July 2012 Moms
temporalrobe
member
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when can newborns leave the house?
temporalrobe
member
i have little experience with mothering humans.
under normal healthy baby circumstances would it be realistic to take a one month old baby to a shore house for a week with my parents?
is the baby allowed to be in a strange house for a week?
is it, the baby, allowed to visit my parents?
do my parents have to be vaccinated against the plague and other baby poisoning diseases (the flu, whooping cough)?
thank you for your advice.
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Re: when can newborns leave the house?
I took my kid out almost as soon as we got home from the hospital. I went shopping with him, took him to other people's houses, etc. I did ask everyone to wash their hands before they touched him, and not to kiss his hands or face. I was also aware of the vaccination status of the children who were around him. If I wasn't, I probably would not have brought him to visit.
I'm running into the same issue as you now. Due on July 4th and family vacation at the shore starting August 1st. I don't want to go. Not so much for the baby, but I remember how I felt the first month after my c-section and I would rather be in my own home. I can't go in the ocean, and hormones will have me sweating on the beach. No fun!
I plan on vacationing at my parents' shore house with my whole family right around 7 weeks. My best friends brought their 48 hour old baby to my house for a BBQ and Mem Day picnic this year.
Babies aren't loaded bombs.
You can take them more or less anywhere, particularly since they just sleep in the beginning anyway. Its more likely that you will be healing from birth, tired, and uncomfortable going out than the baby.
And on vaccines: you'll be more worried about colds and flu (if its winter) than larger diseases. Herd immunity generally works in our advantage in that sense.
Fortunately, our babies won't be born during flu/RSV season, so that's one less thing to worry about. Provided baby's healthy, I'd take them to a shore house, and absolutely, they can see visitors.
Some parents are hard core about wanting everyone vaccinated, but I'm of the opinion that other people's medical decisions aren't appropriate topic for conversation, but do encourage hand washing and keep hand sanitizer handy.
I'm sorry, but I am going to politely disagree with you. You don't have to launch a vaccination debate with other parents, but when you have a fragile newborn, you are well within your right to ask if other kids they will be spending time with have been vaccinated.
Interesting debate, and I'm not sure where I would fall on it.
I think I would prefer to bury my head in the sand...I hate to think that anyone I know is stupid enough not to vaccinate their children. ::shivers::
The Bump's icons don't work on my computer for some reason, so just imagine the "thumbs up" symbol here.
I had a December baby and we had him out the next day after coming home from the hospital. As long as people aren't touching the face you are fine. I found wearing him in a sling helped the unwanted touches.
I would have gone crazy if I had to stay home all the time.
Bio
Thumbs up from me as well. It never even crossed my mind to say "excuse me, before you touch my child or your children are around mine - are they properly vaccinated?"
What an interesting world we live in.
Bio
We took DD to my grandfather's 90th b-day party on our way home from the hospital. It was just immediate family so we weren't worried. We took her to the grocery store at about 5 days old. We just needed to get out of the house. We went later in the evening so it wouldn't be crowded.
Yes, your baby will be fine to go out at one month as long as he/she has no prexisting health issues.
Now I sound nuts, lol. I don't ask random people. I know what my family does with their kids. I would not be comfortable letting any kid I don't really know hold my baby. Vaccine talk aside, kids are germ factories in general. But if I knew for a fact that someone's child was not vaccinated, I would politely decline any requests for that child to hold my baby. Herd immunity is wonderful, but lately there have been all kinds of outbreaks because of the number of people not vaccinating. If this keep sup, herd immunity will no longer exist. It's sad, but true.
FWIW I also have a freaking fit when people other than my husband or myself try to kiss my kid on the lips. Especially during cold and flu season, or when they are visibly ill. My dad had swine flu when Shane was 3 months old He didn't come over until he was well again, but I could not believe I had to constantly remind him to wash his hands before held the baby. People make me shake my head on a fairly regular basis.
My own mother is actually really hard core anti-vax. My siblings and I weren't vaccinated growing up, not a single shot. My brother and I enlisted in the military in our early 20s and had to catch up on everything, so I've seen both sides of the argument. I don't mind people disagreeing, I just know for me, I don't find it any more acceptible to ask what they do at the doctor's office than it is for them to ask me how my twins were conceived. [ETA: I do comprehend that their actions could affect me and my children more than my IVF would affect them, it's just how I feel about it.]
And FWIW, I will vaccinate my children, because that's what I believe in.
Um yeah - well I agree there. I don't want anyone kissing my daughter on the lips! That's just creepy.
Bio
Yeah. Shane had pink eye when he was 3 weeks old, followed a week later by a contagious skin infection (why can't I think of the name right now?). When he was 2 months old he caught a nasty cold from someone and it turned into a respiratory infection and severe croup with stridor that resulted in a midnight trip to the hospital. After that, I became a very "don't effing touch my kid" kind of person, lol.
He goes to daycare and gets the normal kid colds. He's been lucky enough to avoid some of the more serious illnesses that have gone around his school. I know the new baby will be sick more often because of stuff he brings home and I'm dreading it. :-P
I'd be a little more cautious during the winter months when more people are sick, but having a summer baby, I wouldn't worry about taking them out at all (as long as they're not premature or have some complication).
With my first, we came home from the birth center the day she was born. The next day DH was in an accident so at 2 days old she was visiting him in the hospital (BFing, I had to take her though not ideal). At 2.5 weeks old she travelled with us to the beach to stay for a week with my family. I wasn't worried about who had what vaccinations.
I live in CA and there have been quite a few whooping cough deaths in infants. Usually the parents bring it home and the baby gets it since it's too young to be vaccinated. Herd immunity isn't a reality anymore.
I'll be asking that anyone around the baby for the first 6 weeks (at least) be vaccinated. However, a TDAP lasts 10 years, so most people are updated. My doctor told me that anyone around the baby should get one. My husband and I as well as my parents will all have one. I will ask friends. Most of them are trying to get pregnant so they need one anyway. If I didn't live in an area that had bad outbreaks I wouldn't be as concerned.
I took my July baby out almost immediately, and we went to the beach and lake houses within the first month (beach 2 weeks, lake 4 weeks). As people have said I was just big on having people wash their hands and avoid baby if they were feeling "off" at all.
I hope to do the same thing this time around!
Interesting conversations here. We took DS to Target at about 4 days old. He stayed in the infant carrier and no one tried to touch him.
Some pedis suggest waiting until their 2 month vac to take them out to public places, but in my opinion, I think you just have to be smart about it. We attend church every Sunday and weren't about to stop for two months, so we just kept DS in his infant seat and if people sitting by us were coughing or sneezing, I just threw a blanket over the top.
My OB did recommend that DH and I along with both our parents get updated with the pertussis vaccine (which is in the tdap). If adults don't get annual physicals they may not be updated. All of our parents were happy to update their vaccinations.
Tdap was licensed in 2005, so it's only been around for six years. And I don't even know if it was commonly used right away, or if it took a few years to gain widespread acceptance. And most adults are TERRIBLE about staying up-to-date on their vaccines anyway.
So, I wouldn't assume that "most people are updated." I also find it funny that anyone would specifically say that they don't want unvaxed kids around their baby, when it's the adults who are more likely to be unvaxed!
That said, DD was also a summer baby, and I took her on a plane flight at 4 weeks old, with her doctor's approval. I would do the same for this baby if the opportunity came up.
Mommy to DD1 (June 2007), DS (January 2010), DD2 (July 2012), and The Next One (EDD 3/31/2015)