How soon to take the new baby out?

imgonnabamom · March 2010

I know everyone has their own opinion on this, I just wanted to see what everyone has done/or thinking about doing?

punkfiction_v.3 · March 2010

i think we went out to lunch on the way home from the hospital. lol

glmeadows781 · March 2010

We took him out the next day after getting home to take him to go see the doctor but after that we didn't take him out til he was about 2 weeks, but we mainly waited because the doctor said it was too cold outside and it was RSV season otherwise we would have taken him out sooner.

squishles10 · March 2010

My husband is a pediatrician and says 6 weeks. Our personal ped says the same thing. Especially in winter.

daveshell1 · March 2010

Well, I lived in Southern CA with both my babies and ds (born in Nov) I took to the mall to find a diaper bag at 2 days old and dd (born in June) to the beach at 4 days old.

Let me just say that I had EXTREMELY fast, easy (not painless) births and felt great, and kept them very covered while there. Plus I hate having to be in the house.

squishles10 · March 2010

The reason behind waiting is to avoid getting them sick. A fever in an infant less than 2 months old is an automatic hospital stay. Ask your pediatrician what they recommend, but just because YOU feel great, and baby feels great, doesn't mean their immune system is sufficient to avoid catching things from everywhere. The more crowded the location, the worse, obviously.

daveshell1 · March 2010

I agree that you don't want to be taking them to crowded/enclosed places (like the movies and such) where there are a lot of germs. However I think if your cautious its fine to take them out whenever you feel comfortable taking them.

Heck I had dd in kindergarden, she probably brought home more germs then ds would have been exposed to outside the house.

mandarod · March 2010

I think we waited till dd was about 5-6 weeks old to take her anywhere besides the doctor's office, to see family or to go on walks around the neighborhood. She was born right before the swine flu mess last year, and I didn't want to risk her getting sick.

punkfiction_v.3 · March 2010

squishles10:
The reason behind waiting is to avoid getting them sick. A fever in an infant less than 2 months old is an automatic hospital stay. Ask your pediatrician what they recommend, but just because YOU feel great, and baby feels great, doesn't mean their immune system is sufficient to avoid catching things from everywhere. The more crowded the location, the worse, obviously.

lol that is not true.

and youre right, ask your pedi, bc mine would say that keeping them in your house away from any sort of exposure would not be good for their immune system at all.

and staying at home for 6wks-2mo sounds like a recipe for PPD.

aggielauren · March 2010

My pedi gave us the go ahead to go out before we even left the hospital. In fact, he cleared us to go to another hospital and visit my grandmother who had had surgery, and hospitals are pretty germy places.

Ask your pedi, but we brought DS out within a week. I couldn't stand to stay in the house and like a pp said, I think it helps their immune system to give them a little exposure. I kept him covered when we went out and didn't stay out very long.

WyWysMommy · March 2010

Well, we moved when DS was 1.5 weeks old. And we lived in a hotel for 2 more weeks when we did move down here. We had to either get take out or eat out during those 2 weeks. Granted I kept the blanket over him as much as possible and tried to keep nosy hands away as best I could (let me tell you old ladies have the nosiest hands!)

prlmrg08 · March 2010

Breckin was about 50 hours old when we took her to huge family dinner for Christmas eve.... and she has been out of the house everyday since... She hasnt been sick and is just fine

With DD1 I was at Target the day after I got out of the hospital...

mrspresley · March 2010

punkfiction_v.3:
squishles10:
The reason behind waiting is to avoid getting them sick. A fever in an infant less than 2 months old is an automatic hospital stay. Ask your pediatrician what they recommend, but just because YOU feel great, and baby feels great, doesn't mean their immune system is sufficient to avoid catching things from everywhere. The more crowded the location, the worse, obviously.
lol that is not true.
and youre right, ask your pedi, bc mine would say that keeping them in your house away from any sort of exposure would not be good for their immune system at all.
and staying at home for 6wks-2mo sounds like a recipe for PPD.

well, this is true at Children's Medical Center at least... if they spike a fever at any point before 6 weeks of age, they immediately get hospitalized and get a neuro workup done (including spinal tap) to make sure they don't have meningitis.... our pedi told us this as well.

we were told it was best to wait until she was vaccinated at her 2 month check up before exposing her to high traffic/germy areas but that just going out to run errands (with her in her infant seat/carrier) was fine... the pedi said just to limit who held her. that said, we had to travel by plane when she was 6 wks old to take her to see her great grandma (it was the only time DH had off for a while) and we just took all the usual precautions and wiped down our seats w/disinfecting wipes, etc. and she was just fine

ultimately it's up to every parents' individual comfort level but i can tell you that having a baby during winter/flu season was tougher than having a summer baby b/c i felt like i had to be much more cautious.

reynah · March 2010

When Colten was born, Caleb was in daycare and I'm sure brought home more germs than you can get from going anywhere. If you feel like taking your child out, you should, if not, then don't. To each his own.

imgonnabamom · March 2010

Thank you everyone for the advice!! we had a pediatrician visit our child birth class and he said 6 wks. But I just don't know if I can stay in the house that long!!! I've already been confined to the house for 2 months, I just don't know how much more I can take. I was thinking of taking him out a week or 2 after birth just depending on his health at birth and of course what the pediatrician says. I definitely do not want an un-necessary hospital bill, I've had enough of those already!! I was thinking a walk outside, or around the mall when it is not busy would be good for both of us

if you know what I mean

sweetpea18 · March 2010

We waited until dd had had her first round of shots, but she was a preemie and the nicu put the fear of God in us about her getting sick.

As far as the whole temp thing-if they do get a temp over 100.4 before they're 8 weeks old, our pedi admits them to the hospital and, like the pp stated, they have a full work up, including a spinal tap.

bnljane1988 · March 2010

DS was 5 days old. We went out to dinner for my dad's bday.

MrsTotty · March 2010

I'm sure we took him out to friend's and family's homes before this ... but the first 'real' outting I remember was to the mall ... he was 3 weeks I think.

squishles10 · March 2010

My husband is a pediatrician at Children's Medical Center. Our kid isn't leaving the house until they are 6 weeks old except for doctor appointments. Considering how highly ranked the hospital is, I tend to value their judgement. Our pediatrician works at PAD and Children's and gives the same guidelines.

Want a personalized experience?

How soon to take the new baby out?

Re: How soon to take the new baby out?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards