Discharging very immature preterm infants requires that a normal body temperature can be maintained, complete meals can be drunk while adequately gaining weight and there is no relevant hypoxia/bradycardia. Additional questions include whether to discharge the baby on a home monitor or on caffeine, whether sociomedical aftercare is indicated, how it is nourished and whether an inguinal hernia is operated on immediately or later. According to current data, a sleep recording prior to discharge is not indicated and home monitoring should only be indicated as an alternative to a longer hospital stay, i. e. until relevant cardiorespiratory events have ceased. Without a monitor, no such event should have occurred for at least 4 days prior to discharge. Breastfeeding with a fortifier is optimal for nutrition; this must be promoted practically from birth, e. g. by early skin-to-skin contact and baby-driven feeding. Breast milk supplementation is also often indicated after discharge. Interdisciplinary aftercare is essential to guarantee treatment success and to avoid re-admission. Measures to increase parental competence, such as the newborn individualized care and assessment program (NIDCAP) should be initiated prenatally and immediately postnatally in order to enable an early discharge. Basic immunization should be started in hospital; we recommend palivizumab only for premature infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. An inguinal hernia should be operated on early in the case of descended testicles.