Attending a wedding 3-6 weeks postpartum

[Ruibies]

Hi all, just looking for some experiences here to see if I'm wildly overestimating how up for a wedding I'll be. It's a really good friend and I would be gutted to miss it. Depending on when baby arrives I could be anywhere from 3-6 weeks postpartum at the time of the wedding. It's my first baby so I have absolutely no idea how I'll be feeling!

The wedding is about 4 hour drive, and would need an overnight stay. DH will be coming too. I'm not planning on breastfeeding so I guess I'd need to take bottles etc for throughout the day. I'm kind of anticipating such a small newborn to sleep a lot, so was hoping that bringing the bassinet would mean he/she could just snooze whenever they want, between needing a feed and a change.

Am I mad to be considering this? Has anyone got any experiences to share of whether this would be something they would have gone to/enjoyed at that stage?

RSVP deadline is in about a month, at which point I'll be around 30weeks. I don't want to mess the couple around by RSVPing yes, then having to bail last minute because I've realised I'm still a mess for for the first few weeks. Thanks for any insight!

We went on holiday, stayed n a hotel, went out to eat etc, when DC1 was 2.5 weeks old, it was fine!

It was 2 hours away - I drove - but we didn't know about the car seat limits then.

We did stop once for me to do a feed.

No way I could've done it. DS fed ALL the time - every 45 mins - and screamed whenever I wasn't holding him.

Also I wouldn't have felt happy doing a long journey with my tiny baby even with frequent breaks - I freaked out driving to Tesco knowing his airway was being compressed in his seat. I was constantly checking he was still breathing! So long as you follow advice it should be fine of course, but I was a worrier.

You'll need to think about how you plan to sterilise bottles while away as well - not insurmountable at all just something to factor in. And a bottle warmer will help with RTF formula. Baby might not be picky but they might be!

We went to a wedding with DC1 at 5 1/2 weeks.
Similar journey and ok on way there with some breaks for feeds.
At the wedding I was starving hungry and the day stretched out with dinner being late. The baby was asleep by then and we laid her down in buggy next to us. Result.
Staff said buggy was in the way/fire hazard and could we put baby out in hotel foyer
She was quite settled through the day. When we got to the hotel room, she’d had enough and screamed blue murder.
And cried all the way home the next day.
It was a wedding of two halves.

Is your pram suitable for overnight sleep?! Some are so could save you taking a moses basket.

I declined a wedding when DD was 5 weeks (6 weeks after her due date). I could have gone but it felt like it would have been hard work. I was breastfeeding though, so doing all the night feeds at that point. I really wouldn't have wanted to stay in a hotel overnight as I needed my home comforts to see me through the night! I was disappointed but a bit relieved on the day. I think I would have probably managed better second time round.

With DS1 it would've been hell as he fought naps, fed every hour and screamed after 2 min in the car. I would have struggled too, forceps and episiotomy was not a fun recovery.

But DS2, who is still only 6.5 weeks old is a much easier baby, I could pop him in a sling and he'd sleep most of thd day. However, he's still not sleeping alone at night, even cosleeping isn't really helping.