When to take twins out?

mjmarovi

I am currently 32 weeks pregnate.  My shower for the twins was going to be last week in my hometown 2 hours away but I was placed on bedrest and told no traveling.  Since we had to cancel it and my parents live in Florida we thought of doing a meet and greet with the twins after they are born.  I have been told by pedatrician and OB it is reccomened not to take babies into a crowd prior to 6 weeks.  If I did it at 1 month would it be too soon?  I'm sure once they arrive I might have a better idea but wanted to get thoughts on when everyone started to take their twins out.  Twins are so different and since I will be a new mom I want to make sure I make the right choices even though I know that doesn't always happen.    Also how did everyone handle visitors?  None of our family lives near us so everyong comes in from out of town.  Some I know think I am mean when I say not everyone can visit at once.  

Rynleigh

Hmm if it was me, I would be a little cautious. I plan to keep the babies out of public situations as much as possible until they are two months old and receive their first DTaP dose. I might not be so worried but we live in northern Oregon, and Washington - less than 15min from us - declared a Pertussis (Whooping Cough) epidemic this year. I want to reduce exposure to the whoop as much as is humanly possible until they have that first round of DTaP. If it's not a major medical concern in your area/where you're meeting up, or if you don't plan to vaccinate anyway, a month probably doesn't make a big difference. But I'd definitely wait until the 2mo vaccines before I arranged anything like that. 

mirnb

I would wait until they are born so you can assess how you feel and how they are doing...my in-laws wanted a shower after the babies were born but I was in no shape for that till they were at least 3 months...thats just me and both my boys had colic so that made a difference but I was just too tired and didn't want them exposed to too many germs early on...also they were born during cold and flu season! 

MelleTX

My twins will be here in December (hopefully). I probably won't take them anywhere other than the pediatrician or my mom's house until April. 

angelynn8411

I took my boys to church when they were 4 days old. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

bethCT

my twins were born at 35 weeks with one nicu week.  We were cautious until their due date, and then did a family party.

Azwildkat

I would wait until at least 4 weeks, if not longer...they get their first vaccines at 2 months. If newborns spike a fever within the first month it means a trip to the hospital for blood work, lumbar puncture and 48 hrs of IV antibiotics and observation. If you go out sooner, try to minimize who holds the babies and have everyone wash their hands.

keg

Azwildkat:

I would wait until at least 4 weeks, if not longer...they get their first vaccines at 2 months. If newborns spike a fever within the first month it means a trip to the hospital for blood work, lumbar puncture and 48 hrs of IV antibiotics and observation. If you go out sooner, try to minimize who holds the babies and have everyone wash their hands.

Ditto this.  My answer would depend some on when they are born too.  My girls were preemie enough (35w6d) that I was more cautious than I might have been with term babies.  I didn't really take them anywhere out until they were 3 months, mainly because they were born around the first of the year which is smack dab in the middle of RSV season.  

kelandspence2012

Mine were almost 3 weeks old when i went to Starbucks and a quick trip to the grocery store ! I just dont let anyone get too close especially small kids ! Thats just me though ! Mostly i stay home except for doctors appointments !

Breezy8407

Mine were born at 37 weeks and were 7 weeks the first time we took them somewhere other than the doctor. It was my sisters high school open house, so LOTS of people and everyone wanted to hold them since it was the first time most of my extended family saw them. This was in June, so the general level of colds/flu's was low, but I was still paranoid.

Going to places like Target has been actually easier. We wear them in Bjorns, so no one really gets close.

Our doctors encouraged limiting visitors and not taking them anywhere until their due date. I made sure we didn't have any toddlers/young kids come over until then, too. 

crystaleyes39

The thing with twins is everything is so unpredictable. My girls came early so they did over a month each in the NICU during RSV season, so I was SUPER cautious and paranoid about taking them out in the cold and around people.  We only let close friends and family visit during the first couple months home and then around 3 months or so (when it warmed up) we started taking them out more. We didn't have their first gathering around tons of people (their baptism) until they were 4 months old.  Maybe we were over paranoid but for us it worked out and they avoided getting any bad colds.

HazelEyes730

My twins were born May 3 and we took them out on Mothers day. I also took my daughter at 3 days old to my parents for christmas eve and then christmas. To each their own, but I wasn't going to stay home. We had everyone wash hands around them and they were never passed around. They did great and are perfectly fine. 

KarlsSweetie05

Mine were preemies at 33w and spent 2 weeks (DS) and 1 month (DD) in NICU with complications.  I was super duper cautious for first 3 months.  Then cautious after that. 

On top of that, physcially, I was in no condition to travel / be out for long periods for the first 3 months.  It was just too much for me with the lack of sleep and recovery from horrible CS experience.  

I think it will all depend upon your individual circumstances when they are born, time of year (cold/flu season), where you live, and your comfort level with germs in general.

and personally, I would not want everyone to visit at once either.  You are not being "mean". You are being a mom and protecting your children and doing what is best for them.  Its your job.   Some may not like being told "no" or "not today" but they are adults and can handle the disappointment.

 

HokieLaw

My girls were born at 34 weeks and, with the exception of the doctor, they weren't "out" until they were 3 months old.  

The worst part about going out with twins is EVERYONE wants to look and touch and be close to twins.  If you meet in a very public place, you'll have so many people hovering you won't be able to enjoy your visit because of shoo-ing people away. 

KDR1979

Our twins came at 36 wks 1 day...we just had them baptized on Sunday and I put hand sanitizer on every table (so I am a little crazy about germs)! This was their first HUGE get together. We didn't invite aunts, uncles & cousins over until we reached their due date and then we only invited one family at a time. I encouraged everyone to get their dtap vaccine. My family did-parents, sister, gma, aunt, etc...but none of my in laws did.   The babies got the Pentacel vaccine at their 2 mo check up which includes pertussis, but it takes 5 pertussis vaccinations before a child reaches ~90% immunity.

There is absolutely no way I would have felt up for any kind of party until the babies were at least 8-9 weeks old. Their longest stretches of sleep were 2.5-3 hours until 8.5 weeks. Then they slept a 4 hour night followed by two 5 hour nights at 8.5-9 weeks. I was sooooo exhausted. I was "triple feeding"- attempting to nurse, giving each baby a bottle of breastmilk, then a bottle of formula, then pumping.....so I was seriously hardly sleeping. If you plan on bottlefeeding, you should be able to get more rest.

We got a lot of different opinions from healthcare professionals about visitors and when to take them out, but our pediatrician said that if they got a fever in the first 2 months, that it would guarantee a hospital admission with a HUGE work up.... so we were very cautious until then. We still mostly stay at our house though!