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2nd Trimester
Alyssajoy87
member
What's Your Plan To Keep Baby Healthy?
Alyssajoy87
member
Over on third tri, they were discussing this and I'm curious what you ladies are planning! How do you plan to keep your LO healthy in the midst of cold and flu season?
For us personally, my DH and I may or may not limit visitors to the hospital depending on how this flu season goes and all visitors will be asked to wash their hands before holding or touching our son.
After we get home, DH and I won't be having any visitors at our house for the first few weeks. We also won't be taking our LO out anywhere for the first six weeks other than church and the doctor's office (with the possible exception of the IL's house since they live less than 10 minutes away). When we do take our son to church in those first six weeks, we won't be allowing other people to hold him so he won't be exposed to flu germs prematurely.
Call me overprotective or a biitch, but I want to do everything I possibly can to keep my little boy healthy!
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Re: What's Your Plan To Keep Baby Healthy?
Well, I can't call you either because our plan is even a bit more strict than that but pretty much the same...Visitors in the hospital (if any) will be limited to baby's grandparents and great grandparents maximum. No aunts and uncles, no cousins, no extended family. When we get home, it will be the same rules for the first 2-4wks depending on aunts and uncles health...3/5 are school age and will be carrying all the germs with them which just makes me very uncomfy and the other has 2 little boys who would be coming from daycare--also uncomfy with this so DH and I think its just better to wait a while for all of them.
We will have a meet the baby/baptism reception for everyone about half way through Feb (6-8wks hopefully after baby is born) for everyone including extended family. We haven't told our families yet and are not expecting happiness from anyone with this choice but I'd prefer them all to be mad at me than for my baby girl to end up with RSV in the hospital like I did as an infant...My mom knows the plan and agrees (apparently RSV is scarier if you remember it)....
i'd also add when visitors do hold the baby put a receiving blanket on them so the baby is in contact with the blanket and not their clothes.
people who smoke are NOT allowed around/to hold the baby.
cover the carseat with a blanket and let people peek & not touch.
discuss baby vitamins with your pedi
keep bedding, clothes & basically anything baby comes in contact with as clean as possible.
i totally agree with the 6 week rule with the exceptions of church, doc visits, etc. and breastfeeding definitely can help.
Yeah, I should've added that! I do plan to breastfeed and supplement with formula so that DH can do some of the feedings (I will not be pumping).
This is what we're considering doing depending on flu season. We obviously want grandparents to be able to visit the baby in the hospital (especially since this is the first grandbaby) and I don't have a problem with great-grandparents visiting either, but the thought of having SO many visitors (our hospital has LONG visiting hours) makes me uncomfortable.
I feel so bad about baby's aunts and uncles not meeting her right away so I might be okay (or just cave) with a very short hospital visit with limited holding...My brother and sister are ages 13 and 15 (will be 16), DH's 2 brothers and 1 sister are 10, 16, 26/7... SIL's boys are 1 and 2 and both go to daycare and I know SIL won't have anyone to watch them if she comes to visit us....
DH's whole family (extended too) expect to be meeting LO right away and neither of us are okay with it to that extent...There will be ALOT of drama when this finally gets out there and I am not looking forward to it...ugh
I am trying to think of a way to ask this question without seeming offensive. Just know it is meant in just a curiosity kind of way.
Several people mentioned the only place they'd take the baby was the Drs and Church. I was wondering why church is deemed as a non-germy place? At my church we all go ga-ga over babies. I am actually fearing everyone who may want to hold the baby at church!
This. I am dreading the drama of his family. Simply put, because of the drama we know is inevitable, DH's parents and grandparents will not be called until after the baby is born- we're considering waiting until we've made it home from the hospital, even. The only family of his that will be called is his sister (who lives 10 hours away and whom we can trust with keeping the secret).
As far as our rules for keeping the baby healthy, only immediate family and people that get a personal invitation from us will be allowed in the hospital, and even then, it's for short visits. Visitors will be kept to a minimum in the first few weeks- and those that do come will be asked to wash hands and to come another day if they're sick. I'll also be breastfeeding, so I know that will help our little man build his immunity up.
Question regarding not letting people who smoke around the baby...how does this effect the baby if they are not smoking in front of them? I told MIL that she has to quit smoking by Columbus Day if she wants to be near our baby (due in Dec), but would like some more ammo to make sure she complies. :-)
DD was born November 9th. We took her to Target and the grocery store from the very beginning. We always kept her covered while out and no one could touch. I always had hand sanitizer with me and used it often.
DD only had a mild case of the stomach bug (that she got from me) during the winter. I exclusively BF throughout flu/RSV season. I think you just have to use common sense.
i don't know what church you go to, but those are probably one of the worst spots for germs.
i will do what we did with our daughter-which is really nothing. we stayed close to home the first couple weeks, but then i needed to get out. we enjoyed a large party at my grandmothers house when she was 3 weeks old and every one held her there. she has had probably 3 colds total in her life so far. anything that goes through daycare we don't get. not sure how, but we don't. exposure can help a kid-i think as long as it is not overdone.
oh and a dr. office is full of germs too. since we can't avoid taking baby to appointments there is no way to keep them "protected" completely.
This is top on my list! I breastfed my son and he to this day has never had anything more than a little cold and for the first year he had zero illness. I am a firm believer that breastfeeding is the best thing to keep your childs immune system up! Most the people I know who did not had/have chidren who have been sick often since they were babies.
Along with that we'll keep the LO home for about 6 weeks other than church, doctors, and taking them to my parents (who live 10 mins away) for the holidays. When my son was born we made everyone sanitize before holding him and I always kept a blanket over his carseat/stroller even when he was older than 6 weeks.Strangers seem to feel it's completely fine to stick their nasty hands in their faces and grab their little hands. It really ticked me off when people did that without asking me first, I don't know where their hands have been! Yuck
Some people say that exposure is better and that might have been true before these super bugs started showing up but with the flus we have and other severe illnesses it's not the best way to go with a newborn. What people don't understand sometimes is even a cold can be very harming to a newborn and the flu can be deadly. Why risk that just to expose your child's immune system? It all comes down to your instinct and what you feel is best, don't let anyone tell you what to do with your child or criticize you for your choices. My IL's love to do that and I won't put up with it this time around!