We are all sharing experiences with various NICU's, which shows a great variety
of approaches throughout our country (and the world).  Remember also there can be a wide variety even in one NICU, from nurse to nursse.

A story from my past:  When my son and I shared our NICU experience, 24 years ago, I was not yet even a nursing student.  Yet some of the nurses taught
me how to do everything for my baby (including gavage feeding), waited for me to come into the hospital to do them (if they didn't need immediate doing), and expected me to take as much responsibility as I felt I could handle. Then there
were "those other nurses" who didn't let me touch the baby until they had done
everything that could be done, including weighing my baby before and after each feed.

And they were all doing WHAT WAS BEST FOR BABY!!

 BTW:  Our NICU has a premies bill of rights posted, the first item of which is
to the effect that we expect each baby to participate in his own growth and
healing.

Chanita, In San Francissco