 , neck margin  306  and a bottom margin  304 . A right margin  308  extends between the top  302  and bottom  304  margins and a left margin  310  extends between the neck margin  306  and the bottom margin  304 . The neck margin  306  extends leftward from the right top margin  302 . Some embodiments may have an upper right sleeve section  312 . Non-continuous fasteners  220  are disposed along the top margin  302 , left margin  310 , and bottom margin  304 . 
     The sleeper has an upper left front panel generally shown at  104  in  FIG. 4 . The upper left panel  104  can be a mirror image of the upper right panel  102 . The upper left front panel  104  has a top margin  402 , neck margin  406  and a bottom margin  404 . A left margin  408  extends between the top margin  402  and bottom margin  404  and a right margin  410  extends between the neck margin  406  and the bottom margin  404 . The neck margin  406  extends rightward from the left top margin  402 . Some embodiments may have an upper left sleeve section  412 . Several non-continuous fasteners  220  are disposed along the top margin  402 , right margin  410 , and bottom margin  404 . 
     The lower front panel of the sleeper is shown generally at  106  in  FIG. 5 . The lower front panel  106  has a top margin  502 , a right margin  506 , a left margin  504  and an inside margin  508 . The inside margin  508  extends between the right margin  506  and the left margin  504 . The top margin  502  extends between the right margin  506  and the left margin  504 . Non-continuous fasteners  220  are disposed in the top margin  502 , right margin  506  and left margin  504 . 
     The sleeper  100  is formed by attaching the upper right front panel  102 , upper left front panel  104 , lower front panel  106  and rear panel  200  to each other. The right margin  308  of the upper right front panel  102  is joined to the upper right margin  206  of the rear panel  200  by a seam. Non-continuous fasteners, rather than a seam, join the right top margin  302  of the upper right front panel  102  to the right top margin  202  of the rear panel  200 . In embodiments that include an upper right sleeve section  312  and a rear right sleeve section  226 , the non-continuous fasteners  220  would extend over the right shoulder and the right arm of the infant. The non-continuous fasteners  220  give the medical caregiver easy access to the infant&#39;s right arm for tests and the placement of intravenous lines. The space between inside the sleeve section  312  would be wide enough to accommodate an IV board as shown in  FIG. 1 . In addition, the non-continuous fasteners  220  have openings in between them through which tubes and wires can traverse the space between the infant and the medical device, while leaving the baby covered and warm. (See  FIG. 1 ) The sleeper  100  also provides a heel slit  108  through which medical devices can be attached to the infant&#39;s foot. As shown the heel slit  108  is on the right foot of the sleeper but it may be on either foot or both feet. 
     A plurality of non-continuous fasteners  220  join the left margin  310  of the upper right front panel  102  to the right margin  410  of the upper left front panel  104  thereby covering the upper front portion of the body of the infant. The non-continuous fasteners  220  give the medical caregiver easy access to the infant&#39;s chest for performing medical checks including checking vital organs, for medical tests and procedures and for the placement of sensors and measuring devices. Once again, the non-continuous fasteners  220  allow for medical equipment that requires access to the infant&#39;s upper body to be positioned while the infant can remain covered and warm—only the area requiring medical attention will be exposed to the outside air. 
     Non-continuous fasteners  220  also join the bottom margin  304  of the upper right front panel  102  to the top margin  502  of the lower front panel  106  to cover a lower front portion of the body of the infant. The non-continuous fasteners  220  provide easy access to the infant&#39;s umbilical area. 
     The upper left front panel  104  is connected to the rear panel  200  and the lower front panel  106  similar to how the upper right front panel  102  is jointed to the rear panel  200  and the lower front panel  106 . The left margin  408  of the upper left front panel  104  is joined to the upper left margin  214  of the rear panel  200  by a seam. Non-continuous fasteners  220  join the left top margin  402  of the upper left front panel  104  to the left top margin  204  of the rear panel  200 . In embodiments that include an upper left sleeve section  412  and a rear left sleeve section  224 , the non-continuous fasteners  220  would extend over the right shoulder and the right arm of the infant. Non-continuous fasteners  220  join the bottom margin  404  of the upper left front panel  104  to the top margin  502  of the lower front panel  106  to cover the lower front portion of the infant. 
     Finally, non-continuous fasteners  220  join the right margin  506  of the lower front panel  106  to the lower right margin  208  of the rear panel  200 . Additionally, non-continuous fasteners  220  join the left margin  504  of the lower front panel  106  to the lower left margin  212  of the rear panel  200  while the inside margin  508  of the lower front panel  106  is joined to the inside margin  210  of the rear panel  200  by a seam. The combination of the non-continuous fasteners  220  at the top margin  502  of the front lower panel  106  and the non-continuous fasteners  220  at the lower right margin  506  and lower left margin  504  of the front lower panel  106  allow for easy access to the infant&#39;s lower body. Diaper changes may be accomplished with this accessible area. 
       FIG. 7  shows the sleeper  100  in its fully configured state with some of the accessibility features of the sleeper deployed. The left top margin  204  of the rear panel  200  is partially separated from the top margin  302  of the upper right front panel  102  thereby providing access to the infant&#39;s right arm and shoulder. The left margin  310  of the upper right front panel  102  is separated from the right margin  410  of the upper left front panel  104  which provides access to the infant&#39;s chest area. Finally, the bottom margins  304 ,  404  of both the upper right front panel  102  and the upper left front panel  104  are detached from the top margin  502  of the lower front panel  106  providing access to the infant&#39;s umbilical area and facilitating diaper changes. 
       FIG. 8  shows the sleeper&#39;s accessibility for diaper changes. Here, the infant&#39;s upper body is fully covered by the upper right front panel  102  and the upper left front panel  104 . However, the top margin  502  of the lower front panel  106  is detached from the lower margins  304 ,  404  of both the upper right front panel  102  and the upper left front panel  104 . In addition, the right margin  506  of the lower front panel  106  is detached from the lower left margin  212  of the rear panel  200  and the left margin  504  of the lower front panel  106  is detached from the lower right margin  208  of the rear panel. The infant&#39;s diaper can then be changed by only removing the bottom of the infant from the sleeper  100 . 
     In embodiments that have right and left sleeves, hand pockets  216  may be disposed on the rear left sleeve section  224  and the rear right sleeve section  226  adjacent to the hand openings  222 . These hand pockets  216  are designed to be folded over the infant&#39;s hands as shown in  FIG. 6 . The hand pockets  216  prevent the infant from removing tubes and lines, scratching him or herself and provide additional warmth and protection for the infant&#39;s hands. 
     In summary, an infant sleeper  100  has been shown and described which allows for access to medical equipment and other infant care, provides covering and warmth to the infant in medical situations, and helps promote bonding between the parents and infant. While illustrated embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated in the appended drawings, the present invention is not limited thereto but only by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.