https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 05 Apr 2026 11:48:32 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2053019 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 18:53:24 +0000 MrsBananaGrabber 2053019@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@LaughLines: Good luck with your mom! Stand up for yourself and your family! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2052145 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 12:31:34 +0000 elise626 2052145@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsbananagrabber- Acht, I completely missed that! Well, good luck managing your family! Take care of your and baby's needs first!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2051976 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 11:27:29 +0000 kes18 2051976@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would have liked to limit visitors in the hospital. It's already hard enough to sleep with them coming in every few hours to do something plus visitors I was exhausted. </p> <p>I didn't mind at home if I was comfortable with them. I would limit visits to an hour or two tops if you have to "host." My mom stayed with us a week and it was FANTASTIC as she held the baby so I could sleep, made us food, and cleaned.</p> <p>By the time my baby was 1 mo I was going to visit my parents and the in laws just to get out of the house and see people. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2051961 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 11:22:36 +0000 LuLu Mom 2051961@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I didn't limit visitors, however if someone called and asked us if we were up for visitors, and we were not...I said so and suggested another time. My mom stayed with us a few days, she asked, and it appreciated it. And both moms took a few days off at work to help me after DH went to work, this was lifesaving as I was recovering from C-section. I think USUALLY most people can respect and read the situation enough when they know it's time to go. </p> <p>As for the waking the baby comment, ahhh hell no! the baby sleeps when the baby wants to sleep, you can admire the baby, and if the baby falls asleep in your arms you can hold the baby, but do not wake the baby. I would make that very clear, I don't care if she's grandma. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2051886 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 10:52:38 +0000 LaughLines 2051886@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For years my mom has been telling people (but not me directly) that she would be staying with me for a month after i had a kid to help out. Once i got pregnant, she brought it up and i told her that we would not be having any overnight guests (she lives out of state) but that she was welcome to come and stay with other people (lots of local family) and visit us during the day as long as she called first. I said it was because I wanted to breast feed and not always have to worry about covering up around constant guests and that we wanted family time to get used to our new family of 3. At the time, when i was telling her this, she acted fine with it. Since then, she has brought it up a few times specifically to make me feel guilty - like at my shower when we were sitting at a table with aunts/grandmas,etc and she said "well she doesn't want me to come stay with her, so i'm not sure WHEN i'll get to see the baby" and made everyone at the table feel sufficiently awkward (thanks for making the shower cheery, mom!) and she'll bring it up here and there with the same "guilt" tone. Very frustrating! But i'm sticking to my guns! </p> <p>On the other hand, my MIL is wonderful and would ACTUALLY be helpful and is welcome to come whenever she wants. She lives local, so we spend way more time with them than my family, and i think my mom is worried that the MIL will get more baby time, but she's SOOOO much easier to be around, so i know i'm more open to it. </p> <p>Only one month to go until this baby gets here, so we'll see how it all plays out - i'm sure my mom will cause some havoc.... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2051684 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 07:54:24 +0000 sweetooth 2051684@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I do think it's good to consider what you would like to have happen before the baby arrives. But maybe leave some room for adjustments once the baby is here. You never know how your birth will go, and if you will actually need more hands when the time comes. And I agree with everyone about having a list. Start making one now. It was exhausting making a list everyday for everyone that was in town when our little guy was born, but it was so helpful to have everyone occupied.</p> <p>I'm considering how to handle this for baby #2. I wish I could say, "No visitors until 1 month" - but I feel like they all expect to be able to come to the hospital when he's born. I just really want the chance to have a better breastfeeding experience this time around. And I think that will require having no one else around. My mom was so distracting last time. And it was the holidays. And there was so much going on. No excuses, but it's just the way I feel about the experience first time around. </p> <p>We definitely said no one stays here. But now that we have one child and another on the way, I'm not sure what it will be like with a newborn and if we will appreciate the extra hands to take care of our first son. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2051680 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 07:52:07 +0000 looch 2051680@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am with Anagram on this one, my parents came when my son was 5 weeks old and it was wonderful. My inlaws, on the other hand, could have been engaged more, but I attribute their lack of help to me not asking for more help. I know my MIL would have absolutely been there if I had asked her to be. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2051657 Tue, 03 Feb 2015 07:31:08 +0000 MrsBananaGrabber 2051657@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@elise626: I don't know what Air BNB is, but no one is planning to stay with us. My parents both work very close to our house, and my dad's house is very close as well. My in-laws will be staying with my dad while they're here for 3 weeks. So, thankfully, we won't have people here all night, but they'll all be just a few minutes away and will expect to stop by any time they like. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2051256 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 18:38:46 +0000 elise626 2051256@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Quick suggestion, is Air BNB available in your area? All of our family live out of town as well, and it was really nice to have them nearby but not staying with us after the delivery. We explained the situation to the Air BNB hosts, and were able to negotiate a weekly rate. Also, my MIL stayed with us for a month after I went back to work so we could delay daycare a bit, and she lived with us during the week and stayed at the Air BNB during the weekends to give us some family time. I was so grateful for her help. