Staying home with new baby for 6 weeks?

[marbel]

Just another curiosity question here; actually it's from my husband.

 

We have a bunch of new babies/pregnant moms in our church.  Many of the new families are isolating themselves for 6 or so weeks after the baby is born as a matter of policy -  not because of any immunity issues in the parents or child.   This is rather new to us - we are used to people being out and about pretty quickly, usually within a week, two at the most.

 

At first I suggested it's because of flu season but he pointed out that there were several people with kids born in summer who stayed home.

 

In one family we know of, the husband (a high school teacher) showered and changed clothes after work before even going into the same room as the baby. 

 

When our kids were born (1997 and 1999) the advice was "get out of the house, expose them to people and germs."  We had dinner in a restaurant when our son was 5 days old. While there, we ran into a couple who had been in our childbirth class; their baby was 2 days old.

 

So, just curious: is this the new advice from doctors?   We're not going to be advising people what to do with their infants and certainly not telling them they are wrong to stay home.   :001_smile:   We don't know that they're wrong to stay home!  It just seems unusual to us and is so different from what we'd been taught (though I realize that advice from 16 years ago may not apply now).  

 

 

 

[ChristusG]

My doctor never told me to stay home at all, with any of my babies. I was usually out and about on the way home from the hospital. We'd usually stop for dinner. DD#3 was born 8 days before Halloween, so on Halloween we were at a large community event with everyone stopping me to see the tiny baby.

[lollie010]

I think it is smart to stay home as much as possible for the first six weeks. That has looked different with each of my children, with #4 getting out sooner by necessity. I'm not sure what the medical advice is, but for us 6 weeks is the magic number, because if a baby has a fever before six weeks old we were told it's protocol to do a spinal tap and hospitalization. This happened to DD #2. We took her out, she picked up something, began running a fever and then we were stuck in a medical nightmare. She was a full term healthy baby and the pediatrician told me she may never leave the hospital. She was pumped with antibiotics and antivirals. It was misery for everyone and I believe she still has lasting effects from that. So for us 6 weeks is important, but not always realistic with older siblings. If we have to leave the house, I try to keep babies in a carrier or sling. Every doctor we have had has suggested "no church" for at least 6 weeks, because of all the germs. :)

[shawthorne44]

I think I mostly stayed home for about that long, but it wasn't a policy.  Between breastfeeding, diapering, sleeping and new mother panics I just didn't have time for going out.  One thing I noticed was babies left in the car seat with a blanket over the top to protect from germs.  That wasn't me.  When we did go out, she was in a sling.  

[Angie in VA]

I know of a woman who stays home (at least skips church) for months each year w/ young children, not just newborns. 

 

I think my pediatrician might have said stay home as much as possible for the first 2 weeks, but I can't remember now. 

[Slache]

Everyone was shocked that we went out when the baby was less than a week old. Also, people were making comments like "Oh, he's so _______, I can't wait to hold him in a few weeks." Um... you can hold him now.  :huh:

[SparklyUnicorn]

Never heard that, but I didn't go out much in the beginning.  Not because I was afraid of my kid getting sick, but because of so little sleep it was probably dangerous for me to drive.  I felt dizzy and awful all the time on no sleep.  Driving like that might be worse than driving drunk.

 

 

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

I took my two-day-old baby (born in 96) to the mall and thought nothing of it. It was on these boards where I was informed that people isolate their newborns for weeks. It's just not my family culture to do so.

 

My youngest, age 16, just found out that he's allergic to penicillin because he'didn't never been sick enough to need it before. Oldest is 18 and only been sick enough for antibiotics once.

 

I'm not sure if it was early exposure to germs, breastfeeding, or my genetics that contributed to their sthong immune systems. Could be the combination.

[momto10blessings]

Yes a lot of doctors are telling parents to keep baby home for the first 6 weeks. We always had ours out within a few days.

[duckabell]

I would usually keep the baby home from church the first few weeks. Mostly it was because I felt church was a likelier setting to get germs since people were closer in proximity, people wanted to see or hold the baby, etc. I'd take my baby out to other things in the community, especially just for walks outside (most of my babies were summer babies). I didn't really take the baby to the grocery store, but that was more because I was too tired to do much shopping and had my husband do it for the first couple of months or did it when he watched the kids.

