when did you take baby out in public

[mlcoltrain]

Morgan was born in July and came home in Oct, right at the start of RSV season. I don't remeber for sure if she got shots that first year or not. She was on apnea and oxygen so we only took her out for doctor visits. In the beginning she as having 2x weekly RoP doctor visits, 2hrs away, those were fun. She was off oxygen by December and monitor by Feb, but we still kept her out of public except for doctors until April. After that it wasn't to really crowded places if we did take her out, if I did have to take her to the store I kept her covered up. The next year I am sure she got the Synagis shot so while we were still careful we weren't as nervous about taking her in public. We were also rather fortunate at the time that when Morgan was born we were living in a small town in OK so there really weren't a lot of places to take her out, so being "stuck" at home wasn't bad or too out of the ordinary.

[kdreher]

Honestly I would wait quite a few months. Michael was born end of Nov, came home end of Dec, had Synagis shot from Dec through April. We went to my mom's once or twice but that was it. First time in a public setting was in May. Even now I prefer not to take him to many public places like stores or restaurants..no need to if he can be at home. Our pedi recommeneded not outings until after RSV season....

[jmom08]

DS was born at 36 weeks (no NICU) but the pediatrician recommended we stay home during RSV season (2+ mos), so we did. He was probably 4 months before we started taking him in public very often. When my friend's daughter spent time at Children's Hospital with (still undiagnosed) immune system problem, she was advised not to go places like malls for a few months until her system had time to recover, and definitely to avoid during crowded hours (something about germs in circulated air). I hope your pediatrician has some good guidance, and hope you guys stay healthy!

[holiday]

Well I had asked the ped and got some non answer lol. So I figured I would get better advice here :o)

[jfindley]

Hi again Holiday. I recently spoke to my ped about this issue as we were debating daycare for our 26weeker (now 8months) He said that if a preemie has made it past his first RSV season and doesn't have Chronic lung Disease, then he is considered a "former" preemie and doesn't have the same vulnerability as he did upon discharge. Since your discharge date was in the summer, from what I have read, it seems you should probably stay out of indoor/crowded places for now and definitely stay inside and away from people during RSV season. Is Jasmine going to get the Synagis treatments this winter?

[holiday]

ok another question how about holidays? Should I even go to Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations with family? I was just thinking about this today.

[darateacher]

Holidays, according to my pedi, were okay for the babies to attend as long as the youngest person was over the age of 18. The idea is that adults know how to sneeze and cough into their arms and wash their hands frequently and well.

My babies were born early in January. As soon as the weather got warmer, we were allowed to take them outside for as many walks as we wanted. Also, we were told that as soon as they had their first round of shots, we could take them into public places, but NOT drugstores. Drugstores have tons of pp who are sick getting prescriptions. So, I took Adam and Noah to Starbuck's a lot. I LOVED smelling their little heads after those trips...yummy coffee smell! :-)

[darateacher]

btw, kiddos who are under 18 are more susceptible to colds and yucky viruses...that's another reason the pedi suggested adults only during the holidays.

[skittle_jitters]

quote:

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Originally posted by holiday

Well I had asked the ped and got some non answer lol. So I figured I would get better advice here :o)

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I would switch pediatricians. If the ped cannot answer my questions I would not be comfortable with him/her.

[lilliputianmama]

My 28-weeker came home just before Thanksgiving and we kept her secluded until Easter.