when you go home from hospital

[Pandora]

Are there restrictions on what you can and cant do?
A BB member has been told that when she takes her premmie home, she cant go anywhere (i.e. leave the house) other than her mch appts or medical appts for up to 8 weeks becuase her babies immunity will be down and its dangerous.
Is this a normal sort of thing to happen?

[Liz]

I wasn't warned of anything like that with DD.. but I think during this flu season it was a recommendation for most newborns (even fullterm) to be kept away from public places in those early weeks where they could pick up a flu or whooping cough.

[Rosebud]

We were strongly advise to avoid public places and children for the first few months. It is only now, that we have started to venture out into public with DS. He is now 5 month & 3 weeks actual (2m1w corrected). When we do go out, I have rain cover that is always over DS' pram to keep nasties out.

I am still very careful and the visits to hospital/drs are what still scares me the most. There has been so many illnesses around this year and people seem so happy to cough and sneeze all over the place without covering their mouth or nose. I also find that a baby is like a magnet....people think its their right to come up and touch your baby..WTF....I flew off the handle the other day when I finally went into work to hand a copy of the birth certificate when a lady who I had never met lifted the pram cover and started touching DS when I had my back turned.

Before I accept visitors in the house I make sure that they or any members of their family don't or have not been sick in the last few weeks...if they have, I then ask them kindly to leave.........Some of my siblings are yet to hold DS as their kids seem to be sick on a regular basis.

DD's must change out of their uniforms when they arrive home and scrub their face and hands before coming near DS. I also have pump packs of antiseptic hand wash place throughout the house as we have a policy of wash before touch. If anyone is feeling a little off, I also make then wear a mask.

I may seem a little over protective of DS but I have seen first hand how quickly prems can get ill. Their immunity is extremly poor. To what extent people want to take it is totally up to the individual. It is also dependent on what issues the child may have when they are discharged from hospital but I would strongly listen to the Dr's/nurses recommendations.

Sorry for the blah blah...but I hope this is of some help.

[black_rose]

No restrictions for us, DD 1was born at 34 +1 weeks and came home at 37 +2, it was August when she came home so it was still very cold. We had her out and about straight away, she came shopping with me, we visited family and friends and people came to see us too. I just rugged her up when we were out.

I would be worried about staying at home for so long, you would go stir crazy! IMO its good for them to adjust to their normal routine early so I would do my normal thing so she was used to being in and out of the car and being around family and friends.

You just need to be sensible, stay away from anyone who is sick and at the shops she was in the pram not the supermarket trolleys.

[~Sally~]

It highly depends on gestation, weight, general health and also the season.

With Brendan, 30+1 1545grams, we were advised to avoid public places until at the very least he reached his due date but even then we were told to avoid major shopping centres ect... quite easy when you live in the middle of nowhere our towns pop was approx 50 and thats spread across quite a few farms!! He was a very sick newborn, with several infections, crappy lungs ect. He spent 2-3 weeks in ICU 3-4 weeks in SC and came home at 5w6d, 4w before his dute date. He came home in April.

With Tristan, 34+3 3090 grams, we werent told anything. But he was a very healthy 34 weeker only needing breathing assistance for approx 8 hours. He had no issues at all apart from Jaundice and getting his sucking under control. 1 day in ICU, 5 in SC and 2 on a general ward in my local regional hospital home on day 8, 4w2d before his due date. He was released in June

All the best to your friend, if she does decide to venture out just make sure no-one is touching ect. It's all basically common sense.

[MrsMc]

Connor will be coming home next week and he'll be full term (40 weeks). I asked the nurse today about taking him out in public etc, she said he'll be fine.

[tk1999]

DD was born at 34+1 and came home at 36+2 - we weren't told to avoid any specific areas but she was a 'healthy' prem and only required NGT feeds whilst she developed her suck reflex. As it was August and the weather had still been coldish we were told to always make sure she had at least one more layer than we did... but that is fairly common for term babies when the weather is cool.

[Sally2]

We were told by our nurses that it was advisable not to go to crowded places with them in the first few weeks because they come straight from a totally sterile environment and are more at risk of catching colds/flu etc.
Our Charlie got very ill the first winter with THREE bouts of bronciolitis ( most infants can expect, at the most, one bout ) requiring hospitalisation but not oxygen.
It's about what you feel comfortable with, if you never expose them to new people and places then they will never build up an immunity, but kids who had difficulty with breathing during their NICU stays are at an increased risk of developing chest infections etc that most healthy full termers won't.
I would say, expose them now when colds and flu's are less prevalent and just listen to your instincts when your child become ill ( because all kids get sick ) because prem's with lung issues can go from OK to really ill surprisingly quickly.
We also have a really supportive local hospital that takes us seriously when we turn up with concerns because they know how early Charlie was born. Often the larger metropolitan hospitals will have a 'pre registration' you can do with a note from your neonatologist which puts at risk kids straight onto a priority list so you don't have to wait as long in emergency if you come in. Could come in handy!
Good luck bringing home baby!