How long can a newborn be outside for? PFB!

[PomegranateDiamonds]

This may all be hypothetical if this weather keeps up!

I really love being in my garden. It's my happy place. Baby is due in the upcoming few weeks. I have this vision of being outside most of the day with them, at least while the weather is still warm.

How long can a newborn be outside for? What am I not thinking of? What do I need to buy?

New babies sleep a lot and parents try grab some rest too. I wouldn't risk sleeping outside while baby outside too as an animal could come into garden even bee sting ect.
On the Other side if you not sleeping baby can be on your lap or sleeping in room inside garden door

Great plan.
Re breastfeeding
You can always lop a thin linen shawl over your shoulder whilst they latch on so noone can see.
This can be done in cafes park benches as well if you need to.

At the beginning of breastfeeding I was so worried about where to go and so stressed when babes needed a feed.

They I met this lovely lovely complete stranger woman I was in M and S and she said, oh for goodness sake plonk yourself down in ladies underwear and go for it...

It so bolstered my confidence, it is so important when you start out.

Sounds like a lovely plan

can't see you need to be too worried about insects.
I had an allotment and parked the pram underneath my apple trees and cracked on with it.

The only reason to be worried about bees is in fact if someone is allergic. Which incidentally and unusally my next door but one neighbour was on my first allotment.

but pretty unusual.

as long as garden secure from outsiders that is.

And a tip my health visitor gave me for DD (who is now sixteen)

If you go out and plan on breastfeeding..choose a cafe where you can treat yourself, with very nice customer service and hopefully lovely cakes.

Some cafes are totally clued up on breastfeeding and have signs outside.
If you want a bit more privacy just use the scarf technique. Also shieds from the sun.

Don't forget to drink plenty. But if you are breastfeeding you will no doubt be drinking pint glasses of water every hour...at least...I did...

@853ax

New babies sleep a lot and parents try grab some rest too. I wouldn't risk sleeping outside while baby outside too as an animal could come into garden even bee sting ect. On the Other side if you not sleeping baby can be on your lap or sleeping in room inside garden door

Are you expecting a bear?? OP outside is absolutely fine so long as you are careful of direct sun and check they aren't too warm / too cold. Many countries promote out door sleeping for children, especially Nordic countries, and in many countries women don't have the luxury of sitting on the sofa watching Netflix so baby goes where momma goes. If you are happiest in the garden, go in the garden. Happy mum, happy baby.

Long, long ago, when I was young, mothers who had gardens would put the baby in the pram and leave them in the garden, with maybe a net over the pram hood in case of insects, and then get on with their chores/business, while the babies got lots of fresh air.

My children were all summer babies and right from birth spent hours every day outside in the garden asleep or happily kicking in their comfortable pram . Lying flat on their backs, in the shade under a tree, with an insect net if required. If the day is hot, leave the covers off and let them have a good kick. A bare=bottom kick in the sunshine is the best cure for nappy rash.

In winter, on dry not-frosty days, they'd still have a couple of hours a day in the pram well wrapped up with a hat, and you won't need the insect net. When they got big enough to sit they often liked to sit up in the pram (strapped in) and watch the world go by. Fresh air is good for their developing body and brain.

My eldest son's earliest memory is of  "looking up at the  blue sky with leaves and flowers."  That would have been  in the pram under our apple tree when he was 10 months old.

@PomegranateDiamonds

And my garden was overlooked so early breastfeeding would have given the neighbours more of an view than I’d like.

Oh this is good point. It's fairly secluded I think...

I had sore nipples, an oldfashioned midwife and the garden was overlooked by next door. MW said " just get out there in your garden and get some sun and fresh air on your nipples twice a day, they'll soon toughen up. " She was completely right about the nipples. The older lady next door came to the fence and said "why are you showing everything, from our bedroom window my husband could see you". I said "I've got sore nipples, midwife told me to get some sun on them". She sniffed "I'll make sure he stays downstairs then ".

Get yourself a light loose shawl or silk scarf and you can breastfeed anywhere in public , completely discreetly.

DC2 was born in the summer. I had newly walking DC1 and lived in a flat. We spent all day everyday out and about; mainly at the park . I don't think you have to consider anything apart from shade and a supply of drinks for you.

@853ax

New babies sleep a lot and parents try grab some rest too. I wouldn't risk sleeping outside while baby outside too as an animal could come into garden even bee sting ect. On the Other side if you not sleeping baby can be on your lap or sleeping in room inside garden door

Animals? Like what? An ant?

I had my third in 2018 in the May. It was that really hot hot summer
He had all his naps in the pram in the shade. We were outside lots.

Oh and you can get insect nets for prams. I had one

Newborn eyes are very sensitive. Outside in shade is ok but you may want to set some special shade up (shawl / gazebo) not just sit under tree.

No direct sun at first. But no reason you can’t sit outside together a LOT.

Have fun! If you have support, health, and time, the newborn stage can be idyllic.

Animals? Like what? An ant?
Cats?? They love a warm cozy pram!
Bees / wasps, midges.....

Oh your plan sounds lovely! You arent being unrealistic. Indirect sun is great for babies (stops jaundice) and my kids always slept better outside.

You can't use spf on a newborn, so shade all the time. Light cotton clothes for the baby. I wouldnt really worry about being overlooked - certainly don't smother the baby under a breastfeeding shawl if it is very hot.

Remember that if you put the baby down to sleep in a pram or a moses basket, draping a muslin over for shade can cause the temperature to spike under the muslin. So just watch out to make sure the air circulates properly and it isnt a mini greenhouse in there.

I had a big old silver cross pram for mine. They slept outside for hours. You can get nets to keep flies and cats off. I got the net to keep my own cat off the baby.
Some light weight or holey blankets and sunscreen

Most of mine have loved being outside so we spend huge chunks of time outside in the shade of the trees. Our latest borrowed one, 5 weeks old, (we foster) loves swinging in the hammock while the 1 year old swings in his swing. When the 1 year old wakes from his nap the first thing he says "Sch! Sch!" (swing! swing!). As long as you remember sun safety there is not limit on being outside.

As long as you like. Mine are all summer babies and spent most of it in the garden/out and about from birth.

With my first I spent a lot of that summer relaxing in a hammock under the shade, either cuddling my baby, or with baby gently snoozing in the pram next to me. Bliss :-)

FML! We are animals and would have lived mainly outside in earlier nomadic years. Your cave or shelter probably would have been dark and smokey. Somehow the human race survived. Don’t overthink it. Watch out for wasps and lions.

Make sure they are in the shade and have sun cream on. I had DS outside all the time (he was born in December though)