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Wed 14 May, 2003 04:59 pm
I'm unrepentently old fashioned. When a friend told me that her four-day-old grandson had attended both a brunch and a supper on Mother's Day both of us clucked and fussed and quivered with horror.
My sons were born in the '60's and I was very aware of the number of strangers in the world--and every single one of them as far as I was concerned was exhaling germs.
Am I overprotective? Or just old fashioned?
The baby is not being breast fed (and that is another matter for clucking).
Yoiks! I'd say 4 days is a bit young to be awandering ESPECIALLY if the child is not being breast fed.
I don't get horrified easily, but I think that the parents were way out of line. Four days old, IMO, is too early for a kid to be galavanting around.
Besides the germs, what about the mother? Four days out of labor and she is partying?
I don't know this as a scientific fact, but years ago I read something. The article said that many problems that women have during menopause could be traced to her not taking it easy for a few weeks after childbirth. This is the time where mother, father and baby need to be bonding. It is not the time for the kid being handed from one relative to another!
Truthfully, it seems like a move back to a more traditional approach, rather than a modern approach to me.
I've seen 2 and 3 day olds at plays and weddings and meals and new year's eve parties. It seemed a bit odd to me 25 years ago. Now it seems reasonably normal.
Friends (well more acquaintances) of mine took their daughter on a canoeing/camping trip that started before she was a week old. That was close to 30 years ago now. Everyone seems to be healthy and well-adjusted.
My children were born in the mid- and late-80's.
Neither of them left our home until age two weeks, and then not large, loud public places.
This is sort of an Old Wives' thing-- but there are good reasons for some of these 'rules'.
I think it was way too early for even leaving the house.
It's funny that people will be more protective of their puppies who are not supposed to be out and about until they've had at least their first set of shots....
Sofia
Same here. I think it was about a month before I took my son out anywhere.
Years ago, there was a woman who played in my bowling league. (Late 1960s) Her baby was about 2 weeks old. She held the baby in one arm, the bowling ball in the other, and a cigarette was dangling out of her mouth. I nearly lost my lunch looking at her!
Aw. Proud-mom-hood is sweet.
Rae - no saying sorry for you for 24 hours!
I once saw a really young baby in the front row at Seaworld...something not right there...
What I truly don't like is when young parents bring an even younger baby to a scary, loud movie. It ruins the film for the rest of the audience when the baby screams (have you ever not heard one scream?) and it must be horrible for the baby.
I remember taking my first daughter with us to a restaurant at 6-days old. I think it's important to get out of the house after awhile. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. My second daughter went to Bermuda at 6-weeks with her Mom. She was breastfed and wasn't about to be left behind.
I know for a fact that my first time in an airplane I was 2-weeks old, my Dad's V-tail Bonanza, so I was an early traveller.
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