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2051245 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 18:32:00 +0000 brownie 2051245@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So with our first baby, I made the rule that no one could come for the first 4 weeks ish. My mom had to fly out so since he was late she was there at like 3 weeks but it was far enough. My husband was great and it was rough with him crying all the time. The in laws didn't bother to show up until he was 6 months old so I didn't have to deal with them. And my step mom came for two weeks when my husband went out of town sometime in the first 4 months. Luckily all situations really worked for me. I did need someone to baby sit my little guy at 4 weeks because I had to get out.</p> <p>This time around I have people lined up for the first 3 months because I am going to work right away and daddy doesn't have FMLA. But having second one I know a bit more what to expect and am really happy with how it is getting set up. Again no inlaws only my family so I can be mean (and I have no problems with that). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2051205 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 18:00:26 +0000 Torchwood 2051205@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Talked to DH about this, and he's totally fine with "being the asshole," as I phrased it. I'm very nonconfrontational, but he's fine with being as rude as he needs to if people don't get the point. Feeling a bit better. My mom is still going to be an issue, but at least it's just her. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2051113 Mon, 02 Feb 2015 16:47:42 +0000 miramira 2051113@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsBananaGrabber: I really don't think they do remember, even if they've had multiple children. My mum didn't offer me any help whatsoever and I feel slightly resentful after reading all these posts about parents who wanted to help out! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2049780 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 18:14:25 +0000 MrsBananaGrabber 2049780@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@pinkcrayon: Just reading that is so frustrating! What's wrong with people? Don't they remember what it was like when they had a new baby, or can't they at least see how tired and stressed you are, or maybe realize that new parents want to hold and bond with their baby even more than grandparents / aunts / uncles / cousins / friends do? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2049738 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 17:05:07 +0000 pinkcrayon 2049738@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am 10 weeks along with my second and this has been on my mind since the beginning. With my first, I wish I had been more adamant about limiting the number of visitors from the beginning, but as a new mom, I had no idea what to do. We literally had family popping in the recovery room just as I had gotten there with the baby after my c-section and I would say we had numerous visitors every day at the hospital and in the week following at home. We have family in town and everyone wanted to see the baby at a different time and day. The hardest part was my parents visiting from out of town for a long weekend, even though they stayed at a hotel, they came over every day and all they would do is hold the baby or read/watch TV when I needed to nurse or sleep. They seemed to create more dishes and messes everywhere. Despite requests to do dishes, laundry, etc. it never got done and I was the one doing dishes while my mom held the baby! And my husband actually ended up cooking for us each night because my parents even got lost trying to go pick up a pizza one night. It was very frustrating, and I like I said, I had no idea how to handle all of it. Trying to talk about how hard a time that was with my mom now, she says, "well, it seems like you guys had everything covered." This next time, I am seriously saying no visitors for the first two weeks we are home (hospital visits are okay with me since I will be there for four days and there is no house to worry about being neat and I can just hang out in my bed while we talk/hold the baby). If you miss the hospital visit, you will just have to wait until we are good and settled at home. As for my parents, I have no idea what to do since they expect to come visit again this time and "help." At least this time they will have my older daughter to help with and entertain. But if this time, I see my dad sitting out on the back porch in the sun reading his newspaper and enjoying his coffee all morning while the sink is full of dishes and I am PP mess, I am going to scream :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2049698 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 16:22:54 +0000 blackbird 2049698@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: I have a lot of friends who have really good relationships like that with theirs. I may not with mine, but it's the kind of relationship I want with my kids :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2049696 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 16:19:45 +0000 Anagram 2049696@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@blackbird: I feel lucky when people talk about their families! It's not that any of us are perfect, but all the annoyances are minor I guess. Minor enough to be outweighed by the benefits, anyway!</p> <p>We're actually thinking about renting an apartment nearby after LO #2 arrives, so my mom and in-laws (all retired) can take turns coming here for a couple of months and taking care of the babies when I go back to work. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby/page/2#post-2049691 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 16:16:13 +0000 blackbird 2049691@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: this is like, the dream experience, heh. I'd like to borrow your family.... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby#post-2049686 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 16:06:36 +0000 snowjewelz 2049686@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Personal choice, I actually did not mind visitors (not too many ppl at at time tho) in the beginning (1-2 weeks) bc DD slept mostly and I was running on adrenaline! But once she was awake more, need help going to sleep, and exhaustion set in then it became harder to have visitors. I also felt bad if I was either messing up her sleep bc we had company, or visitors couldn't see her if I was nursing. </p> <p>I only had my mom stay with me a couple days a week and I'm good with just her. I get too stressed with a house full of people for too long if it's not my own family </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby#post-2049655 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 15:37:20 +0000 Anagram 2049655@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsBananaGrabber: My situation is a bit different in that I don't really consider my mom or my in-laws to be "visitors", and they are all really helpful.</p> <p>We just have a 2 bedroom condo, but my mom was here for almost a month (a week before and 3 weeks after LO arrived) and my inlaws also came and stayed my first week home from the hospital. So we had 5 adults and a baby in a 2 bedroom condo, haha.