[Annie G]

I know a woman who does this- she is VERY strict with it, and just had her sixth baby.  Her dh is a pediatrician, but I honestly think it's just how she wants to do it rather than him telling her it's advised.  I think she just wants to bond with the baby.   It works well for her, but it wouldn't for my dd. She just had baby 4 and was out within a week. She'd go stir crazy staying home for six weeks. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

On the way home from the hospital, we stopped at the grocery store with our new born.

 

 

[ktgrok]

I think there is a difference between, say , running to the grocery store, and church. Church tends to be a lot of people in a small area, with tons of shaking hands (germ spreading main method), sitting downwind of sneezes, etc. It's actually traditional in Orthodox circles to stay home for 40 days, i believe, and perhaps also Jewish circles? Seems fairly prudent to me, especially in flu season. Also, some women are not comfortable nursing in public, especially when the baby is so small, and so that would limit how long they can be out and about. 

 

That said, we went to Wendy's 2 days after my DD was born, as I was starving. And the grocery store about a week later, again for food. I think the earliest social thing I did was a potluck at my midwife's house at 3 weeks postpartum. She held an annual party for all her clients and babies and I didn't want to miss it. 

[Seasider]

My first was a winter baby in a bad flu year. The doctor did advise me to stay home with him as much as possible (as much as I could stand to!) those first two months.

 

But I'm old so I can't tell you if that's new again since the late '90s.

[mom2scouts]

I took my newborns out within days of their births.  I can't even imagine being able to stay home that long if I already had other children.

[Lolly]

It is old advice that is new again. I don't think doctors ever said to take little ones out in public in order to expose them to germs. Maybe it was it is okay to take them out in public? I just can't imagine any doctor suggesting germ exposure for a newborn! I have had friends who did not allow their babies to leave the house for a set length of time due to religious practices. Seems like it was about a month, so 6 weeks is possible.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Oh and good grief you don't want your newborn to get sick.  My second had a fever.  The doctors made such a gosh damn production out of it.  They had him in the hospital.  They did a spinal tap.  It was freaking awful and it was nothing.  He was better in a day.  I was so flipping mad I bothered to call them up about it.

 

 

[Carrie12345]

I *think* I may have been advised to stay home a week or two by some doctor at some point.

I was out to dinner my first night out of the hospital with #1.  Yay for 21yo energy, lol.

I stayed in for quite a while with other babies, but not for germ reasons.

[lollie010]

Oh and good grief you don't want your newborn to get sick.  My second had a fever.  The doctors made such a gosh damn production out of it.  They had him in the hospital.  They did a spinal tap.  It was freaking awful and it was nothing.  He was better in a day.  I was so flipping mad I bothered to call them up about it.

That was our experience also. Miserable. I later found out that doctors supposedly have no flexibility on this issue. Fever, under six weeks, automatic spinal and hospitalization. 

[Rachel]

The pediatrician (same practice but not the one I usually saw) advised not taking our newborns out for 6 months! He specifically mentioned avoiding the grocery store, Walmart, and church. We didn't do that.

 

With our first two we avoided church until they had their first round of shots. They were both born in the middle of flu season when hospitals were limiting visitors though. Our daughter also had several health concerns. We did take them in public where they weren't likely to be held by others though.

 

Our third did go to church before he had immunizations, he was a summer baby.

 

Most people in our circle of friends avoid church for 6 weeks to 2 months with their newborns but still run errands with them.

[SparklyUnicorn]

That was our experience also. Miserable. I later found out that doctors supposedly have no flexibility on this issue. Fever, under six weeks, automatic spinal and hospitalization. 

 

Yeah that was my second child.  I am not having more children, but if I were I would know better next time not to call them.

 

Absolute ridiculousness.

[mamabear2three]

I don't avoid places - especially church - but I also take baby in a sling or wrap everywhere I go - and I will turn away from people if they try to peak at baby too closely. Except for after my c-section, I always felt so much better physically, that I just loved getting out and walking around pain free! 

 

In our community, we have a mix of people who stay home and those who don't.

[marbel]

So I see there are a lot of different ideas about this, as usual.  :001_smile:   But it doesn't seem so unusual to me now that I see there are a lot of people who do it.

 

The people I know are not just keeping them home from church, but home from everything and everyone.  Some don't allow any visitors outside of family. 

