Taking Baby Out

[katyjane]

Our bub is one week old and we are very much feeling our way. We wantedto ask you experienced parents out there about your thoughts regarding how soon should you take your baby out?

[Pixie]

Congratulations on your new baby!

I took my daughter out when she was a few days old but that was a short trip to the shops to get some stuff while I was in hospital!

But I took her out properly when she was about 9 days old just take the baby out when you're ready.

[blueeyes]

I took babe shopping at 7 days, to get the essentials. By three weeks, he had been shopping, visiting relatives and friends, down to Sussex Inlet (nsw south coast) to visit his great grandfather and to checkups.
I was very comfortable with this and babe was good. If he was to get upset (this happened once) I came home. Otherwise they are really easy to take out - it gets worse when they get older.:eek:
Take him when you are ready
Mel

[Niki]

i took ds out about 2wks after, i was to sore to go b4 that time

[SilverStarfish]

Yup, newborns are pretty portable. Just head out when you feel ready. Going with a good friend or another mum can be a help - they know where all the good parent rooms are!

[xkwzit]

As soon as you want. I went out shopping for hours with DH (and DD2) the day after I came home from hospital. For your very first outing, you might want to make it so it can be made short in case you've forgotten something critical or baby hates the pram. I think that it does a world of good for some of us (and babies) to have an excuse to get up, put a face on and get out, even just for a coffee. Just keep being flexible.

Cheers

[Desertress]

I agree with what the other girls have said... go out whenever you feel you are ready but i would suggest making it a trip where it is easy to leave if you need to.

I was out and about the day after ds2 was born... maily because i had to walk ds1 to daycare. It depends on how you are feeling as well.... but i say if you feel ready then go for it.

[Seekrit]

Cobey and I went out on Friday!! :D And yesterday... and we're going shopping tomorrow... and out on Monday again.

Holy **** I'm going to be exhausted.

[Mummy2Amelia]

I took my bub out on our way home from the hospital lol we needed a few things from the supermarket, so off we went, I forgot to take my hospital bracelet off though :o :rolleyes:

But we went on our first proper outing at 2 weeks old:D

[Tannie]

Well - maybe I'm very conservative....but I don't believe that newborn bubs should be exposed to the outside world if at all possible for 6-8 weeks. To give their immune system time to develop a bit........I have avoided taking both my babies out into busy shopping centres and really enclosed "public" areas for at least the first 6 weeks.

There are just so many awful bugs around and people coughing and breathing each others air etc.......if we adults are all gets coughs, colds and flus and we've had a lifetime of exposure to build some resistance........imagine what a "challenge" it is to a newborns system.

This was always a bit of an old wives tale - but I really believe in it. I really hate seeing newborns so exposed to the world.........I love the old fashioned idea of "cocooning" after the birth to give bub time to adjust and mum time to recover as well.
T

[~Danni~]

DD was out three days after she was born (same day we left hospital):p

She has never been sick (in 10 months) and didn't mind being out one bit, slept most of it really

I don't have a problem taking her or our newie out when he comes along at all, I couldn't stand the thought of being 'housebound' for weeks on end....
just me and my opinion though.....:ecomcity:

[FourAngelKisses]

Take baby out whenever you are ready. They have an inbuilt immune system, so they are pretty protected from everything for the first few weeks. Mine were all out grocery shopping the day we got home from hospital. :)

[Tannie]

Oh - clarification! I went out - just didn't take the newborn with me!!! :smiliedance:
T

[tyler's mum]

i dont understand why people feel they shouldnt take there new born out:confused: when we left the hosp we when shopping before even goin home i couldnt wait to take her out and show her off,, i reckon the frist 2weeks we were hardly home but i guess each to there own:thumbsup:

[Tannie]

I just feel it's safer healthwise............is no one else worried about the exposure to bugs etc? I'm no cleanfreak & I'm not paranoid either..........but have you ever seen any of the studies on the bugs and cleanliness of shopping centres etc? Frightening - they are filthy :no:
I just don't think a newborn has had time to develop any immunity to many bugs and is already being overwhelmed just through being out of the womb and into the outside world. If anyone with a chest infection was to cough near my newborn - I'd be quite worried......
T

[tyler's mum]

i dont read books or studies about what i should or shouldnt do, like a said each to there own but you cant wrap your baby up in cotton wool i think a baby can get sick no matter if they are home, the shops or where ever,,

[Tannie]

