So when did you take your preemie LO out in public for the first time. Next weekend is my sister-in-laws bday (she's turning 16).She wants the whole family to go out ot eat at a restaurant. So DS will be 12wks/1wk corrected. My DH and I are debating whether to go or not with DS. We would still go to my in laws house for cake afterwards. What are you thoughts?
Re: when to take out???
We have been doing short outings to Babies R' Us for the past couple of weekends. And my work gave me a surprise work baby shower at Old Spaghetti Factory last Sunday. This restaurant had a sling whatchamacallit that you can put the car seat in. And we passed the baby around the table with sanitizer. We forgot to pack a pacifier and a bottle just in case. And he got a little fussy towards the end of it, so we made a quick exit after the cake was served. For me, the outdoors are more of a challenge than the indoors. But I am hoping at my DS's pediatrician's appt. tomorrow that he will be at a good weight, and then I can start using our Ergo Carrier for the outdoors.
My baby does pretty good in his infant car seat. He just sleeps, and he really has done well with most of our outings. I think it has been more of an issue for me with outings because I am trying to be perfect and it is easy for me to analyze everything as a new mother--I am still getting used to him being home and figuring out what works and what does not work.
We waited until she was about 16 weeks old actual to take her anywhere other than the doctor's office. However, (and hindsight is always 20/20) if I would have had my Moby wrap or Ergo sooner, I would have taken her out more. Way more controlled, constant contact, and it keeps her out of her carseat.
I wasn't a huge fan of the carseat--she spent very little time in it. I really don't remember keeping her in it other than when in the car. But I had a friend who always had her baby in the carseat and she had a major flat spot, so I probably went to the extreme to avoid that!
The day after she came home I took her to the park. The following day, we took her to her first pedi appointment, then went to a coffee shop very briefly (DH needed coffee). The following day we took her for a walk. The neonatologists and nurses told me to take her outside lots, just to avoid crowded indoor spaces (malls, movie theatres, airplanes, etc.) They said the supermarket is fine, just keep a blanket over the car seat and don't let anyone touch her.
I can't wait to go to the fair (coming to my area soon) and to the beach. At this time of year sun exposure is a greater concern than illness.
Eli 6.18.09 35.5w
Silas 1.25.13 35.4w 10 days NICU, allergies/asthma, gluten intolerant
Andrew came home (3 weeks after his due date) at the tail end of RSV season. We only took him out to outdoor places or my parent's house. No public indoor places. We didn't take him anywhere public/indoor for a whole year. The following May (so he was over 1 year adjusted) we started taking him out.
he is a former 26 weeker and had a rough start with ventillation and a pneumothorax and collapsed lung. I didn't want to risk it.