39+1 Has anyone thought about when to take their newborn out in public?

[sedgiebaby]

I hear the odd comment about not taking newborns out in public for anything between 1 and 3 months.

On another US board I read how a pediatrician was advising that no one (visitors etc) to touch hands or face before baby had had its first lot of jabs.

We will be coming into cold/flu season soon, its my first I don't know how strict I need to be about visitors and taking baby out. I certainly don't want baby to get sick.

My SIL was really strict about this last winter but we were in the throws of swine flu etc.

Is anyone aware of any 'evidence' to help guide mums?

Yes, take it. DS had to come to the bug hell that is playgroup every day with me to drop off and pick up dd. And toddlers exercise no judgement at all about their germs.

Seriously - if you have another one it will get literally and lovingly smeared with snot. They're really quite tough.

I mean, obv don't deliberately expose the baby by lying it under someone's drippy nose, but just maintain basic good hygiene with soap and water yourself.

omg - I have never heard anything so ridiculous! 3 months!

How are you supposed to get them out of the hospital and into your car if you have a hospital birth!

Habbibu lol @ lovingly smeared with snot!

Here is an example of the kind of info 'out there'...

Your Baby Week Nine by some Dr!
pediatrics.about.com/od/yourbabyweekbyweek/ss/baby_wk_nine.htm

Take the baby. A second baby would be around germ-riddled children much of the time anyway; no reason to fret about it for an eldest child.

DH took my DD out the day after we got home, so I could get some shut eye. I didn't go out until 2 weeks+ and ended up in floods of tears in a carpark. I was later diagnosed with PND. So I know the signs now, and hope to get out much sooner with this one. Don't really have much choice as DD can't walk herself to school and home again.

I would have gone completely mad if I hadn't taken DS out.

Just read the link. What a load of crap. I'd stay away from that site if I were you.

DD was always sheltered by me and got lots of colds and fevers.
Ds has done the school run with me from almost 1 month old and hardly ever catches cold.
Both breastfed (dd 8 months, ds 1 yr). Dunno if that makes a discernible difference but baby does get antibodies from mum.

Thanks for your feedback all, by 'out in public' I meant events/gatherings/parties more than a walk down the road/high street/pop to dr's or the shop

(although come to think of it I have had people turn and sneeze in my face in the supermarket - ignorant pigs!!)

I'm still not sure on this one because...Ineedsomesleep this 'medical expert' advice isn't isolated, see link below.

ezinearticles.com/?Baby-Care---Newborn-Baby-Out-in-Public---Wait-and-Protect-Your-Infant-Baby-From-Illness&id=2659769

The difficulty I have is as a first time mum, what do I use for my point of reference when I'm unsure about an issue. Ask my mum/midwife/health visitor/friend/mumsnet/interwebz search, everyone has a different view!

I'm afraid my fallback position is to err on the side of caution

(even) NCT identified newborns at greater risk of seasonal flu due to undeveloped immunity

www.nct.org.uk/info-centre/information/view-117#babies

My dd is 3.4yrs old. She has had 2 stomach upsets and a couple of colds. In her first year, she had one tiny cold.

She was held, cooed over, passed round and generally loved from birth.

If you give birth in hospital you'll be in contact with approximately 8 squillion bugs from the second your baby is born. And then there's the journey home and the midwife who has been in and out of other people's homes all day and the health visitor who works in a GP's surgery.

Babies are very, very resilient. Especially when bfed.

Thanks for asking habbibu, I think she is excited, but she's not going to know what's hit her

Sedgie, my reluctance in going out would be for mum's benefit more than the baby's.

We were walking to local shops, going to the supermarket etc. from day 2 and TBH I won't be doing it again. I felt agoraphobic, could physically feel the blood gushing out as I walked, I felt like I needed a badge saying 'Handle with care - I've just had a baby!. You'll be exhausted from labour, sleep deprived, you need a bit of time to recover.

But 3 weeks on you'll be fine, and climbing up the walls if you don't get out!

From one of the US links

'Fortunately, yes it is legal to breastfeed a baby in public in most states...'

lol I didn't see that

Wait until SILs anti-bacced angel starts school, she will probably catch every bug going. My SIL is like this and my poor neices are forever off school sick, monthly in the winter.

I am sure as well as a big dose of luck its my own slatternly tendancies and slightly slapdash, grubby approach to life that mean DS ends up with 100% attendance almost every year!

Bumperlicious - you paint a romantic picture! Seriously I appreciate the comment.

Giddyup - hmmmm very interesting!

Bumper I'm planning on taking things much easier this time round, I'm sure that I made my cs scar worse and get infected because I didn't rest enough to start with.

sedgie - honestly I think you are getting too worried about this. The best thing you can do for your baby in terms of protecting them from illness/germs whatever is to breastfeed them and live your life as normal.

There's lots of evidence to show that babies in northern hemispheres don't get enough vitamin D in the winter months. Ironically, one of the effects of this is said to be that they are more susceptible to dangerous forms of flu viruses. Recent research has found that on average babies born in winter lag behind their summer-born peers in physical and mental development for life. (I know that when they get to school summer-born babies don't do as well in the classroom, but this is because they're younger than their peers, so it's not a proper comparison). The study concludes that this is due to inadequate exposure to the sun for the first two weeks or so of the baby's life.

(Cynics will await the inevitable research linking cot death or colic with exposure to sunlight).

Your baby's not a winter baby, but you're right - frequent walks in the park must be a good thing!

Boognish, really interesting point, I've read loads on vit D and have taken it throughout pregnancy a little high than EU rec. My DH is Canadian and the rec there is 2000 IU per day massively greater than the EU/NHS rec. I also read that babies conceived in the winter (born this time of year) have MS in greater numbers (sorry don't have URL but a definate trend was seen in victims and their birthdays), I will keep taking vit D whilst breast feeding which I hope to make a success of.

I understand though to get adequate levels from daylight would mean significant skin exposure to strong (middle of the day) sunlight which is not really possible is some countries/times of year, making supplementation a consideration.

With regards to my OP I was possibly unclear, going outside I'm not worried about, it is more close contact with people in groups, indoors in the early weeks that I'm giving thought to.

"With regards to my OP I was possibly unclear, going outside I'm not worried about, it is more close contact with people in groups, indoors in the early weeks that I'm giving thought to"

I really think that you are worring too much. DS wasn't ever ill until I gave up bfing at 2.8. DD has had one cold in her entire life aged 3 months. It made her a bit miserable but not much. That has been it.

If you are still worried how long are you thinking of avoiding people for?