Topics

Browse

By age

Daily Outing

12 May 2024

All parents of infants are extremely familiar with the endless grind of around-the-clock feedings, diaper changes, laundry, folding clothes, cleaning and naps. To maintain your wellbeing, occasional breaks from the daily routine are important. One of the best ways to refreshen and break up the routine, especially when dealing with a fussy infant, is to go outside with the infant.

Outing guidelines

  • Infants can be taken out from the first day at home. If there is a special health condition, first consult a physician or pediatrician before going out.
  • The outing can take place in both summer and winter. During the summer, the outing should be in the safe hours – before 10:00 or after 16:00. It is important to dress infants according to season and age, and to make sure that they are not under direct sunlight.
  • The outing can to a nearby park or public garden, a walk around the neighborhood or just up and down the street. The point is to see people and places and experience a change of scenery. During the outing, it is preferable to avoid crowded places such as shopping centers, since an infant’s immune system is still sensitive.
  • Prepare a diaper bag with diapers, wet wipes or towels, a change of clothing, a blanket and a hat. For infants who feed on infant formula, take one dose of infant formula with you.
  • Try to include a daily outing in your routine. Choose a convenient regular hour or ask a partner or friend to join you.

Following childbirth, life changes overnight, becoming extremely intense and focused on the care of the new infant or infants. All new parents are familiar with the endless and intense grind of around-the-clock feedings, diaper changes, laundry, folding clothes, cleaning and naps. Overwhelmed by multiple tasks, we sometimes do not even have enough time to drink our morning coffee and then it is lunchtime.

To maintain our mental wellbeing, it is important to realize and understand that we all need occasional breaks from the daily routine, even if the entire household is under control and we successfully manage the daily routine. One of the best ways to refreshen and break up the routine, especially when coping with a fussy infant, is to take the baby or babies outside.

The importance of outings for babies

An outing is an extremely effective way of achieving peace and calm, primarily with a cranky infant. As with you, occasionally only a small change in atmosphere is needed to improve the mood, even for infants. Looking at the world, breathing fresh air, feeling the warm sun, outside sounds and surrounding scents and colors – for infants, everything is new and fascinating. Every outing is an opportunity to become familiar with the world.

Use a stroller or baby carrier during the outing, whichever is most comfortable. A stroller offers infants another perspective on the world, allowing them to study the world and their place in it. Use of a baby carrier provides quality time involving pleasant movement as well as close, warm contact with your body, and allows the baby to hear your heartbeat, almost as if still in the womb.

During the outing, take your time, walk slowly and take a moment to take in your surroundings. Describe to the baby what you see and hear on the road - the chirping of the birds, the plants and trees, the scent of air after rain and the cars and bypassers. Just talking about all these can facilitate the development of language and communication. This is how infants develop natural curiosity and the desire to learn about the world and how it works. As babies grow and can play independently, you can incorporate play in nature, touching the earth, flowers, stones, and so on. Studies reveal that these may contribute to development and encourage creativity.

The importance of outings for parents

As we said, it is extremely important for parents to know how to take a break and to refreshen outside. Knowing how to stop the intensity of daily routine and to go outside, breath fresh air, change the mood, move the body, restore the peace of mind (infants frequently fall asleep during the outing), but also meet neighbors, other parents and speak to other adults is critical to maintaining our mental health and good spirits, and contributes to the joie de vivre while restoring balance.

Recommendations to follow before the outing

  • Possible timing of the outing

    Infants can be taken out from the first day at home. If there is a special health condition, first consult a physician or pediatrician before going out regarding precautions that must be adopted outside.

  • Weather

    The outing can be in both the summer and the winter. During the summer, the outing should take place in the safe hours – before 10:00 or after 16:00. Do not apply sunscreen on young infants, but since their skin burns easily – it is important to protect them from direct sunlight. It is important to dress them in a manner appropriate for the season and their age, to put on a hat, to wrap them in a blanket, and if it is cold outside, put on socks or gloves on their hands.

  • Outing places

    The outing can be to a nearby park or public garden next to the house or anywhere that has flora and green spaces. And if there is no park in the area? Walk around the neighborhood and up and down the street, see people and places and change the scenery. Due to the sensitivity of the immune system in the first weeks of life, it is preferable to avoid crowded places such as shopping centers so the infant does not contract viruses or bacteria.

  • Organizing before the outing

    Prepare a diaper bag with diapers, wet wipes or towels, a change of clothing, a blanket and a hat. If you plan a long walk and the infant or infants are fed with infant formula, bring one unit of infant formula with you.

In conclusion, try to set a regular and convenient time for the daily outing, or make plans to go with your partner or friend. When returning home, you will already feel the value of doing a light activity, changing the mood, leaving the chores behind and breathing fresh air as well as maintaining contact with people and the outside world. In particular, you will see how good the outing is for the infant and for the general atmosphere at home.

You may be interested in