When did you start to venture out with baby? - Page 2

[dharmabum]

We nursed in the car quite a bit, when my son was first born.  He ate so frequently in the beginning, that I could "top him off" before running errands or walking downtown.  

[BarefootGirl]

DS is almost 10 weeks old now.  We started getting out for short trips to the store pretty much right away.  DH and I went to Target to Christmas shop when he was he was 2-3 wks old and I nursed him in the family fitting room.  I've nursed in the car a bunch of times and in the back of the bowling alley.  I still haven't learned how to nurse in the wrap or sling.  I definitely still don't feel "coordinated" with it.  We are still using a nipple shield which makes nursing in public more difficult.  I've been trying to wean him from it and have made a little progress at home, but when we are out, I cannot get him to latch without it for even a second.  Just find an out of the way location, face a wall, whatever.  I kind of have a hard time with it cause I want to just pop my boob out and latch him on like a pro, but I have to hide a little since it takes a few minutes to get the shield on and get him to latch.  So I end up feeling guilty for hiding cause I WANT to nurse in public with confidence.  Last week I nursed at a restaurant for the first time, but it wasn't that busy and the tables next to and across from us were empty and the lighting was dim, so I didn't feel like anyone would even notice anyway.  I will be SOOO glad when we can finally ditch the nipple shield for good.  Once that happens I'm going to nurse everywhere, LOL!

[Sharlla]

Panda was 3 days old when we went out for groceries. 

[~Amy~]

We were at the mall the day after we left the hospital, the farmer's market the next day & church the day after that.  I go crazy staying in the house all day.  DS was born in a hospital so probably was exposed to way way more germs there than he was anywhere else we went.

[kimkim]

We tried at 2 weeks and I had a breakdown. I just couldn't handle the people. and DD wanted to nurse the whole time and I seriously couldn't nurse unless I was totally topless and had 3 pillows and used both hands and I leaked a lot.  So it was hard at first for me to be in public, to be comfortable.  You can always find a bathroom (I sat on a toilet once for like 20 min to nurse my baby at the grocery store) or changing room or quiet corner or face a wall.  Honestly, people try not to stare and I have found that I'm so preoccupied getting her to latch on that I'm not paying attention to the general public.  And soon enough you will get better at it and your babe will have neck control and it will be easier (then they get distracted and excited about the world that they can't focus on nursing. that's where i am now. we finally figured it out and now she can only get a good feed in at home in bed! but i know that will change too)

good luck momma. i think we finally had our first outing around 5 or 6 weeks

[lrgs]

P.J............my first was a screamer as well, I didn't know it at the time but I think she just got overstimulated, overtired and couldn't settle herself to sleep (hindsight is 20/20). I was terrifed to leave the house.

OP, with DD2 we left the house for the first time when she was 5 days old. My recovery this time was amazing, with my first I started to get sore after standing too long for about the first week or so. My ODD was getting a bit stir crazy, her grandparents had been taking her on outings but she wanted her mom and dad. We took her swimming and to an indoor playground, she swam with her dad and played while I sat in a chair reading a book while YDD slept in the Moby. My Mom was having a homecoming BBQ for my little brother right after so we went to that. I had a camping trip/family reunion 2 weeks after she was born and we went there for about 4 days. It was great because there was lots of family to entertain Mya and I just sat in a chair for the whole time nursing and cuddling my YDD (I shared her  with family too.....but didn't have to share too much since she was a nursing maniac in those days so she was with me quite a bit). Outings really do get easier. I remember feeling the same way you do with my first. Even going to a doctor appointment seemed overwhelming. I wasn't good at NIP and it caused some stress. This time around I'm a pretty good at NIP, I discovered nursing tank tops and these really help......it's my NIP uniform :). I think you've gotten some good advice, start small (the bookstore seems like a great idea) and go from there.

[Nicole730]

I was out within the first week with both.  I am concerned about germs,  but not overly so when they are so tiny because the baby is in a wrap the whole time and other people can barely see the baby, let alone touch the baby.

[Snapdragon]

It took me a few months to venture out on my own with the baby. I had a c section so I felt like the first month I was still really injured- more than a month really. I would say jsut take it slow- breastfeed just before you go out. I would personally feed him in the car when we werre out and he needed to eat- I mean park the car in as private a place as possible and feed in the back seat.

[Monkeybean415]

I probably only stayed in for a couple weeks. We took walks a lot though. I just kept her in a wrap so she was close to me and to keep people from touching and getting too close to DD. In the beginning we used a nursing cover but I soon got the hang of discreet nursing without it! I loved the nursing cover for the first month or so because I could fumble around and let it all out without anyone being able to see a thing