Breast Feeding (From NFL Thread)

[brewcity77]

Thanks for starting this thread, brew. We'll be trying to best handle bringing a 4 month old to games this season, so it's good to read these anecdotes. I think we'll probably bring her to about 1/3 of the games, my wife will probably skip some cupcakes and stay home with her, and we'll get a sitter for the bigger/louder games.

I've heard good things about the noise cancelling headphones and they can be had on Amazon for around $20 depending on the brand. We do also have one of those wraps so she can snuggle right up to one of our bodies and usually falls asleep pretty quick in there. Now that we have a full schedule, I'll probably be sending out a schedule to friends to figure out who wants to pick up games that my wife doesn't want to attend.

[SaveOD238]

I've got a 1 month-old at home right now too, and I've been trying to convince my wife that we can take her to games and have it not be a problem.  She's convinced getting to and enjoying games will be too much of a hassle, so we didn't do a season ticket package.

Comments on here help me see that we won't be alone.  I'll have her read this...maybe there's hope for me yet!

[jsglow]

I've got a 1 month-old at home right now too, and I've been trying to convince my wife that we can take her to games and have it not be a problem.  She's convinced getting to and enjoying games will be too much of a hassle, so we didn't do a season ticket package.

Comments on here help me see that we won't be alone.  I'll have her read this...maybe there's hope for me yet!

SaveOD, we would take our daughter bowling with us when she was a few months old just to get out of the house.  She'd sleep in her car carrier.

[reinko]

SaveOD, we would take our daughter bowling with us when she was a few months old just to get out of the house.  She'd sleep in her car carrier.

Yup, with a now 4 year old, the first year to 18 months is much easier to get out, travel, get out the door....Once they both develop legs to run around and the mental capacity to argue with you, it's get a lot harder 

[brewcity77]

I've got a 1 month-old at home right now too, and I've been trying to convince my wife that we can take her to games and have it not be a problem.  She's convinced getting to and enjoying games will be too much of a hassle, so we didn't do a season ticket package.

Comments on here help me see that we won't be alone.  I'll have her read this...maybe there's hope for me yet!

We started out at around 1 month with short excursions. Appetizers at El Fuego was the first one because we knew we could pretty much pay and walk at any time. As she got older (6 months now) we have taken her to trivia nights, museums, ethnic festivals (Polish, German, Festa, etc), and other excursions that last 2-5 hours. The older she's gotten, the better she's tolerated these kinds of events.

Here are things I would consider. First, your baby might be 1 month now, but that'll be 3 months by the time the season starts and 7 months by the time Georgetown comes in for Senior Day. Start off with short excursions where you plan to be out for 30-45 minutes and lengthen from there.

Second, you can do things to make sure your child stays fairly calm. Noise cancelling headphones, a sling wrap, and bottles (or a boob) work well. That said, you need to remember that to keep your child calm, you may need to get up and move around at times. That would be better at the Forum than it was at the BC because the open concept would allow you to continue watching the game while you move around.

Third, if you go the season ticket route, my guess is (this is my first go-around with child too) you will have to be willing to walk out of a game or three over the course of the season. If you have that day when they're teething, or just won't settle down, you might have to just bite the bullet. If it's a game you really want to see, maybe arrange for a sitter or to take a friend instead of the wife (or her to take a friend instead of you ).

[MUDPT]

Eng, when was #nored's toughest season?  As he gets older and more into it, I know MU hoops is becoming quite fun for both of you.  Trust me, in about a dozen years it'll be the only common ground you have with him for awhile.     How was he at one plus a few months or two plus a few months?

For me personally, ages 2-3 were the worst. Hard to sit still for that long. Now that she’s 5 she actually understands what’s going and will watch the game and the video board. Of course now our son is 2 so...

Kind of a cool MU story. The ‘13 ND game was loud, so my wife ended up walking the halls a bunch during the game with our then 5 month old. She met another mom who was doing the same. 5 months later, we were at the same wedding, not knowing we had a mutual friend.

[GOO]

Game=hearing protection

Yep, the sound is the issue.  My impression is that the FF is going to be really loud - and I'm not talking the crowds - I'm taking about the sound system.

So, have a plan to protect the baby's ears.  Other than that, I say bring the kid.  The more you do as a family the better.  The more you expose your child to the better - increase that IQ.

That being said, we avoided the Friday/Saturday night big games with our young kids due to crowd noise, a bit more rowdy, etc.  But for most of the games bring the kid with.  You will all be better for it.

[mu03eng]

Eng, when was #nored's toughest season?  As he gets older and more into it, I know MU hoops is becoming quite fun for both of you.  Trust me, in about a dozen years it'll be the only common ground you have with him for awhile.     How was he at one plus a few months or two plus a few months?

Year 1+ was better than year 2+ though neither was too bad. I worried about this season because it's basically trying to parent a terrorist now so I'm not sure how it's going to go. He's still very much into sports generally but he doesn't sit and watch sports on TV nearly as much as he would the previous two years so I have a sneaking feeling that he's not coming to a lot of games this season but we'll see.....plus he isn't free any more so we'll see.

[Benny B]

Took my daughter to the Kalahari water park 3 years ago while my wife was at a conference. Had to change her in the men’s locker room, because there was no family bathroom. It was insane to me at the time, that a family place like that didn’t have a family bathroom.

