1st Trimester

Bringing LO#1 to sono?

Has anyone brought their first child to a sonogram?  I have my NT Scan this Wednesday morning.  My husband is coming since this will be his first glimpse at our LO.  I'm just wondering if this is something we could bring our DS to.  He is 2 1/2 and very well behaved.  Part of me thinks it will be nice for him to see his new little brother or sister and that it may actually help him understand that there is a baby in mommy's belly if he sees the wand on my stomach and the baby on the screen moving.  Then the other part of me thinks I'm out of my mind and that either way he probably won't understand it.

So I'm curious if anyone else has done this, how old your child was, and what was your experience?

TIA!

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Re: Bringing LO#1 to sono?

  • Does your OB practice allow children in the room?  Mine doesn't, so that might be something you want to check first.
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  • We did. DD did fine. She started getting restless towards the end, but H just took her out to the play area in the waiting room.


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  • imagekestock120:
    Does your OB practice allow children in the room?  Mine doesn't, so that might be something you want to check first.

    Mine doesn't allow children into the room, either. My ultrasound is scheduled for when DS is at preschool. Definitely something to check into so that you can make arrangements for childcare if necessary.

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  • We'll most likely bring DD. 
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  • I have to bring my kids with me at every appt. I don't see a problem especially since you have your DH to care for him while there.

  • We won't.  He will be bored.  He's going to play with his grandma during appointments.

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  • imageDan&Maggie:

    imagekestock120:
    Does your OB practice allow children in the room?  Mine doesn't, so that might be something you want to check first.

    Mine doesn't allow children into the room, either. My ultrasound is scheduled for when DS is at preschool. Definitely something to check into so that you can make arrangements for childcare if necessary.

    Hmm, this never occured to me.  I will definitely call and check.

    Thank you for all the replies!

  • When I scheduled my NT scan, the office gave me several papers that said to NOT bring children to the appointment. They said if you couldn't arrange other childcare, reschedule your appointment. I would consider it for other appointments if the office didn't have a policy against it, but not the NT scan. The tech needs to concentrate to get accurate measurements. 
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  • I won't be. I understand when families have to bring their other children to appointments, but it annoyed me. Then again, I don't really like other people's kids.
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  • I wouldn't bring 2 1/2 year old because he would never be able to sit still for that long.

    Maybe at like 4. But I think 2 1/2 is too young.

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  • I'm bringing my little man with me tomorrow for my scan. I was going to bring him alone but my sis was able to make arrangements to come with me. My hubby is out of the country for work and wouldn't have a choice not to bring my DS. He turned 2 in September. Plus my sis wants to come.
  • If your dr office allows, I think it's totally your call.  Just be aware that they may have to take some images using the vaginal probe (Or as DH and I call it, the dildo cam). That may change your opinion.
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  • We brought him to an elective u/s at 10 weeks (done at an outside provider/not a doctor's office) and again at 30 weeks. They are family friendly and therefore had toys for him to occupy himself with. At the 10 week appointment, he could not have cared less about the baby. He was happy playing with the toys in which they provided.

    At the 30 week, he was slightly more interested, and wanted to lay on the bed with me, which I allowed. He pointed at the large screen, said, "baby brother!" then hopped down to play with the toys once again.

    I would never consider taking him into the OB office, though. I have had ultrasounds with the OB and have always made sure that he had a babysitter, as FI attends the ultrasound appointments with me. An elective ultrasound is different, and most OBs don't allow (or may not have a rule against, but certainly do not want) children in the office.

    The ultrasound room at my OB is also incredibly small, and there is office/medical equipment within DS's reach. I wouldn't want to take the experience away from FI or myself when we'd be having to keep our attention on DS so he wouldn't let his curiosity get the best of him. 

