re: When did you start to take your preemies out?

my son was 8 weeks early and I waited until he got his first shots before i really took him out and about anywhere...i wasn't going to take any chances..

Quoting Scott's mommy:“ my son was 8 weeks early and I waited until he got his first shots before i really took him out and about anywhere...i wasn't going to take any chances..”

Thats a good idea. Since she is already 9 weeks old, I think she is getting her shots on Thursday.

On my way home from the NICU my dad's wife called and said that the whole family was getting together and to come straight there. I was so tired. Bayleigh was only 2 weeks old, and as you all know when you have a baby in the NICU you just don't sleep very well. (Our stay in the NICU was due to surfactant deficiency, and only slightly preemie 34-36 weeks.) So I guess her outings started at 2 weeks. I couldn't bring myself to leave her for fear that something would happen while I was gone. I'd watched her go from perfectlyfine to not breathing in less than a minute, so I still didn't trust that she would be ok unless I was right there with her. Sounds crazy I know.
Oh and when we did go out EVERYONE would tell me how small she was. I know it's just a natural response when you see a tiny baby but it did get old. Then we'd get the occasional jack@ss that would tell us how to take care of our child and what we needed to do for her. Of course I already knew how to take care of my child.
Just be prepared for everyone to want to look at her because she is sooo tiny. Some people actually argued with me about Bayleigh's age, like they knew and I didn't. At 2 months she was 7 lbs. 9 oz., normal size of a newborn, but that didn't make her a nb still. It was hard to make little old ladies understand that. lol
Now that you are home just enjoy your girl and all the time you get to spend with her.

I think it depends on what you are comfortable with. My baby came home at 3lbs 13 oz and Was in in the hospital for 17 days. I spent everyday in the hospital so i had to go to the grocery store the day i took her home and she came with. My daughter is 11 weeks now and 6.5 lbs and she goes every where with me and she loves it.

my 26 weeker came home in the summer so i took her out to the docs office and grocery store and other places. she didnt get sick for over a year. you need to at least expose them to the outside world, otherwise they wont build up an immune system and when they do get sick, it will be bad. your biggest problem will be getting ppl to keep their hands off. you have to be very rude about it sometimes. i had a woman at a ped. appt pick her up when she was still on o2 and the heartmonitor. it was ridiculous. also, ppl would take the blanket off of the carrier and touch her. it was soo weird. ppl dont know the definition of boundaries. but either way, i would take him out. the nicu told us, dont shelter yourself. just go about your normal routine, as long as ppl arent touching her, you will be fine. good luck.

my son was 4 wks early and weighed 5lbs 4oz so he was on the bigger side of the preemie scale but still tiny! i had him on a wednesday was released on a sunday and went to lunch and took him the follwing i believe wed or thursday, i just wouldnt let anyone touch the baby cause all the germs. babies have a hard enough time fighting off germs let alone a preemie. but i think it would be okay to take them out whenever you feel up to it. thats what my dr told me. but just watch cause ppl have a habit of wantting to touch touch touch! lol. even if it is the babies feet i wouldnt let a stranger touch them and if its a family member or friend i had them wash there hands or use aniseptic gel~congrats and good luck!