visitors at the hospital after birth opinions....ty!

i know family will be there and friends...
but i was wondering how do you deal with it?

i am getting paranoid bc....i hear ped's often say limit alot of people around the baby until your breast milk antibodies kick in for baby and baby gets shots.

so if that is true...they how can it be good for baby to be held by soooo many people sooooo quickly???

i will purell everyone that comes in lol...but how many people is toooo many people?


and i do have some friends who have kids who will want to come to visit ....but do i say dont bring your kids? that seems uber rude to me....on the other hand ....what bring your kids but keep them in the corner like a dirty dog?? lol

any advice would be helpful bc i am really trying to think how to do this in the hospital and and home so i dont stroke out tia!

Re: visitors at the hospital after birth opinions....ty!

We were very nervous about this too. In the hospital they usually won't MAKE you keep the baby in your room. What we did was keep DD in our room all day, and then when visitors came we put her in the nursery where people could see, but not hold. I'm not sure where you are giving birth, but our hospital had pretty strict visiting hours (only like 1 or 2 hours for friends and family to come) grandparents could come longer, but for aunts and uncles and friends the short time was it. It worked to our advantage. When you are home, you could always say the baby is sleeping or just try to keep them in the swing, or bouncy seat and ask people not to hold. Your kid your rules. Do what makes you feel comfortable!

Re: visitors at the hospital after birth opinions....ty!

they can wash their hands...most people are smart enough not to cough on a baby and you can politely ask that anyone feeling under the weather refrain from holding the baby.

My concern is more for the recovering mother than the baby. My parents came in the room a little whie after I gave birth and my heart rate monitor kept going off...I guess I never realized it but my parents raise my blood pressure! I had to give DH a look to get them all out of there but the nurse beat him too it when she heard it going off and kindly said "mommy needs her rest"

Message edited 4/29/2012 10:35:59 AM.

Re: visitors at the hospital after birth opinions....ty!

You can absolutely tell people not to bring their kids. I only allowed our parents to visit in the hospital.
I limited who could be around dd the 1st 3 months of her life!
Kids in school settings are exposed to all kinds of germs and IMO why would I want my newborn around them if the kid isn't a sibling.

Re: visitors at the hospital after birth opinions....ty!

I just made sure everyone washed their hands, but everyone held him from day 1. Family and friends were at the hospital, they came over once I got home- I loved the company and I had no problems letting anyone hold him. But, I am very liberal and laid back when it comes to DS. But you child, your rules. If you don't want friends bringing children to the hospital, I do not think it's rude.

Re: visitors at the hospital after birth opinions....ty!

My hospital doesn't allow more than four visitors at a time and no kids under 12, except siblings. They state if anyone is sick they can't come up and that everyone must wash their hands before picking up the baby. So, I'd look up your hospital's policy and if it's similar, inform your visitors if you are concerned, or ask your nurse for help with enforcing that.

Re: visitors at the hospital after birth opinions....ty!

No kids were allowed, except siblings. So that solved that problem.

As for the adults, yes there were a lot of visitors. But they all knew to wash their hands/use purell. So it wasn't a big deal. Plus ds was always swaddled.

Those that had colds, knew to stay away or they didn't hold the baby.

It wasn't a big deal. Most people are good about it.

Re: visitors at the hospital after birth opinions....ty!

If someone has a cold pr something then I would say don't visit but other than that they have hand sanitizer in the room.

The baby is being handled by drs and nurses all day long seeing a few visitors will be fine.

And no you do not have to keep the baby home and away from the world until shots.....just be smart. My ped told me a baby is not a jail sentence. you are having the baby in nice weather. Take advantage of it. Winter babies are harder to get out with but I took him everywhere from about week 2

Re: visitors at the hospital after birth opinions....ty!

I had no visitors but our parents and siblings. I just had a csection and honestly wasn't in the mood for a whole bunch of family and friends hovering over me and DS in a crowded room. DHs aunt and uncle came anyway which really bothered me - they saw the baby and then were chit chatting about family drama. I don't regret our decision at all. DH and I had such a wonderful hospital experience spending all of our time getting to know our baby, resting, and recovering. I'm a big no kids around the baby for a while person.... it's just not worth it to me. I know someone's who's 2 week old got a cold and then upper respiratory infection from another child. It's not necessary!

Re: visitors at the hospital after birth opinions....ty!

In my family there is no limiting visitors We had plenty of people come, everyone washed their hands, used Purell.

No one brought there kids...most people know that is a no no, but if you need to you should

Re: visitors at the hospital after birth opinions....ty!

Posted by Naturalmama

I just made sure everyone washed their hands, but everyone held him from day 1. Family and friends were at the hospital, they came over once I got home- I loved the company and I had no problems letting anyone hold him. But, I am very liberal and laid back when it comes to DS. But you child, your rules. If you don't want friends bringing children to the hospital, I do not think it's rude.