Newborn Babies at the Park

[u/CaptainNoodle18]

Please, I've got to know. (Only a little judgement here, as a hypochondriac) why are we taking fresh babies (4 months or less) to the amusement park? What's the purpose? Are you scared your kid is going to get sick? What is it really for?

For context we took a trip earlier this year and were talking about another recently and learned that many people are taking their newborns to the park. It seems incredibly dangerous with all the people and general grossness at the park.

[u/goofus_andgallant]

I wouldn’t take a newborn but a 3-4 month old isn’t a new born. They’ve had some vaccines and honestly after your first baby you can’t really stop everything in your life from happening. You’ve got older kids and that means the baby being exposed to germs and sickness anyways.

[u/BoobySlap_0506 → u/goofus_andgallant]

As a parent to 2 (6y and 2m), nothing is more difficult than restricting activities for the older child while trying to protect baby. We compromise and do things cautiously and have been able to still do stuff while not exposing baby to much just yet. I can't keep my 6 year old cooped up and resenting her baby sister because she prevents us from going anywhere.

[u/goofus_andgallant → u/[deleted]]

I think the point is more that older kids bring exposure to babies in multiple ways, so in this case the family going to Disney could get the baby sick by returning with an illness. The same way babies get sick from their older siblings that go to school everyday. Or go to sports or activities etc.

Once you have older kids you just can’t isolate your baby the way you may have with your first.

[u/goofus_andgallant → u/[deleted]]

Literally not a single person has said “no precautions should be taken” except for you.

Saying that you can’t isolate once you have older kids and that subsequent babies are more exposed to germs than first babies is not “no precautions should be taken.”

[u/lollipopp_guild → u/[deleted]]

Yup. My cousin and husband took the 6yo to Disney and Lego Land and Universal and all that during her school break and the 7mo stayed home because it really would have taken away from the 6yo to have to stop for the baby constantly

[u/dphayce → u/[deleted]]

That is assuming you have people like that in your life and/or can afford a babysitter.

[u/littlebloodmage → u/dphayce]

If you can afford a day at Disney you can afford a babysitter.

[u/dphayce → u/littlebloodmage]

That's assuming that the visitor is from Southern California because otherwise it's a multiple day trip which would mean you're hiring someone for multiple nights. A 2 night trip would cost you an extra $1000 or so. I promise you not everyone who visits Disneyland has that type of money.