The Nucu Multisensory Baby Pad helps the whole family sleep better – and focus on those precious moments of togetherness™. Here’s how the Nucu Pad works.
Let’s start from the beginning
Being born is perhaps the most mind-boggling moment in our lives. After months in the comfort of the womb, we are suddenly thrust into a world full of sound, color, noise, touch, cold and warmth. In mere minutes, we’re introduced to concepts like breathing and gravity.
Being born is a crash course in the realities of life.
In this new world, touch, togetherness and familiar sounds and smells are important sources of comfort for the newborn. They’re the foundation for a lifetime of discovery for the whole family.
What is the Nucu Multisensory Baby Pad?
The Nucu Multisensory Baby Pad is a soothing sleeping pad for babies – from newborns to 6-month-olds.
The Nucu Pad creates a familiar feelscape of sounds and vibrations. The Nucu Pad is designed to support families especially in these moments:
- Getting ready to sleep: When it’s time to sleep, the baby is soothed by the Nucu feelscapes which makes the transition to sleep easier for both the baby and the caregiver.
- Staying asleep: Some phases of sleep are naturally lighter than others. If awakened by noise too early, the baby falls back asleep from brief awakenings with the help of the Nucu Pad.
In a nutshell: Better sleep. Less stress. And more energy to focus on the good things.
Designed in Finland, the Nucu Pad was first piloted in the Oulu University Hospital NICU in 2016. In 2023, the first-generation Nucu Pad was used mainly in scientific collaborations and studies.
Could the Nucu Pad help my family?
Nucu believes in togetherness. There’s nothing like close contact between the baby and the parent. There’s nothing like being present in the moment – and discovering new experiences and the mastery of new skills together.
There are also sleepless nights and sleepless days, especially during the first few months. The Nucu Pad is designed to support the whole family. With better sleep for the baby comes better sleep for everybody.
The Nucu Pad could help you if you’re looking to:
- Make bedtimes less stressful
- Foster a sense of togetherness when you lay the baby down to sleep
- Build and strengthen better sleep patterns as the baby grows
The Nucu Pad is designed mainly for babies up to 6 months old, but some families have been using their Nucu Pad with children as old as 12 months.
How does the Nucu Pad actually work?
The Nucu Pad is a multisensory baby pad. That’s another way of saying that it recreates the feelscape (sounds and vibrations) of the womb to soothe the baby and promote better sleep. Using the Nucu Pad is easy:
- Place the Nucu Pad under the baby mattress topper
- Turn on the Nucu Pad and choose one of the built-in feelscapes (such as wombscape, or rain)
- Adjust the feelscape based on the environment and the mattress
- Lay the baby on the sleep surface with the Nucu Pad underneath
The surface of the first-generation Nucu Pad is built from Finnish birch. The gentle vibrotactile feelscapes are created by purpose-built electronics that resonate through the wood. When the baby is sleeping on the Nucu Pad, they feel the familiar womb-like sounds the same way they did in the womb – with more than one sense.
Is the Nucu Pad safe?
The Nucu Pad is a gentle and safe way to promote better sleep. It has been used in a pilot study in the University of Oulu NICU for several years – to help preemies as young as 6 months.
Built from natural materials, the Nucu Pad is a safe choice for babies and parents. Currently, the Nucu Pad is used in clinical studies to study the effect of multisensory stimulation on babies.
The Nucu Pad is not a medical device. It's not intended to diagnose or treat medical conditions or sleep problems.
What is the science behind the Nucu Pad?
Multisensory stimulation (MSS) especially in premature babies has been found to aid in:
- reducing stress1
- enhancing development2
- improving weight gain3
The Nucu Pad has been used in studies with the University Hospital of Oulu NICU. It’s also being used by families at home through Finnish Children’s Health Clinics.
Where can I get the Nucu Pad?
Nucu is on a journey towards more togetherness. The Nucu Pad is not yet available from the Nucu Store. Join our newsletter to get notified when the Nucu Pad is available to buy.
Sources and references:
1: Sensory Stimulation in the NICU Environment: Devices, Systems, and Procedures to Protect and Stimulate Premature Babies, 2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8146433
2: The Importance of Rhythmic Stimulation for Preterm Infants in the NICU, 2021, https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/8/8/660
3: The effect of multisensory stimulation on weight gain in premature infants admitted to the intensive care unit: A clinical trial study, 2021, https://rjn.com.ro/articles/2021.1/RJN_2021_1_Art-13.pdf
