Holidays with the family
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I told my family we won’t be seeing anyone till memorial day as far as large gatherings. And mid February as far as individual visits. The only exception being our parents
let your boyfriend visit his family but make sure he wears a mask and constantly sanitizes. Simply don’t bring the baby around then cause you will see your family again but you don’t want to risk your newborns life. My baby is due Nov 22 I’m just not showing up to thanksgiving idc what my bfs family says 😂. Same with Christmas. We can celebrate with just us ❤️
I'm not going to either sides family events for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I've decided that we will schedule days where my parents and his parents can come and visit for the holidays. I felt that in our home, I will have more control. But we still get to have a small celebration.
@Emilee yeah we're not doing holiday stuff either with family here. Just us and our kids. Lol. I'm just super paranoid about RSV and people kissing my baby. He's due the 1st but I can't imagine bringing him around so many people especially because his older brothers are in public school and I already have anxiety about it
I told my family we would visit but I will be baby wearing and baby will not be passed around. I would ask them to be masked and sanitized and just not let them hold baby.
So originally we were planning to have Thanksgiving as usual at our home but the baby will only be 3 weeks old so we have decided not to do anything. And we’ll be waiting about 2 weeks after Thanksgiving to have anyone over to hopefully ensure no one catches anything from going to family gatherings and bringing it around my children. Haven’t decided about Christmas yet. We’re sure people will be upset but honestly, I’ll also probably still be in diapers myself so I don’t really want people in my space 😂😂
Your feelings are definitely valid and you should do what you feel most comfortable with! Like another comment said, if there’s any push back from family then that’s on them, not you! You have every right to take as much time as you need or set precautions that you feel good about with your baby. I’m in the same boat with my fiancés family but not just the holidays. We live in a split home with his grandmother in the unit below us. And his dad and stepmom and other family members come out multiple times a week. I’m super stressed about how we are going to “keep them away” for lack of better terms lol. Especially because since moving in here this summer, they have shown little regard for boundaries I’ve tried to set with our almost 2 year old 😥
I really appreciate reading all these comments and support. It's just a hard conversation to have but I am so concerned of the safety since we are in the peak of flu season and RSV. My 9 month old at the time had RSV and it was devastating. Thankfully he's very understanding but it's a conversation that he needs to bring up with his family so hopefully everything goes well
Your concerns are valid. Are you okay with vaccinations? You can vaccinate against TDAP, Flu, RSV, and Covid right now to make sure your baby has some immunity. And baby can get Hep B when they're born. Your husband can get vaccinated against all of that too. You can also meet your husband's family in an outdoor place like a park and stay for only a half hour.
I am due on November 24th and my sister gets married the week of Christmas. I have a massive fear of the RSV due to past experiences. But, I also really can't miss my sister's wedding. I have made it clear to my family that the baby will not be held by anyone else but my husband or I. I will be baby wearing in a wrap, to really dissuade anyone who might want to poke or prod at him and to keep him even more shielded from others and we'll probably social distance a bit in addition to that. I personally wouldn't do festivities with my side of the family either if I also gave restrictions to the other side regardless of if I felt one might be safer than the other. That would feel fair to me but also might reduce resentment and contention. But otherwise, ask yourself if there is anything you can do to reduce the risks and if those precautions will also be respected. It could be setting physical boundaries and also limiting time on both sides. Just a quick pop in with low contact and exposure.
Maybe you can wear the baby and give the baby a tiny bit of benadryl. No one will wanna disturb a sleeping baby. I know this is probably not the most kosher advice but i know how it is to not want to ruffle any feathers.
I would say avoid it, if they want to talk sh-it let it be, your child safety is more important, what’s for us a simple cold for a newborn it can be super deadly, you would be taking chances with that baby’s life if anyone even dares to kiss him/her on the cheeks while being sick without knowing I mean this is serious
We won’t have any international travelers, but we won’t be going to my family’s Christmas Eve gathering this year. My baby will barley be month old. We’re not chancing anything and I know we struggled with my son his first Christmas and he was 3 months (off routine, no where to sleep). My parents and siblings will be coming over Christmas Day. In-laws live out of state and won’t be here for Christmas.
I'm demanding everyone gets flu and rsv shots beforehand and I want to see a negative covid rest before coming into our space.
Honestly the concern for the baby's safety is valid. That's a lot of people coming into contact with baby especially from traveling abroad. Idk I'd be apprehensive as well. Maybe you can ask those members to be masked and up to date on vaccines and such? I feel like if they have some push back about it, then they shouldn't see the baby.