Did you go to stores and restaurants with your newborn or baby? How did you go about it? Did you use a stroller, sling or carrier/baby bjorn? When baby cried/got hungry, did you breast feed or bottle feed? When going to a restaurant did you just bring the carseat? Where did you put the carseat? Did it fit into a booth? (I have graco safe seat). Just looking for a few tips and tricks when we do decide to step out. Thanks so much!|||My daughter is 2 months old. I put her in her carseat/stroller (the 2 in one). She mostly sleeps when we're out. I put the car seat next to me on the seat when we're eating out somewhere. :) Congrats to you!
I bottle feed in public. Even if I COULD nurse, I'd be too self conscious to breastfeed in public.|||Just because you have a baby doesn't mean you're under house arrest!! I often go out with my bubs and always have since he was about a day old. It depends on what i'm doing as to whether i'll use the stroller or our carrier but usually i use the stroller. Or the baby trolleys also come in handy for grocery shopping or when you're getting something big and won't be able to carry it.
As for going to a restaurant i have a convertible baby seat (therefore can't really just take it out of the car) so we again usually use the stroller (definitely getting our $100 worth with that one)
When he got hungry i used to just breastfeed him, if i was with someone we would often continue shopping and i'd walk around and feed him otherwise i'd just go and get myself something to eat or drink and sit in the food court |||We did go to stores and restaurants with our newborn. We would mainly have him in his carseat/carrier and have him sit on the table while we ate. At the stores, we would have his carrier in the shopping cart. Other times, we would have him in a baby bjorn (front carrier) and would walk around the store like that. When he got hungry, we would stop what we were doing and feed him (bottle). When he got fussy (rarely), we would just try to find out what he needed and do that for him. It was a little stressful in the beginning, but once I got the hang of it, I really enjoyed going places with my newborn son. He's 7 months now.
Take care!|||I was released from the hospital on Thanksgiving day, so we took Lily to two different family dinners that day. We didn't take her out to a store until yesterday at 8 days old. We kept her in her car seat the whole time and put the car seat in the shopping carts. Haven't tried going to a restaurant yet, but tomorrow will be the first time for that. I haven't taken her out without her daddy yet though. I actually tried to the other day and I freaked myself out. I was afraid to take her in the car seat because I was afraid it would be too heavy, so I tried a sling-type carrier and she just looked uncomfortable. I tried a front carrier and again, she looked uncomfortable - her face kept hitting the hard top of it. I ended up staying home. Now I throw myself into a panic attack at the thought of leaving the apartment with her without her daddy.
I hope you have better luck than me!!!|||Yes. It's VERY easy with babies that aren't mobile. For newborns, I used a carseat in a resaurant, and a moby wrap, pouch, or commercial carrier. I breastfeed. I breastfeed in public, and pretty much no one even notices, because your sling/pouch/carrier blocks the view.
Your graco safeseat will fit in a booth, but you can also turn those wooden restaurant high chairs upside down, and it will fit in there as well.
|||We would bring our daughter into the restaurant in her Graco infant car seat. It would fit in most booths, but it also fits snuggly into the top of those wooden baby seats you find in restaurants (there is a link to a picture of the seat I'm talking about at the bottom of my post).
We also asked for a table a bit more secluded so my wife could comfortably breast feed without people gawking too much.
We've been taking our girl to restaurants since she was born, and we've never had issues.|||I just usually lugged him around in the carseat, since usually when he was younger he ALWAYS went to sleep in the car. Usually I didn't like to get the stroller out I would just put the carseat on or inside the cart at stores.
I was never too keen on breastfeeding in public since it is just difficult(I mean I have no problem with other women doing it but it's not for me); so I always pumped a couple ounces of milk before I went somewhere and if he woke up I fed it to him in a bottle.