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  • DS will be at all of my appointments and ultrasounds. However, he isn't mobile yet, since he's only 5 months. DH will be there at the ultrasounds and will be able to take DS out of the room if he gets fussy.
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  • DD is 2 1/2 and came with us to our first apppointment, and she was great.  She got to see the baby and hear the baby's heartbeat, and now she plays at home like she's a doctor and she "hears" the heartbeats on her stuffed animals.  She even talks about how cute the new baby is.  Lol.  I think it's a great thing to include her especially since she's 2 1/2, and will be very confused if we simply never talk about it and one day we bring a baby home.  This way when we do talk about the new baby, she can make the connection.

    That being said, we did check to make sure our office allows children and we packed a huge bag of toys and snacks and came fully prepared to occupy her. I also had DH with me, if it had just been me that would be a different story. 

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  • My perinatologists office specifically tells you not to bring kids.  I wouldn't have brought Li anyway, she would have been getting into everything.
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  • I had no idea that some OBs didn't allow children even into the office? I only have 2 choices, go alone and have DH stay with DD or all of us go. We don't have any other childcare options available, so hopefully she is allowed in. I may not have her in for the actual U/S, but I want DH in the office just in case.
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  • Mine will allow you to bring children as long as there is another adult that will take them out of the room if they get loud. They don't want any distractions for the ultrasound tech because, really, ultrasounds aren't for fun. They need to be able to get a good scan.

    I am not taking DS to any of my ultrasounds. If I can't get a sitter, DH will stay with him.


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  • Can we talk more about how your 2 1/2 year old is very well behaved? I think I could use some parenting tips from you.

    My son would likely be a disaster at an appointment so I wouldn't even consider bringing him unless I had no other options.
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  • We brought DS to our first u/s. Our office is fine with it as long as someone is there to hold him.

    That being said. It was not ideal. He is 17 months and isn't a fan of sitting still. I may try to arrange for a friend to watch him for the anatomy scan. We don't have any family around to help out.
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  • imageJET29:
    Can we talk more about how your 2 1/2 year old is very well behaved? I think I could use some parenting tips from you. My son would likely be a disaster at an appointment so I wouldn't even consider bringing him unless I had no other options.

    I laughed at that too. I mean, my kid is well behaved too (well, as well as he can for a 2.5 year old) but if he had to sit still and quiet in a dark room for up to an hour? Nope. Not a chance. He's a toddler.


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  • As a matter of fact, I had to take my 2 1/2 year old to my ultrasound yesterday.  He needed to stay home sick and I didn't have anyone who could watch him.  I HAD to go to this appt (couldn't reschedule) because it was a fetal echocardiogram and needed to be done sooner than later.

    I do have drs that don't allow children, but this one didn't have a policy (that I know of) so I risked it and took him.

    It didn't go so well but it wasn't awful.  He must have thought I was getting hurt by the ultrasound technician, b/c he cried through the whole thing and was pretty much inconsolable.  I had to tell the doctor to ignore him as best he could and to carry on.   

    Yo Gabba Gabba on iPad and snacks help. 

  • Eh, my kid came. He sat quietly in the chair and watched what was going on, then "waved" when his little brother waved on the screen. It depends on your kid.

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  • When I made the appointment I asked if DD could come along. They said it was fine so she's coming. 

    She's pretty laid back and I'm really not worried about behavior bring an issue. We'll bring the iPad for back up if we needed it and worse come to worse... DH can take her into the waiting room.  

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  • We took our 3 1/2 year old DD with us last week. I showed her the ultrasound pictures from my pregnancy with her to show her that the baby wouldn't look like she might expect. I think it is great to involve your child in the process :)
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  • I took my first son to my second babies ultrasound he was about 2 1/2 as well and managed fine, he went to all my appointments and although the waiting room got a little restless for him I think it was nice for him to be there and be involved with the new baby process. I plan on bringing both kids to the next one if I do ever conceive again lol. 
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  • I don't think any one in here is factoring in the unknown. Would you want your child there is something is found wrong or nothing found at all at your ultrasound?
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  • We too DD, she was wonderful!  Loved seeing her baby brother, although she was bummed to learn she was having abrother in stead of a sister, but now she is very nurturing and talks about her baby brother all the time.  I think her "seeing" him on the screen made it very real to her.  It is amazing to see her connection to her brother already developing before he is even born!
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  • Mines more a warning for blended family moms.

