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Ha, listening in! I hate that our LOs are born during cold and flu season and I'm worried about all of the visitors coming and going. But I've tried just not thinking about it because it stresses me out and hopefully everyone won't be offended when they are asked to wash their hands repeatedly.

Hopefully some people will chime in with advice!

I had a lot of visitors and overnight guests the first month. I was so stressed about breastfeeding and lack of sleep so I didn't really have time to obsess about germs. DH made sure everyone washed their hands and used tissues, hand sanitizers, etc and he told sick people to stay away! ETA: we did make sure our overnight guests had the whooping cough vaccine!

Good luck!

Make sure anyone who is going to be visiting for an extended time (longer than a day or two) has the whooping cough vaccine at least two weeks before they come to visit!

Other than that, if you're BF'ing, I think your baby should be fine. She'll get a lot of antibodies from you and as long as you employ common sense (i.e. if someone has a cold, they don't get to hold her, regular handwashing, etc), she should be fine!

We live out of country from our families but my mum flew down to stay for several weeks after the baby was born and we had lots of our friends popping in and out regularly. Again, just use common sense and it all should be fine, but I definitely think the whooping cough vaccine is a must!

I agree with @Ree723: the whooping cough vaccine, and because your LO will be born in the winter I'd ask anyone staying with you to get a flu shot as well. And ditto on the common sense measures as well (regular handwashing, don't let them around her if they're feeling sick, etc).

My mom stayed with us for almost 3 weeks after E was born, and my ILs were over a lot as well, and I asked them all to get the whooping cough vaccine before he was born, and they've all gotten flu shots this year.

@FutureMrsMcK: That's hilarious about your MIL! You know, I'm willing to bet mine would probably do the same - the ILs will be meeting LO for the first time in December and I'm fully prepared for MIL to be the exact same way! Hilarious...

We are requiring any overnight guest to get the TDaP vaccine and a flu shot. No shots, no visits. I'm sure some of my in laws think I'm a total bitch for that but I really don't care. Other than that there will be LOTS of hand washing. And if you have even the slightest sniffle you are banned from baby holding (and possibly breathing!)

@lydg: uh my in laws both smoke too. We will put pretty strict rules in place to protect baby from the smoke. But they both always have hacking coughs which makes me really nervous because it will be tough to tell if they are sick or just coughing from the smoking.

We had a big bottle of hand sanitizer on every table. Most people were realy good with washing their hands and that sort of thing. A few people annoyed me by bringing their kids and then not controlling them well. One child kept touching the soles of her shoes and then trying to touch my baby's mouth

@PrincessBaby: that's a good idea.
I made sure to stock the house with antibacterial soap and sanitizer and the kleenex hand towels before my due date. I also kept DS in a sling as much as possible.

We didn't have any overnight guests, but we did have quite a few visitors. I wasn't overly concerned about germs, I was more worried about getting the hang of breastfeeding and getting some sleep! lol! We also didn't hole up in the house either, I took her for a walk almost every day in those early days (I really think the sunshine helped with the baby blues for me). FWIW, she never got sick, and was just fine.

@MamaMoose:/@lydg: God, I'm so glad that only one family member smokes now (and she's trying to quit), and if she happens to smoke while we're at her house she will change her shirt, wash her hands and brush her teeth (without me asking) before taking him.

@MamaMoose: This is exactly how we're going to be when LO comes. Vaccines are required. Hands must be washed. If you're so much as sniffling, you're banned. There will be no smoking at our house (even outside). If you smell like smoke, we're gonna give you something to change into. I know it's probably overkill, but I don't want to take any chances!

@PrincessBaby: Remind her that you can't get the flu from the flu shot. She might feel a little sick, but it's certainly not the flu. Tell her that your #1 concern is your baby.

On your side note, a lot of people have insurance for "just in case" moments. DH never gets sick, but he still has insurance just in case something happens. We'd rather pay the $2400 deductible that he has than pay $24,000 in hospital bills.