Most carseats will fit into restaurant booths. mine does.
|||Lets see, 3 days after I had sarah , Hubby , my mom, Sarah %26amp; I all went to Costco..we used her car seat most of the time, but I never wanted to let go of her, so I carried her as much as I could..remember 3 days after..then the next day we went to Denver 20 mins away from us. she was all bundled up being carried by Daddy in the Baby Bjorn. Slept the entire time. I was Breastfeeding at the time but I pumped that day( just the liquid gold at that time no milk yet) Most restaurants have a caddy/hammock for the infant car seats and I had it sitting right next to me. I have a Graco too, and its the one that fits up to 35 lbs I think so its extra big, and some booth it fits and some it doesn't. I also have a hard time fitting it into carts.(Sarah is 9 months now, she sit in the seats of carts and highchairs) . I have a device that my infant car seat snaps onto and becomes a stroller. I hope that helped a bit. |||i have the safeseat as well, and it is bigger, so it doesn't fit well on the bottom of highchairs and such, but we just put it on the table, it wouldn't fit in the booth itself...i usually put it down in the buggy bc it doesn't balance well enough for me to feel safe..i do love the seat though! i do sometimes use my bjorn, she likes that too. i have snapped the seat into the stroller when she was a nb and slept a lot, but now that she's more alert and stronger...six mos..she rides in the stroller without the seat and she is very comfy there, she will sleep there too if she gets tired....we bottle feed when she's hungry....we did wait until she was around 2 mos before we really took her many places to allow herself to get a little bit of an immune system going...she had her first set of shots and such....i didn't take her out anywhere i didn't have too before then.|||Yup. I would rather him have a strong immune system than a week one. Heck he went to Target 3 days after he was born. Its more dangerous for them to be in a hospital. Just cover him with a blanket or keep him in a carrier. I just left my son in his car seat and didn't let weird strangers touch him. The snugli is the most amazing carrier as well. If you go to a restaraunt with a carseat, some have special highchairs that fit carseats on them. They usually fit in the booth though. And when baby was hungry, he ate. If I had no bottle,I gave him the breast. Or gave him a bottle if I needed to. |||I went out with my nb and 2 yr old. Its easy since they are mostly asleep. I used the shopping cart and stuck the carseat in there, when he got hungry i gave him his bottle. When out to eat i put the carseat in the booth, if no booth get a high chair turn it around and put the carseat on the that, it snaps on for safety.|||I always took my kids to stores and out to eat when they were babies. I used a carrier. I also bottle feed but I like that idea better myself. When I took them anywhere I always used the carrier. Which I would place on another chair or booth next to me. You will be fine. It's healthy for a baby to be outside every once in awhile|||We went everywhere with my baby girl--still do. We usually take the car seat in (fits in booths perfectly). If we go somewhere like the mall though, we take her stroller. I only bottle feed, so thats never really a problem.
Good luck and God bless!|||We used the stroller and was able to snap their car seats in it. For restaurants, if you flip over their highchairs the car seat will fit nicely in them. I formula fed them so we brought along some just in case they got fussy.|||I took my boys everywhere with us when they were newborns. I used a sling or wrap, and nursed them wherever we happened to be.