</p> <p>But for me personally, it was heaven because I didn't have to cook one meal or clean one thing or do one load of laundry for the entire time they were visiting. They ran all the errands, held the baby when I needed a break.</p> <p>I seriously had more showers, wore more makeup, and slept better those first weeks than I did for the next year after they were all gone.</p> <p>Other visitors we limited--just hour long visits or so, although we did have a couple friend over for dinner the night I got home from the hospital and that was nice. They stayed about 3 hours, but I had all the grandparents making the food, doing cleanup, and helping with the baby so it was a breeze. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby#post-2049637 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 15:20:50 +0000 Mrs.Someone 2049637@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My ILs were here for 3 weeks right after birth and it was way too much. My mom was here a lot too and I got sick of everyone in my house. PP hormones are no joke! Get a list of things ready for your ILs to do, and/or encourage them to come later and for less time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby#post-2049580 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 14:29:44 +0000 Espion 2049580@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsBananaGrabber: I was firmly in the "I want no one around me" camp. My mother ended up coming to "help" 2 weeks after my first was born because DH had to be away for 2 weeks. But that "help" was only holding the baby while I was awake and fixing dinner, pumping, etc. I couldn't have her help much further, because she's unhealthy and it would have tired her out. I cried more in those two weeks than any other time in pregnancy and up until now combined. And on the sense of entitlement, I remember my mother telling me that she was going to open my college acceptance letters first because she "deserved it". I've been graduated from college for 13 years and that STILL pisses me off that she felt she had the right to all of my hard work. And that pales in comparison to your mother feeling entitled to <i>your</i> baby. </p> <p>So I'm going to take a hard-line stance on this. If you know she is going to stress you out, then she's not invited over for more than a couple hours until the kid is at least a month old. And have an outlet for your stress...someone who is willing to just listen. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby#post-2049555 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 14:05:20 +0000 CatchAFallingStar 2049555@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsBananaGrabber: and, when they do come over, ask them to bring food or help with household chores.. Or have them hold her while you nap!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby#post-2049554 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 14:04:29 +0000 CatchAFallingStar 2049554@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsBananaGrabber: I was SO worried about this, too! I thought my mom would weasel her way in every day and drive us insane. She hasn't at all and I think it's mainly because I'm honest with her and tell her how hard nursing is and its best if we're alone for feeding time. I also tell her that I'm longing for time with my husband. She gets it and backs off. Just be honest with them. It's not too early to start dropping hints about how you want visiting to work. Then, lay down the law as your due date gets closer. You have to do what's best for you. They'll understand even if they put up a fight. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby#post-2049529 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 13:43:57 +0000 Mrs. Detour 2049529@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Champagne: this! Two weeks in I started to feel like I had barely gotten to meet my baby because everyone else kept interrupting our time. I needed quiet time to hold him skin to skin, but with a steady stream of visitors it was hard to be that naked. My visitors were all super helpful, but after a load of laundry, they felt like they had earned some time holding LO. Next time around, I think we'll say no to any visits for the first few weeks. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby#post-2049520 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 13:38:41 +0000 littlejoy 2049520@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsBananaGrabber: Our family isn't local. I knew I'd want time. We had 2 visitors during the first week (our best friend and her hubby). They were more than invited and only stayed a short while. </p> <p>I was very vocal about no other visitors until 1 week pp. My mom visited at 2 weeks, MIL at 4 weeks. Other than that, visitors were limited. Anyone staying for more than a few hours needed to have their tdap up to date and wash their hands. </p> <p>And, no one was here without a task. Sounds cold, but I didn't have a baby for other people to hold, ha. </p> <p>I was nice about it ... When friends texted about coming over, we would be honest if we weren't ready. For family, it was easy since they don't live here. You've received some great advice here. It's important you and your husband are on the same page. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby#post-2049502 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 13:27:34 +0000 Anya 2049502@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Tricycle: this sounds like a wonderful idea! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby#post-2049501 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 13:26:15 +0000 Torchwood 2049501@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is something I'm really worried about too, so I'm glad you asked. Some of the advice on here will really help me I think. When my cousin had her baby last year my family was at her house nearly every day, fighting over who would get to hold her. As I told DH, *I* am the only person who has an automatic right to hold her. (And him too, but he'll be back at work pretty quickly.) And my dad's side will probably all come up at some point, and it'll be the same thing. I know people love cuddling new babies, but they don't get to keep mine away from me! And I'm a VERY solitary person, so having people over will stress me out, and they're going to have to accept that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby#post-2049394 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 11:46:32 +0000 MrsBananaGrabber 2049394@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lamariniere: I'm a private person too- so I'm worried it's going to be like it was the first time for you, where I resent anyone else holding the baby when I want to and intruding on our private family time. I'm glad they respected your wishes the second time around! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby#post-2049380 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 11:37:55 +0000 simplyfelicity 2049380@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsBananaGrabber: Sorry, somehow I missed that! Along with PP, sending them on little excursions or to try out a restaurant or something is a good idea. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-visitor-time-for-a-new-baby#post-2049376 Sun, 01 Feb 2015 11:34:34 +0000 MrsBananaGrabber 2049376@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@simplyfelicity: Three weeks, not three days. </p>