First time out with baby & feel like I'll never leave the house again!

[Firsttimemummy19]

My baby is 7 weeks old and today I decided to take him to the shop to get a few bits and basically see how we do out & about.

Firstly it took me 15 minutes to get the pram chassis in the boot. I have car adapators so the car seat fits to the chassis thinking this would be easier but I'm only little and everything was so awkward. From trying to battle the chassis in the boot to even trying to get the car seat in & our the car.

I don't have the money to replace the pram or car so I feel like I'll never venture out with my baby again while he's still small and I'm reliant on pushing him in a pram :(

What's the answer? Do new mums tend to stay at home?

Oh and when I got home I burst into tears from the stress of it :(

It gets easier, you'll get into t he swing if it.

Start with supermarket/complex type ships where you can put baby into a trolley with a baby seat, then you dont need to take the pram at all

Get a sling, they make trips out much easier, can leave the seat i the car and just pop baby in the sling.

Get into a bit of a routine so you feed,.change then go straight out, that way you limit stuff you need to take and i liked a backpack changing back as it was easier to carry. 2 baby grows, 3 nappies (in event if poonamis, leakage etc), pack of wipes and bottles if youre FF

I would suggest a baby carrier it will make being out and about alot easier...

I have twins and it was a nightmare at first - I don’t drive so any time we went anywhere where in the car I had my husband to help. I only went to places we could walk to as fitting a double buggy on the bus is a nightmare.

If I only had one I would definitely have used a baby carrier!

I remember doing very similar! I got dd into the car seat and I couldn't get the pram apart to get it in the car at all. I was stood in a multi storey car park wondering if I could get the thing in to the car uncollapsed practically in tears. One last go got it and I got home.
We had that pram/pushchair through 2 dc and I loved it.
Practise at home until you feel confident. It will be OK :)

Firsttimemummy19 My baby is due in June and this is one of the things i'm worried about. It must be a very scary time coming out of the baby bubble and getting on with life with the little one. Just wanted to give you a hand hold

I think you deserve a medal for not doing it until 7 weeks. I was going to explode after 2 days after he was born

Don't put it off, the more you do it the less fucking hideous it'll be x

I'm normally immensely capable and don't get flustered easily but I remember venturing out to Morrison's for the first time with DC1 and feeling very proud of myself as I loaded her and my bag of shopping into the car.

Then she started screaming for a feed and I just could not get the pushchair to collapse and DC1 was getting more and more hysterical. What was probably less than a minute felt like about half an hour, eventually another woman came and helped me get the pushchair in the car and I fed DC1 in the drivers seat trying not to cry myself.

Two years on I can fold the double version of the same pushchair one handed whilst holding DC2 and running after DC1. Everything gets easier with practice.

Do you have to drive to the shops or other places you want to visit? I don't drive so walk to most places (bus/train for anything too far away).

Get a sling! Then you don't have to wrangle the pram. It makes life so much easier and keeps you hands free! My month old baby loves being in the sling too. Then all you have to deal with is putting her in and out of car seat and from car seat into sling.

Iys so stressy isn't it. But you've done it once now. You've experiences the worst--it can only get better.
Can you try practicing a bit at home? We used to leave the adaptors attached to the chassis but it was still difficult to clip them in correctly.
You can do this though and it's only a short while whilst they're in this stage.
Take care of yourself x

Baby carrier. Don’t bother with the pram at all.

Ah we all felt like this. Keep doing it and it starts to feel normal.

So far I've only used the pram when DP is with us. It's fine with two as can share the pushing and easy to get it in and out of car and car seat clipped on with two, but I definitely don't want to do it on my own right now! When I've been out solo, I've got a Close Caboo carrier that's super easy to use.

Dh was off work sick for a while, So I had a lot of help with the first, but when he went back I found it difficult sometimes. Our travel system was bloody huge, and we had to take the parcel seat out of the car to fit it in. It was a hassle. I got irritated By everything when we were out.
But parents do go out, and the sooner you get practicing the sooner it will get easier.
I half expected this post to be about needing to pack like they’re going short haul just for a trip to Tesco

Oh this takes me back. Bless you it will get easier. Have a non mnetty hug.

Practice. It does get easier. The 1st time I took my 4 yr old and baby out alone I thought I might explode from the stress of it but I did it everyday and it's just 2nd nature now.

If it's the faffing about with a capsule and a pram that you're finding difficult, just leave the capsule in the car and use the pram without it. As long as the pram lies flat (or slightly inclined), it's fine for a newborn.
Much easier to get a baby in and out of a carseat and into a pram, than to worry about taking the whole seat in and out.
Also I support what PP have said about a sling/structured baby carrier.
Makes getting out and about a lot easier.
I do my groceries online though.

Well done for getting out the house before lunch, I presume you were dressed!!!!!!

Getting out is hard with a baby, I found walking much easier rather than using the car with a baby x

Think about when you first started driving, everything seems incredibly complicated and you'll never be able to put it all together, and now driving is so automatic you don't even think about it?

This is similar, the first few times feel hellishly difficult but before you know it you hit your stride and don't even think about a lot of things. It'll get easier

You'll get used to it. I found I walked a lot when dd was tiny. Helped me get out and also was exercise.

Can you take wheels off the pram? I had a mini and I managed to get my pram in it if I put it in a particular way, so it might be down to practice !

The first time I took dc1 out I took the pram. He hates the pram and screamed and screamed, it was awful. After that I just popped him in and out of the sling and had a cross body or backpack with our things in.

Dc2 also hated the pram but I was practiced by then so he went straight into the sling. Unfortunately dc1 was only 19 months and had barely started walking so I had dc2 in a sling, backpack on and dc1 on a hip seat! It was easier than my first outing with dc1

You'll get there, you just need to figure out what works for you.

walk, if at all possible.

It gets better - with a bit of practice you'll get the hang of exactly how to swing the pram base into the boot so that it all fits in. Leaving the house with a baby is a gigantic faff, but you will get used to it, and it's so important for your wellbeing to get out of the house. I found walking was loads easier if you've got shops or baby groups or anything within walking distance, as you don't have to faff with setting up and dismantling the pram.