 

I never, ever ask to hold someone's infant.  I don't like holding babies under about 3 months old.  I wait till that neck is a little more stable.  But aside from that I can't imagine asking a new parent if I can hold their baby.   

[ktgrok]

That was our experience also. Miserable. I later found out that doctors supposedly have no flexibility on this issue. Fever, under six weeks, automatic spinal and hospitalization. 

 

Our doctor actually warned us about this, and told us very strongly to call him, rather than go to the hospital. One of my kids did have a fever, but it was obviously the same thing the rest of the family had, we all had the flu or some other similar illness. Every single one of us. Baby was doing fine, other than a fever, and nursing well, no dehydrated etc. He just had us call in daily. Had we gone to the ER yes, it would have been a spinal tap. 

[fruitofthewomb]

Had last baby a year ago (flu season) and I was advised to avoid public places like church & wal mart. It was fine with me. I hated people touching my newborn & DH did too. I am a social person EXCEPT after birth. It takes me a while to recover. My 1st born was 9 yrs ago in the summer & I don't remember them telling us to stay home.

 

It bugs me that everyone expects all moms to be 'up and at it' right away after birth. My MIL bounced back quickly & I have several friends who did too. I just didn't. Some moms at church were back within a week of birth. I just wasn't that way. And I know a few others like me. But I always felt such pressure to get out of house & have it all together quickly.

[Tammyla]

I think it's pretty common around here now too.   Infants Tylenol & other fever reducers are not rec'd last I heard, for the under 6 weeks crowd.  I can see why new moms would want to avoid an illness in a little one.

 

(This year the Flu shot is not covering one of the strains around here and advice is a fluid thing from one doc to the next.)  Many of the retirement homes are being very strict on visitors and screening; they did news stories on the 3 main channels about the elderly and very young.

 

 My sister has kids ranging from 17 down to 3 months and she is surprised that so much changes in the "common practices & rec's that become the norm."   Things like back to sleep, side-sleep, early solids, late solids etc, are considered a bit dangerous/crazy today.

 

Times change, and I've learned not to give new moms old advice...even if my kids grew up pretty good :001_smile:; they just want what's best for their babies...and they're tired.

[T'smom]

My first got sick at 6 weeks, we went from doctors office to ER to small hospital to large children's hospital in one night. He was in the hospital for a week and in the end, it was "just a virus." He did have a spinal tap but it wasn't the first thing they did. I didn't completely isolate #2 and 3, but was more careful than with my first. I won't take my kids to the nursery at church until they are a distraction in the regular service (about the time they start crawling)

[FaithManor]

My ObGYN and the children's pediatrician recommended it. Several reasons, but according to the OB as a general rule, women are not really allowing their bodies to heal. The US assumption is since baby having is a natural womanly thing, it's a no brainer for her to get out and be doing all kinds of things when in reality her body has been through a lot, including shock, and needs to recuperate. Sleep deprivation and that need to heal also is important from the standpoint of driving and being truly alert on the road. I was surprised that she cited so many car accidents of moms with newborns. Due to blood lose - anemia - sleep, body having been through a lot, etc. - reaction time is much lower, and needing to adjust to the interrupted sleep means being sluggish at the wheel. The pediatrician felt it was necessary for baby to adjust to life on the "outside" and staying home encourages bonding as well. He also said it's very stressful for a newborn to be handled a lot by others and that in our culture it's very difficult to attend church/mosque/synagogue, work parties, family functions, school groups, etc. and keep people from passing baby around. I know that all too well. DD was three weeks old before I went to church the first time and though we were determined to not allow others to hold her, if we turned out backs for even a second, someone was always trying to take her out of her carrier EVEN WHEN SHE WAS SLEEPING! And when not attempting to get us to let them hold her, they still had their hands on her all the time...it was a constant somebody touching her. We ended up leaving church early. So I do understand his point. Though never a cranky baby at home, she was getting really upset and fussy by the time we left.

 

I think it is probably wise to really limit the outings for six weeks if not stay at home the whole time.

[ktgrok]

I agree that we don't let moms rest enough in our culture. In many cultures women are doted on for weeks, if not a flat month. Here, you are expected to do the dishes two days later. Or maybe that's just my house :)

[ashfern]

I stayed home because of the recovery issues. I needed to be near my own bathroom with my supplies. I wasn't comfortable sitting for long periods also so going to church was out for me. My mom was here for the first week and my IL's were here for the 2nd week so we weren't isolated from germs.

