Being carted from pillar to post

Hiya,

I'm wondering what everyone's opinion is on babies being taken everywhere at all times of the day. The reason I ask is that last night we went to a friends place to watch the Rugby which didn't finish until close to midnight and then we had to bundle our baby up, take him home and then put him to bed (which took a while). I felt guilty having him out so late.

I have mixed views but being a new parent I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing - I never know what's right.

On one hand, I want my son to be adaptable and happy in all sorts of environments so want to expose him to same. My DH can get anxious in new situations which prevents him from trying new things and I don't want my kids to miss out like he does.

On the other hand, perhaps babies should be kept at home or in a routine so that (according to popular theory) they can anticipate what is coming next and feel safe and comfortable....

What do you think?

Edited by MrsH

Yeah I think in moderation too. I think routine is important for bubbas but doing that sort of thing every now and then is fine. We tend to send Daniel off to the grandparents when we want to do something like that, then we don't have to consider him lol.. that's just us though.

Personally I wouldn't do it, but that's more to do with having twins than anything else. Plus when my girls were that age, I was barely out of my jammies on any given day

I think it is good because it gives you an opportunity to be you and that makes for a happier mum.
Like the others say moderation though.

When we go out I just put Daniel down in a portacot in a quiet room to sleep and then we do the transfer to barseat and then into bed. He doesn't mind too much.
When Daniel was your boys age we just slept him in the pushchair if we were out in the even and we tried to go home just before he was due a feed so we could feed him and put him into bed at home.

We had to go to a housewarming on friday, and were only planning on staying till 7.30 bedtime, but Brennan is so used to sleeping anywhere he feel asleep there (whilst listening to pantera lol)

I was out and about with him from an early age because i didnt want him to not like sleeping out etc.. Hes just started staying at Nanas while we go out for tea which is more nerve racking for us rather than him!

If we didn't take Callum everywhere we wouldn't leave the house as we have no family here to help out with babysitting. Like some of the others, if C has had a busy few days or isn't sleeping well for some reason I will keep him home or take him home early but in general I take him everywhere. We were out at the rugby on Saturday too - in a pub! - and I just took C home straight after the game and then let him sleep a bit longer in the morning.

Re routine, we've had a great routine from the beginning and have also taken C out from the beginning. So his sleep cues have been his dummy and a blankie and he just sleeps wherever we are (usually in his capsule, stroller or a portacot) but at the usual times.

Don't feel guilty! If it works for you, and your DS is happy then do it

i was taking DS out with me when he was only a few days old and even took him out for dinner with us when he was 5 days old cos we were meeting friends. we have settled down alot now but we still take him to house warming parties with us and stuff. we make sure we always feed him at the same times no matter what though. if he gets tired we put him down in someones room and he normally goes to sleep just fine, half the time he doesnt even wake up when we transfer him into the car and back into bed. i would say as long as they have pretty good routine most of the time it is fine. i agree with the others though, it probably gets a bit harder as they get older.