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November 2011 Moms
Taking LO out and about...
How is it going for you guys? DH and I both agree that LO has to be socialized and get used to being in public (if you remember we kept her in until she got her shots at the end of January). She is in day care now, so she gets that introduction, and we have had her at Target a few times. We took her grocery shopping last weekend....she did well. My mom and went out for lunch 2 weeks ago and took her with us to the restaurant. She was sleeping the majority of the time, so it was easy. I want to get her out more and take her to eat more, etc. I just worry that she'll lose it while we are out. I know we can leave if that happens, but it's an anxiety I have. How are your "outings" going?
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Re: Taking LO out and about...
DS born via unplanned C-section at 40w6d
It's going good so far. I try to schedule our outings anywhere between 11 AM - 2 pm, or 6pm-9pm. (that's usually the length of time we go to my parents). That seems to be the time where he's very social, very content,happy, and wants to be out.
He's a very regular pooper (got that from his daddy) so as soon as he poops, going out and about happens.
He's been to church, the grocery store, Target, the Olive Garden, the Drug Store, the mall, Starbucks...we go out. A lot. And it works for us. We take a walk every day around the same time (usually around 2-3 pm.) and we walk about an hour. It helps me get out and socialize.
We go out at 'off times' but those are usually to baby friendly places: (my friend who has a newborn, my sister's house).
We've only had a few times with melt downs. The few times it happens, i remain calm, talk to the baby in a soothing voice, and try to calm down. I swear, I think Danny feeds on when I get nervous and then it makes him nervous. If he doesn't calm down, we go to the car. He usually calms down once we drive around a little bit. (If it's somewhere we can't readily go home, like a large family function). If he;s stil hysterical, then we go home. And deal with the melt down there.
But so far so good. I find that the more I take him out, the better I feel about being out with him. I can now proudly say, I have changed my child in a public rest room.
(Why am I proud of that? I have no idea).
I'm terrified of the germs at the Dr's office as well. DH thinks I'm crazy when I'm sanitizing all of our hands as soon as we leave but that place is full of germs!
Well, I think I'm the odd mom out here which is probably a good thing. Outings have been very challenging for us for the last month or so since LO started hating his carseat. He stopped falling asleep and instead seems frustrated, angry, constantly fussy or crying. That makes life pretty hard when I'm already cooped up all the time at home. I do still take him places (recently we've gone to my mom's house, BRU, Target, last night to the mall for a bit) and it's very hit or miss. I've gotten to know the best places to duck in with him (Target changing rooms, Nordstroms Mother's Lounge is the best in the mall!) and I nurse wherever and change him wherever (backseat of the car, you name it.) I've tried multiple carriers (sling, K'tan, Bjorn, Ergo), usually he hates that too so we just stick with toughing it out in the carseat/stroller.
I get so frustrated when I only have a short period to do things like grocery shop and I have to make it super fast every single time. Feeling confined to your house sucks. My friends take their young babies on long outings and I would so love to go hiking, spend the day at the zoo, drive 30 mins to the outlet mall, etc. Not to mention I'm going to back to work next week and am desperate for some work clothes (I'm between my maternity and pre-pregnancy clothes still). Sigh. I really, really hope this gets better.
~Working Mom~Breastfeeding Mom~Cloth Diapering Mom~BLW Mom~
Blog - No Longer on the DL ~ The Man Cave
Shawn and Larissa
LO #1 - Took 2 years and 2 IVFs ~ DX - severe MFI mild PCOS homozygous MTHFR (a1298c)
LO #2 - TTC 7 months, surprise spontaneous BFP!
I've been taking DD out since she was like a week old. I had no choice. DH was working 7 days a week, 16 hr days and I needed to go grocery shopping and run other errands.
DD is pretty unpredictable though when we go out. Some days she'll sleep the whole time, some days she'll be awake but content in her carseat/stroller/moby, and some days she's just a fussy pants.
Last week DH and I went out to dinner with a friend. Our thought was 'DD will fall asleep on the car ride to the restaurant and sleep the whole way through dinner.' While DD had other plans. She had the hiccups which kept her awake during the car ride, was not content sitting in her carseat at the restaurant and was fussy and wanted to be held the whole time. So instead of enjoying dinner it was pretty rushed because we didn't did want to subject everyone at the restaurant to a crying baby any longer than we had too.
