You can take them anywhere for the first few weeks bc they spend so much time sleeping/habituating. I remember my daughter sleeping through a jackhammer as I rolled her in a stroller down a city street. I took her to a dinner party at 6 weeks. I took my son to a parent-teacher conference in a car seat.

I thought the newborn stage was awesome. My babies were easy babies and I had tough pregnancies but recovered very quickly after birth so I honestly felt a lot better physically by the time we went home from the hospital than I did while pregnant.

DH and I LOVED the newborn stage. We'd just sit and stare at how amazing and beautiful they were (they were actually not good looking newborns). We took so many picnics and the newborn would just lay snoozing on the blanket. It's actually one of the best times ever to get out and see people/shop/do things (pre covid times), because they get more difficult.

There were some hairy times, like the 3rd night when baby wouldn't nurse but was so hungry and breastfeeding was painful. I wish I'd had a bit of formula for that night, but we powered through and everything got so easy. There was a lack of sleep, but no pain (other than nipple pain that was helped by APNO). Recovery was pretty easy.

My 2 maternity leaves were definitely some of the best times in my entire life. Pregnant now and I know it will be a whole different experience with covid No moms groups, no fitness classes with moms, no stroller strides, no afternoons at wineries, no relatives, and no babymoon. I had 2 incredible babymoons where we went to Africa and the Middle East- not happening now.

My tips would be to be calm (lots of anxious moms at moms groups and I think their anxiety made it harder) and to read lots and lots of newborn and newborn sleep books.

Just enjoy their littleness. They will never be that tiny again. I look at my kids now and it still blows my mind that they were once a sleepy, squishy newborn.

The newborn stage has hard parts and everyone's experience is different, but don't expect that its all bad.

You can make lots of excuses to sit on the couch and read, watch tv, etc., withe the excuse that you’re feeding/holding the baby. I binge-watched multiple tv series during my maternity leaves while nursing, and once I figured out how to prop up my kindle so I could read books while holding my babies, read more books for pleasure during those months than at any time before or since.

This varies a lot by baby. Mine were never the “luggage” type. They cried all the time from the get-go. You won’t know what your baby’s like til you meet your baby, so my advice is to expect it to be difficult and try to go with the flow. You might get lucky.

Portability and naps! And you can only take all those naps when your first is a newborn, so try to enjoy it. I also got so much reading done when my babies were new. I miss that.

I actually loved (and totally miss) the infant stage. Babies are just adorable, they love to rest on you, they can't talk back, they can't run away, they need you 100%.

You can dress them, you can easily manage their schedule and most babies are pretty good and telling you (i.e. crying) when they need something and I found that age fairly intuitive. Toddlers and teenagers seem to be cranky sometimes for no good reason!

I really miss that infant stage and have so many lovely memories and photos of my kids as babies.

It gets way harder when they can walk away and talk, in my opinion.

I do love the teen stage as well since my kids are also lovely people, but the toddler stage was much rougher for me.

Good luck!

Agree with what others have said. The slow time at home just doing skin to skin, quiet mornings together, babywearing!! I seriously miss baby wearing. putting my son in the solly wrap and enjoying the snuggles is such a nice part. Also now that I have a toddler, it's so nice that when you want to get them dressed - you can just get them dressed! They won't fight you or negotiate with you I have also found many of my friend's postpartum periods to be better during covid actually. Things are slower, less visitors (which you dont anticipate but honestly cause a lot of stress), partners are often home teleworking which makes a HUGE difference instead of partners out of the house 10-11 hrs a day commuting. Yes they are still working but not feeling alone in the house iwth a newborn that long, taking out commute time, andhaving a touch point if you have a really desperate day is wonderful. So, it really might be better than what your friends/sister experienced. It also is so dependent on your newborn! Everyone will go through a hard period, but some newborns really are easier.

My baby is 9 months and I’ve already forgotten all the hard parts of the newborn stage, even with the pandemic! So if you’re feeling stressed about the unknown, try not to.

Anonymous wrote:Haha I agree with your friends and sister. Newborns suck. That being said, like PP mentioned above they are very portable. Also they don’t need to be entertained and they tend to be really cute. 😀

I will also say that people have different experiences. I hate the newborn stage but my neighbor for example loves it and finds toddlers more stressful. So it depends on your experience and your child.

Haha I agree with your friends and sister. Newborns suck. That being said, like PP mentioned above they are very portable. Also they don’t need to be entertained and they tend to be really cute. 😀

The way they smell. The first time they smile at you. The clumped up little heap of baby that will sleep on your chest. Their portability- they'll sleep anywhere.

They’re basically luggage, so you can go places and do stuff in a way you can’t when they’re older. Except pandemic.

Due in April, I have three close friends and my sister who have had babies. While they've told me having a baby is "worth it" they all describe the newborn stage as the worst time ever. Lack of sleep, pain, recovery, etc.

While I really appreciate them telling me the truth that it's the opposite of sunshine and rainbows, can anyone share good things lol. So far it's been very vague descriptions of everything being worth it in the end.