STMs - How soon for outings with baby after birth?

Cholzmei · February 2012

I know I need to start reading my baby books, but I'm curious how soon real mothers have taken their baby out of the house for longer than an hour (what I mean is longer than for something like a doctor's appointment or a trip to the grocery store) after birth.

EDITED for clarity.

Alliebooberz · February 2012

I think it's personal preference and depends on the health of the mom & baby. I was reading one of my childbirth/breastfeeding books and there was one of those little personal narratives in there about one mom's experience and she was team green and took her baby out to the store in a moby type wrap about 12 hours after she was born to buy some cute outfits.

greengirl0909 · February 2012

I think the time of year is also a factor. With my first, I delivered in early April. We attended my aunt's retirement part 5 weeks later. Right now, my niece is 5 weeks old and my sister still doesn't want to take her out- but it's cold and flu season.

DS's birthday will be 2- 3 weeks after LO is born and we'll probably do a party at a restaurant (because I don't want to try to host family at my house at that time) and I'll take our new LO of course. Then again, I might be crazy!

lilmisssunshine84 · February 2012

Good question, I didn't even think about this, looking forward to seeing the answers!

Kristinmo · February 2012

We took DS to Target after his first pedi appointment so he was 4-5 days old. I took him to the mall with my mom when he was about 10 days old.

I always think how mom is feeling is more important than how old the baby is. If you keep LO in a stroller, carrier, etc and not let strangers touch her and wash your hands often, risk of germs is quite low (assuming baby doesn't have a compromised immune system due to prematurity or other issues).

Irisheyes1247 · February 2012

We were at BRU at 5 days, I took LO to church by myself at 10 days, I took her to my parents 1.5 hrs away for an overnight (I had a wake/funeral to attend and she came to the funeral breakfast) at 14 days. She was born at the end of October but it didn't start getting too bad weather-wise until closer to Thanksgiving, so as long as she was bundled, I was pretty comfortable taking her out. I was the one getting antsy being at the house, and I think it helped me to go out with her so I got more comfortable in how I was going to handle things, forcing me to figure it out myself. She was always either in her car seat (in the stroller or cart) or in the Moby wrap, so I really had no concerns about germs and people touching her, but I am also not a big germaphobe to begin with.

salt78 · February 2012

I'm not a second time mom, but we will be traveling for B's newborn pics. My friend has a studio that isn't portable.

Mrs_MBed · February 2012

Kristinmo:

I always think how mom is feeling is more important than how old the baby is. If you keep LO in a stroller, carrier, etc and not let strangers touch her and wash your hands often, risk of germs is quite low (assuming baby doesn't have a compromised immune system due to prematurity or other issues).

This. We took DD1 to a friend's wedding reception/visit family when she was 1 month old - and it took us a 4 hr drive to get there.

With DD2, we didn't take her really anywhere until she was much older and kept her "hidden" in the car seat carrier or in my Ergo. She was born at 33 wks 5 d and spent 23 days in the NICU for respiratory problems. When she was finally released, it was the beginning of the cold and flu season. The pedi didn't clear her to be exposed to crowds or day care until she was about 7 or 8 months old

ktekne · February 2012

DD was born late September... we had some warm weather on/off for a while. She was 3 weeks when I took her by DH's work and to visit a friend who had a 2 week old. After that if it was warm in the middle of the day I would go to the outlet mall nearby. The fresh air was good for both of us and just kept her in her carseat in the stroller.

Depending on the weather I will probably do the same with DS. I plan on taking DD to her babysitters most everyday so we'll be getting out to do that too.

bookers1 · February 2012

I think everyone is different. We had DD out pretty soon after she was born. But more because DH and I are busy and don't like to be in the house for too long.

books4brooke · February 2012

When my son was born, we were just starting to rebuild our house, so we were meeting with contractors and picking out floors/kitchen things when he was 2 days old. Unless this baby is early, I can't imagine it being much more than that with this one.

Babymamawithdrama · February 2012

For a "day" trip (I.e. hour drive each way with dinner /dessert/ hanging out) probably about 7 weeks. Really it is a comfort thing. If our nephew's birthday happened to be earlier we still would have gone once I felt "recovered" so maybe two or three weeks would have been my earliest.

joygazz · February 2012

this is how you feel about it. I had my newborn out to an apple orchard picking pumpkins at 2 weeks and to see christmas decorations at 1 month. I hate being cooped up in the house. Within a few days i was taking daily walks to starbucks... or shopping in the carrier.