[FaithManor]

I agree that we don't let moms rest enough in our culture. In many cultures women are doted on for weeks, if not a flat month. Here, you are expected to do the dishes two days later. Or maybe that's just my house :)

 

Yup! I got two weeks. Dh always used his two weeks paid vacation when the kids were born. He did everything during that time. Since both my mom and his were still working, no one else came. By the time the 4th one came along and I had children 9, 4, 2.5, and newborn, I was done in trying to survive that first week after he returned to work. Of course it didn't help that I nearly died having that last one. But, insurance doesn't pay for in home help if you nearly hemorrhage to death after child birth. We do not have a good system in the states. Not at all. Pop 'em out...get on with your work. Not a lot of respect for the process of growing and birthing another human being. I suspect that many other cultures do a LOT better than we do.

 

I think we are hard on ourselves as well due to the culture we've been raised in and feel like it should be a no brainer, we should get up and do our usual things, we should be tough and not need the rest.

[fairfarmhand]

Oh and good grief you don't want your newborn to get sick.  My second had a fever.  The doctors made such a gosh damn production out of it.  They had him in the hospital.  They did a spinal tap.  It was freaking awful and it was nothing.  He was better in a day.  I was so flipping mad I bothered to call them up about it.

 

Ahh....I am so thankful for my dr. My son was 5 or 6 weeks old when he got a terrible illness (cold or flu or something). Wheezing, breathing stuff....my dr gave him breathing treatments in the office and told me how to monitor his breathing at home. He said, (baby born in winter) "He doesn't have RSV, but if I send him to the hospital he WILL end up with RSV, because most of the infants there probably have it right now. You may be able to keep him healthier at home than if I admitted him"

 

This dr. called my house at 5 pm, 11 pm, and early the next morning to check on my baby and monitor his progress and make sure everything was okay. He told me "If (blank) happens, call me and head to the children's hospital."

 

 

With each child, I stayed home more after their births. I was too tired to go out with them much, and church stressed me out (even more than grocery stores ) with so many well-meaning people wanting to check out the new baby. Also, 3 of my 4 were winter babies, so staying home for a couple weeks was a good thing.

 

I usually stayed home for about 2 weeks and slowly ventured out a bit after that.

[jelbe5]

I was out and about pretty soon after each of my three. I stayed home the first two weeks after my first but that was because she was a C section and I was still recovering and was told not to drive myself for a couple of weeks.

 

ETA - that was my personal preference. I adjusted to new motherhood quickly and was surprised at how good I felt! It was like an adrenaline high for me and I felt happy and energetic. I made friends with other new moms in the nursing room at the mall and we formed a nice little support group.

 

Could this suggestion be because of the enterovirus? I know that I, personally, would be nervous about exposing a newborn to that.

[Desert Strawberry]

My mother did that. She was horrified that I took my babies out within days of birth. 

 

Now that I'm older and have more kids, we plan to avoid unnecessary outings for 3-6 months because I need that time to recover and get things running smoothly here. In our home school group, that seems about right. We see babies join in activities either right from birth, or about 6 months out. It's just hard to get a bunch of kids packed up and out of the house, take a substantial drive and supervise an activity all while managing a newborn. 

 

I think that germ thing comes and goes. I'm not surprised that people are avoiding germs, because there is so much hype about infectious disease right now. It seems to come in waves. 

[gaillardia]

I think that family situations have changed so much from the way it was when I started having babies. A lot of people don't have a strong support system and can't avoid going to the store. I can't remember what I was told exactly, but baby should be at least 6 weeks old before taking him out in public. I avoided going out as much as possible.

In later years, I avoided taking baby to church for as long as possible, sometimes 2 months. I know people thought I was a nut but I sure didn't like for their kids with their sick, germy little hands to be fussing over my babies.

[Mbelle]

I have heard of it and know people who do it.  I limit outside activity, but don't avoid it.  I think I try to stay home for two weeks and then after that will go to my parents or church with baby in sling.    

 

 

[Pawz4me]

Just another curiosity question here; actually it's from my husband.

 

We have a bunch of new babies/pregnant moms in our church.  Many of the new families are isolating themselves for 6 or so weeks after the baby is born as a matter of policy -  not because of any immunity issues in the parents or child.   This is rather new to us - we are used to people being out and about pretty quickly, usually within a week, two at the most.