I don't "wrap my babies in cotton wool" but I also think I use my common sense on this one and there are just too many "unknowns" about newborns and child physical and mental health in general for me to feel comfortable exposing my bubs to such overwhelming environments when they are so young. They have come from a completely sterile, constant environment and are already coping with so much stimulation to their senses as well as exposure to millions of new microorganisms each day.....I see it as vital to physical and mental health for children to be in safe, calm and non-stressful environment.....I don't believe it's being overprotective - I believe it's sensible.
I knew as soon as I said what I said people would say "you're too overprotective"!!
I do read a bit about child development & child health etc and I am a big follower of Baby Whisperer philosophy and techniques. Hence, I also think that whilst I wouldn't like to try get quality sleep in the middle of shopping centres or be rushed about all the time - why would my baby like it and be okay with it? Why do people think it's okay for a baby to have to sleep etc in these sorts of conditions when they would never expect it of themself? they have perfectly normal hearing, they can see, smell, feel and a much heightened startle reflex -so they dont get good sleep in noisy, disruptive enviroments and to me - sleep and babies is vital for keeping them calm, healthy and happy.......from day 1. They know that babies need at least 16 hours of quality sleep a day, so I simply try in those first months to create an environment that allows them to get quality sleep and basically just eat, sleep, poo and have a bit of a look around from time to time. That's about all they need in those first months IMO......imagine how it is from their point of view?

Only a matter of an "eyeblink" ago in evolutionary terms, we all lived within the same little community / tribe of people our entire lifes. We were exposed to very few "foreign" micro organisms or people.........I read somewhere that the average daily newspaper has as much "information" in it (if you were to read it cover to cover) as a farmer recieved into his brain in an entire lifetime 500 yrs ago :eek: Talk about information overload eh?!!

That's why I think what I do & btw - both my girls are very healthy too.

I know it's each to their own and mums have to get out and have necessary jobs to do etc..........but personally, I am shocked at how many people take very young babies into enclosed public environments and everytime I see it, it does make me worry for that baby's health.
T

[FourAngelKisses]

In response to the sleep thing, babies can sleep when there is a vacuum cleaner going right next to their head, so a shopping centre would be nothing compared to that. If you don't expose them to these every day noises and you tip toe around the house when they are sleeping, you will find that every little sound will wake them up when they are a few months old and they wont get any sleep at all.

[Tannie]

Both my kids are good sleepers....I certainly don't tiptoe around my house and my comments are mostly in relation to NEWBORNS, not older babies...obviously children need exposure to the outside world to develop their immune systems.......but at 1-2-3 weeks of age? I don't believe so - I think it's dangerous to their health. They have enough to contend with in those first months.

...the vaccum cleaner etc is useful cause it sounds like the noise they are used to inutero......shopping centres are full of a variety of noises, which constantly change as you walk around, smells etc that are ever changing as well......the thump, thump from music shops, the noises of other people etc. It's a very different env then they are used to - physically, emotionally and sleepwise.

I've got to admit - more then once when I've seen a little baby screaming their lungs out in the middle of a shopping centre or "out and about" - whilst I have no idea of their circumstances of course, I have often wanted to say 'just take the poor baby home to some peace and quiet - give them a cuddle and a feed and let them get some quality sleep in a quality environment"...........seems common sense to me.

As a very wise mother of 9 (all grown up, robust and nice kids - very down to earth family) gave me some good advice........basically - you have choices - if you drag your kids around anywhere and everywhere from a young age - then don't expect to have a calm, settled toddler or young child.......they'll be used to constant stimulation and will want it from dawn to dark and won't know how to sleep in a normal house if they're used to dropping off in the carseat, pram all the time and catnapping rather then having proper sleeps. If that's what you feel you want to put with - go for it - but if you want a kid who can sit still, sleeps and eats in relatively regular patterns after a short while.........then it starts at day one" I figured she would know!!

Of course personality plays a huge difference - some kids can handle all that noise and carryon - others can't. but I firmly believe MOST babies need a "constant" environment for a while - those first weeks - they get ample stimulation just from the everyday noises,smells, feelings of air on the skin etc that we don't even notice anymore.

A MCHN I know told me that half the "sleep problems" they encounter are simply related to TOO much stimulation. My experience would tell me - she is right.

T

[FourAngelKisses]

if you drag your kids around anywhere and everywhere from a young age - then don't expect to have a calm, settled toddler or young child

My kids went everywhere with me when they were newborns, simply as I didn't have anyone else to leave them with or watch them for me. If you take them out and about and do it in a routine so that it is the same every day, then they will have good routines, be wonderful sleepers and be very calm and content.
All three of mine are wonderful sleepers and very placid and content. I think it all comes back to their home environment.

