Just wondering how long people waited until they start regularly taking their newborns out and about?
I have a 2.5 year old who I used to take out for activities every day (playgroup, music, art etc). I had baby number 2 a week ago, my partner is off work this week so has been able to take our toddler to her normal activities. When he's back at work though this will obviously change.
How long did people wait to take their newborns out to these type of things? I'm quite scared of him getting sick if he was around a bunch of toddlers, but I also can't imagine staying home for 2+ months.
How long to wait before taking a newborn out regularly
How long to wait before taking a newborn out regularly
Posted in:
Baby & Toddler
9 Replies
Well I asked for family to get the whooping cough vaccine or wait until Bub had six week needles, so I didn’t really take Bub anyway until after her shots. Besides a quick supermarket where she was covered in the pram or was being worn.
If you’ve asked that of family too, I would probably say you shouldn’t go anywhere until bubs had needles. If not, it’s up to you, I mean it’s up to you either way... whatever your comfortable with.
I just felt bad if I asked family not to visit if they didn’t get the vaccination but went out in public where there was potentially other unvaccinated people.
I had a c-section with complications so I couldn't really do anything for almost 2 months (drove my 5 year old crazy!) so I waited quite a while with my youngest. It's really up to you, you could put a blanket over the pram while out to help avoid germs.
With #2 and #3, it was pretty much as soon as we came home from hospital, not necessarily because I wanted to but I had things that needed to be done that didn't just go away because I'd had a baby.
It's all well and good for people to tell you to wait 6 weeks but life does go on.
Having said that, I would try to limit contact with other toddlers and outings that aren't really essential until that first vaccine, a lot of parents don't have the common sense to keep their kids home if they're not 100%.
Don't be afraid to tell people to get out of your baby's space too, even toddlers and children. You'll probably piss a few people off but so be it lol!
I tended to go to outside activities. Trips to the park with lots of fresh air is safer that something where everyone is packed in and breathing on each other. If you are baby wearing and don't have bubs being breathed on by other people or touched by others it's highly unlikely to catch anything.
Wouldn't it be great if everyone vaccinated though, so our babies could rely on herd immunity in those first few months.
I was super anxious but have been taking my 5 week old out since 2 weeks. I just kept him in the pram with the cover over it so people can't bend down and peer in :)
I would be careful of creating too much change in your toddlers routine or it may cause resentment towards the new member of the family. You don't mention if bubs is breastfed but if he is he probably has a fair degree of immunity anyway. Decide on some basic protocols - who is allowed to handle bubs etc, let the other Mum's know and get back out there and enjoy the life you have created.
With my second (she’s now 6 months) I had to take her to drop and pick up my eldest from school but I just asked people to keep their distance, especially with her being sick at birth so I didn’t want people close to her until her first needles which was around 10 weeks for her as she was sick with a viral meningitis at 6 weeks.
With my first I tried to avoid it until his first needles too.
Whenever you're ready...I'd be mindful of who touches for a bit bit that's just me :)
We went on a camping trip with a bunch of teen-agers when our second child was a week old. We did have a strict no touch policy with everyone though. It's whenever you feel ready and with whatever boundaries you set.