 

At first I suggested it's because of flu season but he pointed out that there were several people with kids born in summer who stayed home.

 

In one family we know of, the husband (a high school teacher) showered and changed clothes after work before even going into the same room as the baby. 

 

When our kids were born (1997 and 1999) the advice was "get out of the house, expose them to people and germs."  We had dinner in a restaurant when our son was 5 days old. While there, we ran into a couple who had been in our childbirth class; their baby was 2 days old.

 

So, just curious: is this the new advice from doctors?   We're not going to be advising people what to do with their infants and certainly not telling them they are wrong to stay home.   :001_smile:   We don't know that they're wrong to stay home!  It just seems unusual to us and is so different from what we'd been taught (though I realize that advice from 16 years ago may not apply now).  

 

I haven't read the other replies yet, but as far as the bolded -- Oldest DS was born in late November 1995 and his pediatrician strongly advised keeping him mostly at home for six weeks or so.  He especially said that taking him to church was a bad idea--too many people who want to touch and hold new babies, and too much crud going around that time of the year.

 

Youngest DS was born almost exactly three years later.  By that time we had a new pediatrician, and he was a lot more laid back about taking them out.  If anything he leaned more toward the idea of getting them out and exposing them to things.

 

So my guess is that the opinions are more personal among pediatricians than hard-and-fast, backed up by evidence advice.

 

It wasn't much of an issue for us, though.  I had c-sections with both of them and DH and I are homebodies.  So we were thrilled to use the babies and my need to recover as excuses to stay home from things we didn't want to attend. ;)

[Lisbeth]

Newborns are not that great at handling infections, and an infection getting out of control and becoming meningitis and sepsis is a bigger risk in the 1-6 weeks age range.  If there is an infection to go with a fever, pediatricians need to know that pretty quickly.  It can go badly, fast.  That's what I've always understood to be the reason behind the spinal taps, urine samples, and blood draws for a feverish newborn.

 

I think it's just not the "hip" thing to do to stay home with the child for extended periods of time.  It's more rugged, modern and whatever-else to show how carefree and unworried you are, how quickly you heal, and how robust your child is.  I think it's a cultural thing, an on-the-go thing.  That's just my perception of it.  I think we try to do too much, too fast.  There is pressure for it.

Absolutely, relatives want to pile in by the droves to see the newborn.  They will show up whether they are sick or not, and expect to be entertained.  I've seen it a lot.  No consideration given for the new mom.

 

I'm sure that isn't the case with everyone who goes out right away with a newborn.  They may truly just feel like it's completely silly to shield the child from germs.  I'm sure a huge % of the time, that works out for them.

 

I personally agree with staying home as much as you can the first 6 weeks. I have a nephew that came down with RSV and almost didn't make it.  His mom wanted to take him out to a crowded event, and then was upset when the person near her was coughing near her newborn. 

 

[MinivanMom]

I have pretty easy births and pretty easy recoveries, but I'm still not out & about too much during those first 6 weeks. I don't care at all about germs, but I want my own bathroom during those first couple weeks postpartum. It also takes me a full 6 weeks to get past the pain and leaking that comes with reestablishing breastfeeding. I want to be at home for that as much as possible. I do small trips to the store or to just our main church service, but with a newborn I want to be back at home for that next nursing.

 

With my last baby, I gave birth on Sunday and was at church services the following Sunday. When I tried to leave after the main service, I was confronted by a woman who wanted to know why I wasn't staying for the additional classes. I patiently pointed to my 7 day old newborn and explained I had just given birth and was headed home. She openly rolled her eyes and said that if I was well enough to be out in public then there was no reason to head home. Apparently I was using my baby as an excuse to skip Sunday school.

 

New mothers shouldn't feel like they have to explain and justify their parenting choices to everyone around them. Why can't we, as women, just give unconditional support? If you feel great after birth and want to be out and about, then go for it! Feel free to stop by the store on the way home from the hospital. If you want to spend 3 months at home nesting and bonding with your new baby, for whatever reason, then go for it! Live and let live folks.

[sassenach]

We stayed home for 4-5 weeks. It's just how we prefer to handle life with newborns.