Family bathrooms are a new phenomenon, and are slowly being incorporated into building codes... depending on where you were in the Kalahari complex, some of those buildings are 20 years old.  I don't know of any places that were building family restrooms at that time.  Granted, you can retrofit if footprint allows, but not all commercial buildings have the luxury of underutilized space lying around.

Something that really pisses me off (well, not anymore... but it was a constant reminder during the great diaper years of 2009-2016) is a) when there is a changing table in the women's restroom but not the men's, especially at a place like a restaurant or a park or b) when there is a changing table in the men's room but it's not being cleaned by the previous users and/or janitorial staff.  Thank God for Generation X that our perspectives on life are the first not to suck.

[brewcity77]

One thing I've learned, sometimes the changing table in the men's room is in the handicapped bathroom. Not always as accessible as you'd like, and I'm sure can create a bigger inconvenience, but I suppose better than nothing.

[jsglow]

Year 1+ was better than year 2+ though neither was too bad. I worried about this season because it's basically trying to parent a terrorist now so I'm not sure how it's going to go. He's still very much into sports generally but he doesn't sit and watch sports on TV nearly as much as he would the previous two years so I have a sneaking feeling that he's not coming to a lot of games this season but we'll see.....plus he isn't free any more so we'll see.

Eng, kids are a wonderful and fulfilling blessing.  But I'm of the opinion that you can only run the gauntlet 'once' in a lifetime.  We're not close to grandkids yet but I very much look forward to 'pops' having all the fun (and spoiling them rotten) and handing them back to mom/dad when the heavy lifting starts again!

By the way, chick and I like playing with all your kids out in the concourse.  Just bring me an $11 beer.   

[mu_hilltopper]

I've got a 1 month-old at home right now too, and I've been trying to convince my wife that we can take her to games and have it not be a problem.  She's convinced getting to and enjoying games will be too much of a hassle, so we didn't do a season ticket package.

We started taking our son to games when he was 4 months old.   Obligatory Jumbotron shot: 

[muwarrior69]

Will you need a ticket to bring your newborn to a MU game at the Fi?

[mu03eng]

Will you need a ticket to bring your newborn to a MU game at the Fi?

No, any child under 2 gets in free, same with the Brewers.

[NWarsh]

No, any child under 2 gets in free, same with the Brewers.

Under 2?  As long as you can handle a kid sitting in your lap the whole game they can be free.  I have found that once they get to about 4 (depending on weight) sitting in your lap the whole game is not that enjoyable.

[DegenerateDish]

My four year old son has been two years old for a long time now...especially at Disney World.

[mu03eng]

Under 2?  As long as you can handle a kid sitting in your lap the whole game they can be free.  I have found that once they get to about 4 (depending on weight) sitting in your lap the whole game is not that enjoyable.

It's what they officially publish....I carry my son in and no one questions anything. Dont think I'll be able to pull it off this season, hes 98th percentile in height and doesn't stop talking

[warriorchick]

It's what they officially publish....I carry my son in and no one questions anything. Dont think I'll be able to pull it off this season, hes 98th percentile in height and doesn't stop talking

The best part about our kids being small for their age was being able to use family preboard on airplanes way past when we were supposed to.

[SaveOD238]

I've got a 1 month-old at home right now too, and I've been trying to convince my wife that we can take her to games and have it not be a problem.  She's convinced getting to and enjoying games will be too much of a hassle, so we didn't do a season ticket package.

Comments on here help me see that we won't be alone.  I'll have her read this...maybe there's hope for me yet!

Progress made.  Took baby SaveOD to the Brewer game last night.  She made it the whole game, and only got fussy once.  My wife used the nursing pod to feed her with no problems. 

She's also got impeccable sports luck, getting to see a cycle in her first game.  I might HAVE to bring her to every MU game!

[theBabyDavid]

we would take our daughter bowling with us when she was a few months old

Was an evening of bowling before or after Sheepshead then a fish fry?

[warriorchick]

Was an evening of bowling before or after Sheepshead then a fish fry?

This was in Chicago. No sheepshead, no decent fish fry.

[theBabyDavid]

This was in Chicago. No sheepshead, no decent fish fry.

Same $hitty weather as Milwaukee but without a proper fish fry? Why the hell did you guys pick Chicago???

[Galway Eagle]

This was in Chicago. No sheepshead, no decent fish fry.

Irish center and wills northwoods for a decent Friday fish fry.

[warriorchick]

Irish center and wills northwoods for a decent Friday fish fry.

Oh. I ended up finding one (Village Tavern), but not at the time.

And I am rarely within the city limits except for work.

[theBabyDavid]

Under 2?  As long as you can handle a kid sitting in your lap the whole game they can be free.  I have found that once they get to about 4 (depending on weight) sitting in your lap the whole game is not that enjoyable.

This is why we have an au pair.

With the BabyDavid's unexpected emergence we brought in an au pair from Denmark about a month before his birth. She eliminates all of the hassles normally encountered when both parents have demanding careers. We can work late or travel with absolute confidence in theBabyDavid's care and comfort.

Another very important benefit is that theBabyDavid is spared the nightmare of the child care petri dish where kids have a never ending runny nose, cough, and fever.

Finally, our au pair speaks fluent French which she uses constantly with theBabyDavid. And unlike the day care center she focuses her attention exclusively on him.