    I brought my SS age 6 with me (DH was there too) because we thought it would be good for him and he was excited about his new sibling.  Behavior wise, he was fine. The problem came when, and this wouldn't be an issue if they're all YOUR bios, but we thought we were having a girl, and we found out we were having a boy, then my husband says, "We don't have any boys names."  My SS chimes in "My mom likes ______."  We don't don't get along with his mother AT ALL and the last thing I wanted to hear was her opinion on names or anything else for that matter.  And he wouldn't be quiet about it.  Kinda ruined the appt for me. 


  • My daughter is 8 years old and I brought her. She just happened to have a snow day that day and she really wanted to go. It worked out great.

  • I brought my son, he will be 3 in April. He did great! I made sure to bring him some snacks and some cars to keep him busy. I take him to all my appointments and I think he is starting to make friends with the staff :)
  • I totally agree with one of the below posts...although nobody thinks anything bad will happen, what if something goes wrong with the ultrasound and then you have to deal with your toddler on top of all the other stress. 

     I had a missed AB in 2007.  We went in for our first routine ultrasound at 13 weeks and the baby didn't have a heartbeat.  I can't imagine dealing with that situation with my other child in the room.  I'm now 12 weeks with my 2nd child (3rd pregnancy) and I am considering taking my 5 year old son to the 20 week ultrasound because by that point we will know that most likely everything is okay.  I'm still having some reservations though because I would hate for the worst to happen.  At 5, my son understands what is going on and I would never want him to be involved in a situation where something was wrong with the baby.

    Also, at 2-1/2, honestly, your other child will not know what is going on or remember any of it in the future.  The ultrasound should be a time for you to relax and enjoy your new baby, not to have to stress even the slightesst about your toddler.

  • Obviously not if they do a vaginal one, but regular should be fine, why not!

     

    Dont over think these kinds of things, there will be plenty of time to over think other things soon lol  

  • We brought our 4 year old. He was interested for about 5 minutes, we were there for about an hour. It wasn't a miserable experience, but it was hard to appreciate what was going on when you are also wrangling a very curious and wiggly 4 year old.  I think given the choice, he would have preferred to stay home and play.
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  • Yes! My DD has been to all of them! I have had 4 of them so far. She is part of our family and if I couldn't bring her then I would have change OB's. 
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  • J+MSJ+MS member
    Some of the people in this thread are ridiculous. Anyway, some OB offices don't allow children in their offices because some childhood diseases are teratogenic and pregnancy also weakens the immune system. That being said, my OB gave me permission for my SD to come in the back way for her little sisters a/s and it went fine. 
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  • With twins I had the opportunity to do a handful of sonograms and we decided to bring our 3 year old to one of the 'routine' measurement scans.   He's a typical 3 year old; fidgety, typically bored after 15 minutes of pretty much anything... and twin sonos are about 40-45 minutes.  If we were having just the one major sono we wouldn't have risked the chance that my husband would have to leave early but it turns out he was extremely well behaved.  Understood very well that he couldn't touch or use the machine or get out of his chair and that he needed to talk quietly if he wanted to talk.  

     Does he understand what he saw?  He understands that he saw two babies (maybe- at least he went along with us telling him it was babies) and that I have two babies 'in my belly' but I'm positive that he does not translate the two babies I have to actual babies in the real world.  He might make the connection when we recall the sonogram but it was fun having him there all the same.

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  • Not that young. I brought my 5 1/2 year old to my 20w after telling (not asking...) my dr's office that I was bringing a crowd. My mom came to corral my son and my dh came as well. I didn't think it was fair for him to not get to see the baby, but my son really wanted to come. I left my 2 1/2 year old at home with grandpa.
  • I think you should totally involve you children in the whole process.  My son was almost 3 when we brought him to our ultrasound in October when they found no heartbeat.  At that age they have no idea what's going on.  He never asked about the baby again, and that's that. 

     

    I will bring him to this ultrasound  and don't know why anyone would not.

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