The carseat stayed in the car, so no worries about where to put it.|||My baby is 4 weeks old, and we've been taking him out since he was 5 days (we had to take him by the hospital, and had to run a few errands, so we ended up having lunch, too!) We haven't had many problems. In stores, I prop the carseat on the top of the cart and NEVER leave the cart with my baby alone. I also always have a diaper and wipes with me, just in case (usually the diaper bag). I've had to change diapers in restrooms, and may I strongly recommend buying some disposable changing pad cloths. There's dispensers on the changing tables for covers, but they are ALWAYS empty, and the thought of sticking my newborn on there without anything between him and the plastic makes me ill, lol. I wipe it down with a wipe first, put down my portable changing pad, then throw down the disposable pad. It's great, and easy clean-up. At restaurants, he usually fits in his car seat into the booth, but if not, the hostesses/workers are very accommodating and bring a high chair and flip it upside down, or bring over a chair from another table, and are sure to seat us so we are out of the way. I always pump and/or make a formula bottle for him when we're going out so we don't worry about breastfeeding. We never keep him out for longer than one feeding. I'm always sure to pump and feed him before we go, and breastfeed then pump immediately upon returning home. Only one time we stayed out too long and he'd had the bottle already, then awoke and wanted more, so we had to pull over and breastfeed. We've never ventured out without Dad yet (we only have one car) and when I do I think I'll do the baby carrier (sling or otherwise) for ease. Usually small babies will shut down and nap when overstimulated, and this has been our luck so far. We figured we should take him out now to get him used to it, and because it's easy now. Soon enough it'll be tougher, and we'll miss when we could just throw him in his carseat and go! |||As a single mum I brought my daughter everywhere with me. Besides I breastfed so she was like my little velcro baby, LOL! Anyway, If I was going into a grocery store or other mega store like Walmart or Target with carts I would just take the carseat out and put it in the front of the cart. Most carseats have lttle hooks on the front and will fit snugly and safely in the front basket of the cart. (Just make sure the restraint system is ALWAYS done up well). If I was going into the mall or restaruant or other place without carts I would attach the carseat nto the front of the stroller or if it was just a quick trip and Avary was already awake I would put her in the sling or front carrier but I have a really bad back so I couldn't keep that up too long - thus, the stroller. Either way, I always at least tossed the sling/carrier in the cart or stroller basket to use if she got fussy. That way my hands would be free to finish shopping. I had a Maya Wrap and it was great for nursing discreetly too. I nursed in public (discreetly) all the time. I have no problem with women who nurse anywhere - it's more about what you are comfortable with, and besides, I try to be respectful of other peoples situations and feelings. If I was nursing in the middle of the mall and a mom with three kids walked by, perhaps they would be very confused and demand an explanation from their mom right then. That would put her in a tough situation, especially if she had chosen to parent in a very conservative way. (Just one example) I believe everyone should have the oppertuntiy to parent and live as they wish but if the choices you make infringe on another person's right to make different choices, then that's just rude. (Sort of like the smoking and second-hand smoke issue).
As for the carseat, yes, they usually fit on the seat in the booth. One side of the booth usually has more space than the other for some reason (maybe accomodating in case one person in the party is very obese - who knows) - I would figure out which side had the most space. Often however the carseat would end up on top of the table pushed toward the back (especially if I was out with my mom or sis) because everyone wanted to be able to see the baby. I usually also asked to a table in the back or out of the way so if Avary cried I wouldn't ruin anyone else's mealtime and I could nurse her without making anyone uncomfortable. BTW I also had a Graco.
I hope this info helps you. I certainly know how it is to be new at this and have a lot of questions. My daughter is almost 8 months old already! God, the time flies by! Treasure every moment - I know you will. And really, feel free to add me as a cotact and ask me any question in the future. SOmetimes it helps to have a contact to ask those questions you don't want to call your ped for. Good luck to you and congrats on your little miracle! Cheers!|||I tried not to take my son out, now 7 weeks, until he was at least 2 weeks old. We ended up going to Ruby Tuesdays to take my mom out to dinner and see the baby for the 2nd time when he was a week old. I took him in his car seat and left him in it. People tend to keep their distance and with him still strapped in the question of holding or touching doesn't come up unless you invite it.
Everyone always asked how old he was and most understand about not handling a newborn.
As for the feedings, I breastfeed. I never did like leaving the party, so to speak, just to feed him. Makes you feel like a leper. So, I get a nice, big baby blanket and put it over my head, kind of creating a tent for my and my son. That way I can actually see my son and help him keep the nipple in his mouth. I can still talk to everyone at the table and be included in the evening. If I happen to be at a store I try and nurse before I go into the store. Again I take the car seat. Until he is big enough to sit in a highchair or shopping cart by himself I stay with the car seat.
As for placement, some restaurants have slings that are especially for car seats. They can also be placed on top of the highchairs. For shopping, you can stick them on the area where a child would sit, or you can pull that part so that it is closed and then place the seat either in the cart or so that it is spanning the cart with the bottom and top resting on the sides of the cart.
Hope this helps! have fun!!
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