Question for MoM's who attend church

allisonmarie22

I also posted this on 2nd trimester, but I thought I would get some MoM specific advice as well. 

I just started wondering tonight when would be an acceptable time to start taking my babies to church. They will, of course, be a little early, but even if they go to "full term" (which my OB calls 36 weeks) they will still be so tiny and susceptible to so much. I mentioned to my husband that I might want to start taking them around 4 weeks old, but he's super hesitant. I definitely don't think I'd put them in the nursery that young, but maybe just keep them with me during service.

I don't know...I just don't want to go a really long time after my babies arrive without the support of my church family, but at the same time I don't want to be an irresponsible parent.

Since I'm a FTM I don't know what the heck to do. When did you start taking your little ones to church? Did you keep them with you or put them in the nursery right away?

Advice?

 

jettagurl

We first went when they were about a week old (born at 36w).  At the time we attended a church w/o a nursery.  We kept them in their carseats nearly the entire time, but after a few weeks we would take them out for a bit, but the only people who held them were myself, my H, and my MIL. We didn't pass them around at all- I was worried that everyone would want to hold them, but surprisingly few people asked.  

We started going to a different church, with a nursery about  a year ago (around their 1st birthday) and they do go to the nursery there and do very well.  My H works alot, so I often take the 4 kids, and drop them off in their respective classes and enjoy the hour alone!

 

lochy02

our church has a glass room in the back for people with young kids so they can cry, eat, play, etc without disrupting the service we started taking them around 5 months,kinda just depends on if they are early or not. mine were 10 weeks early so we stayed on house arrest for awhile

UsedToBeGoldie

we took my first son when he was 3w old (he was born 4w early)... we kept him in his carrier most of the time, and held him in the pew- but nobody touched him- people were very good about it.  He was born at the end of March - so not bad RSV time or anything.

The twins were born June 15 - and were 38w... we took them at about 1 month I think... mostly waited with them b/c we were so busy, exhausted, etc.  We did the same re: carriers... had them in the DSNG when out in the narthex before/after service, etc.

Our church is happy to have kids in the pews - and some noise is fine- so we didn't have to bring them to a nursery or anything... if we did- i wouldn't have sent them for a LOT longer.

I probably wouldn't take them in the heart of sick time/winter... but as far as I am concerned, if you just keep them from being touched, etc - and they are healthy - there is no reason NOT to go... we went out with the kids when they were a week old- to restaurants, shopping, etc... as long as people aren't touching them- it's  not a worry.

MagPie08

We started going regularly around 6 wks, I think, and just brought the infant carriers into the pew with us. We did this until about 8 mos old- it seemed like there was always a service that fell during nap time and they would just zone out.. Now that they are no longer containable in carriers, highly mobile, subject to tantrums, and definitely not going to fall asleep . . . we don't go to church anymore   

Fancy3Face

My babies were born @ 36w, but needed 2w of nicu time.  We didn't take them out of the house at all until they were at least 6w old (probably more like 8-after the first round of vax).  They were born @ the end of March though, so RSV season was just closing up.  

We didn't go back to church for a couple months b/c I knew people would be interested and want to touch/hold them and I wanted them to be bigger and have at least one vax.  I'm a little more crazy than most though

macchiatto

Our babies were born a few hours short of 38w. It was during cold and flu season though and our pedi really recommended not taking them out much/being careful with visitors for the first 6-8 weeks. I was fully on board with that since I know any fever in a baby under 1 month (sometimes 2 months) is an automatic hospitalization and at any rate, I was exhausted enough taking care of two newborns let alone two sick newborns! Also my husband works Sunday mornings and since I was also a FTM it took a little time for me to be comfortable taking both babies out and about myself (especially in a setting like church where I'd have to try to keep them both quiet/take them out, etc., before I wanted to put them in the nursery). I started taking them to church at 7 weeks and for me, that was just about right.

volgirl123

I still don't take my boys much. My mom comes to my house & watches them because they aren't comfortable being dropped off yet ( they go to MDO two days a week) but other than that my mom, my husband or I always watch them. I think after cold & flu season they will start to go every Sunday.

Shelley-Bean

My boys were about 6 months old, but they were born at 34.5 wks, and in October in New England.  It was cold and flu season, and a long, hard winter.   I waited until the weather got better, but even then it was really hard because of their nap times. Now, they wake up at 7:45 AM (mass starts at 8 am) and they go down for a nap at 9:30 AM (2nd mass starts at 10 am) so that is our major challenge right now.  It's also 11 degrees outside, and even though they are 14 months old, I just can't see taking them out in such bitter weather.

 

sarahey

My husband is a pastor (a youth pastor no less), so while I don't have any experience with this just yet it has been something that we have discussed in length. We will probably take our girls pretty soon after they are born but just keep them with me in their carriers. I don't think either of us will be comfortable with them being passed around or in the nursery for some time. We love the nursery workers, but I will probably be the crazy over protective mom  

cocojack10

Our church doesn't have a nursery/babysitting service.  We took the boys for the first time @ 8 wks. We went the the mass that was around naptime so they would be calmest.  We sat at the back of the church in case we had to escape w/ a crying baby.  No issues.

Temp6313048411121614

People bring their tiny babies and just keep them in the service until they're a little bigger (2-3 months old or so).  I would go as soon as you want and if it doesn't work you can try again when they're older, but I'm sure it'll be better than you think. 

caden

DH & I sat w/ our kids in the crying room for the first 6 months or so. We tried sitting in the actual service but we rarely lasted the whole time so we ended up just going straight to the crying room. We took them for the first time at 5wks or so when they were dedicated. They went to the nursery after flu season was over and when I didn't need to feed them during service, which was around 6mo.

macchiatto

sarahey:

My husband is a pastor (a youth pastor no less), so while I don't have any experience with this just yet it has been something that we have discussed in length. We will probably take our girls pretty soon after they are born but just keep them with me in their carriers. I don't think either of us will be comfortable with them being passed around or in the nursery for some time. We love the nursery workers, but I will probably be the crazy over protective mom  

My H is a pastor, too! For me that makes it more challenging since he's not available to help with them during the service. (Also b/c everyone knows us so once I did start taking them I had SO many people come up and want to touch or hold them even though they were in their carriers.) I took full advantage of the nursery once we did start going though; I was more than ready to get a break for an hour a week and I knew they were in good hands!

MaygenDL0ve

I tried a few times at random times the first year and EVERY TIME they would get sick and I'd pay the consequences alone at home w/ them for days sometimes weeks afterwards.  I thought they were robust enough to try again (they are 14 months old) so we went as a family last weekend and now I'm stuck at home AGAIN w/ horrible bronchitis, both boys have it too.  It sucks.  My hubs is out of town.  I wish we never went to church!!

JenLC99

Obviously I don't have twins yet but with my singletons I can tell you what I did. Most nurseries won't let you leave a baby younger than 8 weeks old. And since I was breastfeeding, my babies always wanted to be on me either eating or sleeping. I kept them in the sanctuary with me until I needed to nurse and then went to the mother's room. They were about five or six months before they got too loud to do that, and by that time they were interested in playing and would stay in the nursery most, if not the whole time. I plan to do the same with the twins.