Taking a newborn to uni

[shar93]

Hi, I am soon to be going into my third and final year of uni with a baby due at the end of November. I just wondered if anyone on here had any experience of taking a baby into lectures and seminars as this is what I plan on doing. My course coordinator is fine with this as I will be breastfeeding and it will only be for 3 months.

Congratulations OP! I have taken a baby to seminars etc and also went to numerous seminars as a baby myself it was never a problem but I found I was very distracted even when baby was happily breastfeeding or sleeping. I also assumed I would have lots of free time for reading and writing while baby slept, but she wasn't much of a sleeper. Do you have childcare you can access through uni?

Please tell me you'll sit at the back and pop out if he or she cries. We're just about to spend a fortune on DS going to uni so every minute in lectures will be costing ££££.

I'm going to lurk here as I'm also in my final year and pregnant. I've been worried about how I'll make it work. I'm a mature student and I work full time and do one day at uni a week but I still don't know how it will work with breastfeeding.
I didn't even realise taking them with you was possible. Not speaking for other unis but the building I'm in have a no under 16s policy which has been hard when I've just had to pop in to grab something and had my toddlers in tow it is so frowned upon and they have let me run in with them "as a favour".

Check with your uni - just because your course coordinator says it’s ok, it might not be for insurance/health and safety reasons.

We have had this - the students partner/mother would sit in a nearby cafe or walk baby round in a plan for an hour or so, and we understood student in the seminar would have phone on silent/vibrate in case she needed to go out.

Personally, I’d be fine if students brought baby in, but other students might not, and the powers above ruled it was not allowed.

Best of luck

It will depend on the child. I have 3 DC and only one was easy enough for me to think I could have taken her to work. But even she was a poo monster so a BF consisted of 5 mins efficient (but noisy) suckling, a poonami, nappy and clothes change, then another 5 minutes (noisy) suckling, second poonami, clothes change, then 3-4 hours sleep. For me, relatively senior at work, this would have worked. In lectures not so much. Sort out childcare or take the year off and return when she's older.

I won't tell you about the other two that didn't believe in sleep, started moving very early and were incredibly alert and needed stimulation all the time. And one of which has asthma and so was in and out of hospital as a baby and toddler.

You have no idea what this child is like or how you will cope. Better to have plans to opt out for a year than do badly because you have a child like DD1 (now 10 and super smart, there are compensations to babies that are hard work!).

*walk them around in a pram! Not plan....

Thanks for the replies. As a mature student I am not worried about balancing uni with a child as I already have a 4 year old. The uni is very supportive of this and even have feeding rooms on site. Unfortunately my mother or partner being nearby is not an option as they both work 60+ hours a week. I am only in 2 4 hour sessions a week and ofc if baby is unsettled I will leave the room. Everyone in my class is very supportive which would be expected given the nature of the course. I find the most distracting students those that are fresh out of sixth form/college who go out most nights and sit talking about what they got up to the night before! My intention is not to distract anyone, only to be respectful of other people and get advice from those who have been in my position before. Taking a year out is not a viable option for me given my other commitments at home.. nor something I want to do when I am eager to start work given that I will be in around 70k debt once I leave. Thanks for the replies!