Pipsqueak born 6/9/14
When I was on leave it was easier to get out during the week, but I've been back to work since Jan 3 so now I wait until weekends for outings. I wait until she's had a good morning nap, then after she wakes up and feeds, we're out and about. I've taken her to all matter of stores, lunch out, church (once), etc and been pretty lucky that she's been good. She's usually w/me, DH has her on occasion.
D2 is in the stage where she hates the car, well, when its not in motion. I live in the middle of the city and there is no fast way out to an expressway. But we just power through it all. D1 was the same way, so I'm kind of used to it.
But I find that D2 sleeps better at night when she gets out at some point in time during the day. Its worth the fight.
It doesn't always work out - I met my sister and nieces for lunch on Friday with the girls. D1 was in a shy mood and D2 was screaming when we walked into the restaurant. I'm sure no one was happy we were there. But I just picked what I wanted from the menu, told my sister and then I took D2 into the bathroom and calmed her down (and got to pee without a toddler!). And luch was fine after that.
Just know that its not always going to go perfectly but its not the end of the world if your child cries in public.
These sound likemy experiences too.
I never minded crying babies pre-baby knowing that you can't really help it, what annoyed me where rotten toddlers (where the parents let them run wild).
it hasn't been very easy for me, but i think i brought it partly on myself by not taking him out earlier (followed pedi's advice to wait until after 2 months). we go for a walk almost every day, i'm talking more about being out in public.
he doesn't like the baby carriers i've tried (k'tan and ergo) so we usually keep him in car seat. i've taken him to the library a couple times for quick trips and he's been fine, but when i tried to go out for lunch and dinner both times he got fussy halfway through. part of the problem is that he needs to sleep but doesn't fall asleep in the car and we had trouble getting him to sleep in the restaurant (maybe cause he was so excited at all the new things to look at?).
gonna try to take him to bj's later (first trip to a store) but i'm def a little scared! jealous of all the moms who can throw their LO in a wrap and be good to go.
Meh. We decided before DS was born that babies would fit into our lives, not the other way around. We still try to be home by bedtime as a general rule of thumb, but if we want or need to go out, the kids come with us. We've never had any major problems. Sometimes it sucks if one of them is being super needy, but you just take them for a walk or whatever and they get over it.
If you take them everywhere with you, they will expect to go and it won't be a big deal. I always make sure that my napping and feeding cues don't rely on anything in my house so that when we are out, DS and DD will nap and eat at their regular times and not feel so upset by the change in routine.
I started taking DD out of the house to shop with me when she was about a week old. Took me about 2 weeks with DS to go by myself, but both have been healthy and happy and excellent in the car. It's just not unusual to them.
I like taking her out more than staying home with her because she is soo easy. At home I am lucky if she naps for more than 30 mins. When we go out she will sleep for 3+ hours. Both the car and walking in the stroller put her right to sleep so she sleeps 90% of the time. If we are out for a long time 4-5+ hours than she will usually wake up and get hungry and I'll give her a bottle and then she'll either go right back to sleep or stay awake for a little while and look around and then go back to sleep.
We take DD out pretty regularly. The only thing that we don't do very often is go out to a sit-down meal, though the few times we have done that she's been fine. When we take her to the grocery store, we usually wear her in the bjorn, and she can fall asleep in her carseat if she's out in her stroller. This week we've had to be out and about quite a bit, and I try to get out right after she's awake. I also take her to church every week. I took her to my dentist appointment and she just sat in her carseat.
I'm really fortunate that she's such a calm, easy-going baby. I really should get her out more often, but it's cold and snowy and so much more fun to snuggle inside.
We took DD out the day after we came home from the hospital! I had to get a few things for my sore nipples. We generally go out, at least to Walmart, every other day or so. She's been to Walmart, Target, PetSmart, Micheal's crafts, Marshall's, the Mall, Chili's (once, and she slept the whole time, she was 2 weeks old... my brother's bday dinner), Wegman's and Tops oh and BRU of course haha.
I just try to time it right, right after a feeding and/or during her mid-afternoon sleepy time because she sleeps great in the car and the stroller. She will b*tch right after she gets strapped in but after that she is okay. She doesn't like Walmart, I'm sure because of the business off it (must run in the fam, mommy and daddy hate walmart too!) but if she gets grumpy I will take her carseat out of the stroller or cart and carry it and she is happy then, just looks around and coos. I have a mei tai that I got for mall trips but we have yet to use it, I nurse in the dressing rooms of the Motherhood store if I have to but I really want to get a Maya Wrap so I can nurse while walking around.