But I have had friends who have stayed indoors for a month.... Either way judge how you feel and I never planed these outings ahead of time. I took them when I wanted to and was ready.

Babymamawithdrama · February 2012

But out to the market l shopping at BRU wass within a few days... I thought you were meaning a bigger outing with exposure to other people

PWatermelonIII · February 2012

At 4 days old we took him out to lunch with family and then walked around downtown. He was in his carrier and obviously we were careful that no one we didn't know touched him. There is no way we could have stayed locked away in our apartment any longer then that. We need to be able to get out. It will be the same with this one. We will be out as soon as I can move around.

designer_wifey · February 2012

DS1 was born 8.27.10 and we went out to eat and took him with us about a week after he was born. I was more comfortable with taking him out since it was warm out then.

When DS2 is born, I will have to take him out more, b/c of taking DS1 to daycare if DH isn't home to do it, but we have an attached garage and I will warm up our vehicle before we leave.

LillyGrrl · February 2012

For like a for-real, out to the mall/dinner or something I think she was around 3w old but because I was terrified to BF in public otherwise we would have been out a lot earlier no doubt. She was also born end of Jan and Feb 3 years ago was cold and nasty so I was a little more apprehensive about taking her out.

Not sure how it will go with this kid. I am going to be on Mat leave for 10-12 weeks but we only have one car and my husband needs it for work so- likely we won't be out for more than an hour or so at any given time during that 10-12 weeks just because it won't be easy- although Easter etc may force us out for a longer period of time.

Cholzmei · February 2012

Babymamawithdrama:
But out to the market l shopping at BRU wass within a few days... I thought you were meaning a bigger outing with exposure to other people

I did mean longer outings, but all of the responses have been interesting to me.

The reason I ask is because there is an event on March 24th that I would like to go to (obviously it all depends on how I feel, if she arrives earlier than her due date, etc.) if I feel up to it. It is a sporting event, however, and I worry about it being germy, dirty, loud, etc. A lot of my friends will be there, and I know they'd love to see the baby, so I was just trying to feel out what different people have done.

Thanks for all of the responses and keep them coming!

MelBell829 · February 2012

This is a good question. I was just thinking about this the other day because Easter Sunday is only 10 days after my due date and I REALLY don't feel like hosting dinner.

lhamilto13 · February 2012

Being a Pediatric ICU nurse, I have a different view on this. Cold and flu season, I would not take the baby out at all, mainly due to avoiding pertussis (they get this vaccine at 2 months). My first was born in March and we went outside for walks and to my family and inlaws, but I kept him away from nieces and nephews (they were always snotty) until at least 6 weeks. My warped reasoning is that if a baby under 6 weeks has a fever, they almost always get sent to the hospital for an infection workup (including an LP - lumbar puncture). If you are taking them to public places, even if you keep them in the baby carrier/ car seat, you have to be super vigilant because people think it is ok to touch other people's babies without asking. Their hand is stuck in the baby's face before you know it. That happened to me and I was like um please don't touch my baby!

addison_clark · February 2012

With my DS, I wasn't feeling up to even quick outings until at least a week or so after birth (church, grocery store, etc) We took longer day trips after that when I was feeling up to it.

With my DD, I had such an easy delivery I checked out of the hospital 24 hours after she was born and headed out shopping with her and my sister to get some girl clothes for her! The day after that I took her to my son's Halloween party with a moms group I am in. She stayed in the carseat the whole time with my sister or I hovering over her so the kids wouldn't touch her. But she got initiated to the world right away. I was feeling great and wanted to keep up with our regular busy schedule.

You will have to play it by ear to see how you are feeling and how easily you can keep a newborn comfortable at the outing. Good luck!

Babymamawithdrama · February 2012

One other note: I tore during birth so Dr prohibited driving for two weeks for me (didn't want me possibly messing up the stitching job) so that may factor too. This would be a good question when interviewing pediatricians

KatieD212 · February 2012

We drove 1.5 hours to a city to use up our Target gift cards and eat at Applebees when DS was 6 days old (we live in a teeny town near nothing). At 2 weeks we took him on a 3 hour drive to go meet all of my family. He did just fine!

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