[MomtoCandJ]

With dd1 I think I stayed home the first couple weeks, dd2 I think I was out and about again a week later. It was easier to stay home with dd1, with dd2, dd1 had activities happening that she wanted me to go to (and she wanted to show off her baby sister :D)

[catz]

I didn't stay home at all.  My younger dd started a mixed age family music class at 2 weeks old.  I get twitchy if I'm stuck in the house too much.  I think both my babies had stops on the way home from the hospital at 4-5 days old (I had c-sections, first one complicated and required an extra day in-patient). 

 

[....]

We usually don't take new babies out for 3 weeks.  Not only germs, but trying to figure out how to nurse, exhaustion, etc...  Also, my last was a c-section and I was told not to drive for 2 weeks (because I couldn't turn to see if cars were coming).  So, I couldn't really go anywhere alone anyway.  About 3 weeks makes sense - or at least minimizing going out.  It's almost impossible to do that when you have older kids.

[J-rap]

It wasn't a policy for me, but I'm sure I was more careful during those first weeks.  Plus, it was a time for baby and family to bond, and I really did mostly just want to be home.  Also, I can't imagine myself being out and about so fast!  It took me awhile to heal, with each one.  That being said, we did take our first to the state fair at two weeks, and probably to church and family's homes.  Other than that, I don't know, I really just wanted to be home with my new baby and not out doing stuff yet.

[Liz CA]

In those days, I had to go to the grocery store and we did so when ds was about three days old. Dh had a job that ran long hours and it did not seem practical to have him shop. I had a very easy birth and felt fine. But the point of resting is probably a good one. I was likely still running on adrenaline from having survived giving birth. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[....]

I have a nephew that came down with RSV and almost didn't make it.  

 

Yeah, this happened to my sister last winter.  Her newborn caught RSV and my sister and BIL were a nervous wreck.  RSV is awful.

[73349]

DS was a preemie born in winter, and we were warned to keep him away from people who might have colds because of RSV. I think we went to the grocery store, etc., the second week, but he was in his car seat and/or sling and nobody bothered him. We did have guests visit in small numbers, including schoolteachers, but no kids other than my youngest sister.

I guess the church thing is going to vary. I think we went back at three or four weeks. Nobody expected to be allowed to hold DS.

 

I don't think new moms should be told they have to stay in the house with the blinds closed for six weeks, nor that they should bounce back like nothing happened and pass a newborn around like a Cabbage Patch kid.

 

[Jann in TX]

I was a believer that taking babies out helped their immune system...  oldest dd was a summer baby and we were out with her right from the start... she was 2 before she had her first cold... but that was right after dd2 was born...

 

I was out with dd2 on the way home from the hospital-- she was a premie (34 weeks) but we went home the next day as she was sort of 'stable' (hindsight and stupid HMO).  When oldest dd had her first cold dd2 was almost 8 weeks old.  She caught the cold (RSV) and it almost killed her!  3 weeks in the hospital and breathing treatments around the clock (every 4 hours) for the first 3.5 years of her life-- then occasionally we got a night off! 

 

Youngest dd had a traumatic birth-- we kept her at home (and religiously washed/changed before touching her) for the first 6 weeks-- when I finally ventured out (to church) with her she was in a sling and I limited contact.

 

I'm firmly in the camp of limited contact the first few weeks--ESPECIALLY in cold/flu season.

[Tsuga]

My kids dad is from Asia and they also have the 40 days thing where he's from. I kept my kids in arms for those weeks.

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with going out--after all, some people have to!

 

But 40 days / 6 weeks, that seems reasonable to me. I don't think we rest enough or have enough community to help us in our society. If people had the luxury to rest for 40 days and had more people watching out for them period--not that the ought to stay in but that they ought to have support--then we could probably have better newborn outcomes in the US.

 

 

[horsellian]

We took DD out her first day - we walked her home from hospital (in a sling) at about 18hrs old.  We definitely also took her out for errands the next day. When DS was born DH walked home to fetch the car for us as they were willing to let him go home at 3hrs old, and I wasn't sure my legs were quite steady enough for the walk, plus it was 2am! Next day we just got straight back into our usual routine of activities, particularly as it was September, so everything that had stopped for the summer break was just starting again.

 

Honestly, being trapped in the house for 6 weeks with a newborn is my idea of hell.  I'm sure some people love it, but it would have driven me doolally.