Keeping Baby Safe and Healthy Over the Holidays

Keeping Baby Safe and Healthy Over the Holidays

The holidays are a time for gatherings with family and friends and certainly a time for introducing your newborn to the people in your life. However, there are certain steps you can take to make sure your baby stays safe and healthy through the holidays.

Keeping Viruses at Bay

A newborn’s immune system is developing, so every virus and bacteria is new to them. That doesn’t mean you can’t take them places, but it does mean you need to follow some basic safety precautions.

• Wash your hands frequently
• Keep hand sanitizer close by
• Ask people to wash or use hand sanitizer
• Limit exposure to essential people, especially at first
• Make sure baby is swaddled to keep skin-to-skin contact at a minimum
• Ask people to wear a mask when near or holding your baby

How to Handle Big Gatherings

The holiday season is filled with big gatherings, seemingly every week. Having a newborn doesn’t mean you have to skip these events. But it does mean you need to be smart about attending them.

• If it’s a gathering with a lot of people, maybe you arrive early and leave early
• Limit “passing baby around”
• Make sure everyone lets you know whether they’re sick or not
• Limit, or forbid, kissing the baby