[Tannie]

Fair enough - we all have to do what we have to do! I guess too - that because I would worry bout it and stress out about the env - my bubs would pick up on that for sure..........I've gotta admit that going out with a newborn is NOT my idea of a pleasant outing......think I'd rather go to the dentist!! :laughing:
T

[FourAngelKisses]

lol, not me, I'd rather give birth to my 11lb baby again than go to the dentist.

[JATS]

Tom was a few weeks old when FIL took us out to dinner with his new missus. It was noisy and I got a migrane, Tom slept straight through it :rolleyes:

[jessgray]

my ds was about 4 weeks old when we went to my grandma's to see family. it was just a short trip. he was a bit older when he went to the shops.
and he is a calm child and has gone everywhere with me and DP:)

[pookiesossige]

The packaging on my Milton sterilising tablets says that babies are born with full adult immunity- but by 6 weeks this has plummeted to only %35...


So it seems that ppl aren't putting their babies at risk of illness by taking them out till they are 6 weeks old. It's is fine if you need time to recover (I was certainly too sore and tired from a hemorrhage to go out) but it seems that keeping bub home for the first 6 weeks doesn't really have actual health benefits.

My first child wouldn't sleep at home- but putting him in the pram and heading off down the street meant no more screaming, lots of good sleep and one relaxed mum.

Many single mums or those with partners/husbands but without much support at the time of birth have no choice in the matter and you WILL see them out with their babies- you still need to buy food, do the banking and take your kids to kindy when you've just have a baby. I'm lucky with this and have good support but sadly some people don't get a break when they have a baby.

[tyler's mum]

i use my common sense aswell i dont think there is anything wrong with a new mum wanting to take there baby every where with them tyler was 4months old before i when to the shops with out her,, im a single mum i have very bad pnd and it was not a good thing for me to stay lock up in the house in case tyler got sick:confused:

that may make me sound like a bad mother,, but everything i do is for tyler she was 5months old before she got sick for the frist time with a flu

everyone has there own believes and what is right and wrong i dont think any mother should be told what they are doin is wrong unless they are doin something that will harm there baby

[xkwzit]

Back on topic:

Our bub is one week old and we are very much feeling our way. We wantedto ask you experienced parents out there about your thoughts regarding how soon should you take your baby out?

Please share your own experiences - you do not need to attack anothers' experience or point of view. Everyone has different ideas and this is one of the things we love about the hub.

Cheers

[sare]

You'll know when you are ready. Like everyone has said it will depend on how sore you are and how your baby is. We took dd out for her first trip to the shops when she was 6 days old. I think she has spent most of her life at various shopping centres and she loves it. I am the type of person who would go stir crazy cooped up inside all day, but I did try and get a balance between going out and beginning to set up a routine for dd.

[Tannie]

The packaging on my Milton sterilising tablets says that babies are born with full adult immunity- but by 6 weeks this has plummeted to only %35...

Yes - true - however, the bub is only immune to what the mother has "handed over" in her system. Bub is no more immune to the general world then mum at this point AND bub has no experience in fighting off infection, virus's etc, unlike mum whose system is fully developed and has had a lifetime of "practice" so to speak. As i understand it - babies are born and are pretty much safe in their own environment - with mum & close family cause exposure to these people has been established via the mothers system...............but exposure to other environments, the general public etc....nuh.

"challenges" to the immune system to build it up ARE a good thing of course (that's how it's done) but just the usual exposure to friends dropping by and the outside world when going for walks and short trips here-n-there is IMO enough for those first months. Constant (as in daily) and prolonged exposure (as in hours) in places that are KNOWN to be full of germs "enclosed spaces" so to speak are IMO just increasing the risk that your newborn will be exposed to something they have no resistence to. Hopefully, they could fight it off and obviously many do.........I just prefer to decrease the risk and give my bubs time to get "established" in the outside world before the bombardment starts.

Anyway - whatever I've done must work too, cause both my bubs are very healthy, neither have needed visits to the doctor for being sick and my oldest didn't get her first temp even till a few months ago........she's just getting over her first cold. Both preceeded by her starting 2 days a week at a childcare centre and everyone says that the first 4-6 months in CC this is the "norm"....happens to most kids until they are used to the environment and different people they are mixing with suddenly.

I just think people should think more about what they expose their babies too in the first months especially. I've seen babies bought into hospital wards and sat on beds and floors!!! (I'm a nurse) adn when I've said to the parents "that's not a good idea" they get upset and go "but why? we're just visiting Grandma and she wants a cuddle"...........well - hospitals would ahve to be the most germ infested places around - esp in general medical wards with pts with all sorts of known and unknown illnesses - that's why the pts are IN THERE!!! To willingly put a baby (of any age) within that environment is nuts IMO........but that's just me I guess!
T