Have you just had a baby and you’re ready to get out and about with your newborn? Keep it low key and you’ll find there are so many places you can go. While it can seem like a faff packing up the baby equipment, having a grab-bag of nappies, snacks and spare clothes to go should help it get easier with practice.
So make the most of your maternity and paternity leave in those early weeks with our handy guide to days out with your newborn baby.
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1. The Local Garden Centre
You can’t go wrong with a good garden centre. A firm favourite for toddlers to explore, it’s also great for new parents and their babies. You can push your buggy indoors or out, and just take some time for yourself. As most garden centres have cafés nowadays, it’s a stress-free environment to sit for a while too.
Top Tip For New Parents: Get some shopping in while your baby naps. Most garden centres sell books, toys, gifts and clothes, as well as the usual plants and trees.
2. A Park Or Splash Park
If you are in touch with other mums locally, or maybe met some new parents through the NCT, a park or splash park is a great place to meet for a morning or afternoon. It means no one has to host (no last-minute tidying up of all the baby stuff) and you all get out and about. Just grab your pram or carrier and go! Think picnics in the summer, brisk walks in the winter. While your baby will be too young to enjoy the water, the sound of fountains and water splashing will be a soothing background noise for them while they sleep. Many splash parks have facilities like toilets or a small café. You’ll find yourself going back, as little ones love the repetition of splash parks. Plus, the daylight will make for great days out for for you and your newborn.
Top Tip For New Parents: Splash parks are a relaxing place for you as well, particularly if they’re surrounded by trees as well as water.
3. A Baby Sensory Or Massage Class
Great for building new networks, you’ll find loads of other new parents in exactly the same position as you. Having that regular slot to just decompress and be with your baby can be just what you need in those early weeks and months. Find baby sensory and massage classes here.
Top Tip For New Parents: Sign up to a regular class and make a block booking so you have the routine of going every week. It should work out cheaper than ad-hoc drop-ins, even if you miss a week or two. Read more about the benefits of baby classes here.
4. The Local Registry Office
For many newborns, this can be one of their first proper trips ‘out’ to the nearest town. Why not make the most of it, by having a walk or celebratory coffee or lunch once you’ve got all the official stuff done?
Top Tip For New Parents: Leave plenty of time to get to your appointment and remember your ID.
5. Cafés, Diners Or Restaurants
Grab lunch with your partner while you’re both on parental leave. It’s amazing how quiet some cafés can be in the mornings and off-peak afternoons. So make the most of those very long naps, not to mention the many eating places which now display the ‘breastfeeding welcome here’ signs. You can also go for afternoon teas and evening meals with baby in tow: definitely easiest while they’re still having regular naps.
Top Tip For New Parents: Wrap up warm and you can make the most of outdoor seating, even in winter. It’s usually easier to maneuver your pram round outside as well.
6. Local Walks
Maybe you have lots of paths or a greenway in your local area. Having a pram or baby carrier actually can free you up to explore paths and routes you might not usually take when hopping from A to B in the car. If your baby will nap in the pram, it’s a great way to get your steps in while your baby snoozes.
Did you know that all that daylight will help your baby regulate their sleep patterns, especially as napping gets established? Aim for daylight during the morning or early afternoon as it will help with the development of their circadian system and balance of melatonin (the sleepy hormone) in their system.
As your baby starts to sleep for longer periods at night, you should begin to notice a difference. Read more here about how children are more sensitive to light than adults and how daylight habits can affect nighttime. You can track your time spent outside using the 1000 Hours Outside app.
Top Tip For New Parents: You don’t have to go solo for walks if your partner is also on paternity leave, or you have friends and family visiting.
7. Any National Trust Or English Heritage Property
With so many properties, gardens and countryside around the UK, you’re sure to find something to suit you at all seasons of the year. Mix it up for longer or shorter walks, play areas and restaurants. National Trust or English Heritage places are also good for meeting the grandparents or other family members with children.
Top Tip For New Parents: Under 5s get in free to National Trust properties so you only need to pay for the adults or take out an adult membership for return trips.
8. An RSBP Site
With 170 RSPB sites nationwide, here’s another opportunity for you to get out and about in nature while your baby snoozes. It’s amazing how calming trees and the sound of birdsong can be for babies and children, as well as giving you a good dose of serotonin. You might even get in a bit of forest bathing in more wooded areas.
Top Tip For New Parents: Sign your baby up for RSPB membership and you’ll get free parking all year round – from as little as £2.34/month.
9. The Zoo
While your newborn may not appreciate all the animals and birds, you certainly will! If you’re going to be out and about walking with your pram, you might as well do it where there’s something exciting to look at. Most zoos are really family-friendly too, so you can break your day up with picnics and trips to the café/feeding stops.
Top Tip For New Parents: Make the most of a zoo membership. Under 3s go free to all ZSL zoos so don’t worry if they’re not awake.
10. Local Town Centre
Go old-school by ditching the internet shopping and seeing what your local town centre has to offer. Slowing down with the pram can really help you appreciate local features like parks, water fountains and more. An amble round local shops (even if you’re just window-shopping) can be a much-needed refresher for you all.
Top Tip For New Parents: Head out during the early morning for some much-needed daylight.
11. Department Stores
While it’s easy to shop online now, nothing beats getting out and about with your newborn, particularly if you have been stuck at home all day/night cluster-feeding. The beauty of department stores is that you have everything under one roof – and enough room to push a pram around in quieter periods. Even if you just browse the baby section and then head for the café, it will give you a change of scene.
Top Tip For New Parents: John Lewis have family rooms/breastfeeding rooms with a chair, while M&S has weekly parent & baby mornings in their cafés. Also check out IKEA with their baby food warming facilities.
12. The Museum Or Art Gallery
Now might be a good time to have days out with your newborn to one of your local museums, particularly during off-peak hours when older children are at school. With lifts and large spaces to wander in, taking the pram should be easy (and good to carry your baby stuff on, too).
Top Tip For New Parents: Some of the larger museums have basement areas or kid-friendly areas where there’s plenty of space to sit and feed your baby. Also look for quieter corners with seating where you can take some time out and chill for a bit.
13. The Library For Baby Rhyme Time
Your baby may be asleep half the time, but regular trips to the library make for surprisingly great days out for you and your newborn. Make some time and space to flop down and chill with them at your local library. Libraries can be some of the friendliest places and the biggest parent-child communities. As well as being a great resource for books, the routine of going to a regular session gives you another opportunity to meet other new parents. And when your baby starts to be more alert, the repetition of the rhymes will really help with their early language development.
Top Tip For New Parents: Search here for baby rhyme time classes near you.
14. Baby Cinema
A lot of local cinemas run baby-friendly screenings where you can wander in and out with your baby and they expect parents to bring their prams. Expect the lights to be left on and a bit of noise, but you’ll still be able to kick back and enjoy the film.
Top Tip For New Parents: You’ll often find the background noise lulls your baby to sleep during the film.
15. The Swimming Pool
While many parents will wait until their newborn has their first jabs at 3 months, others choose to get their baby into the water a bit sooner. Water Babies offers classes from newborn while other swimming class providers usually go for 3 or 6 months as a starting point.
Top Tip For New Parents: Make the most of cafés and eating areas at leisure centres for reasonably-priced food.
16. A Baby Play Café Or Soft Play Centre
Think regular café but with an area for toddlers and babies to play in. You’ll find a relaxed vibe and no one bats an eyelid at crying babies.
Top Tip For New Parents: Play cafés and soft play centres usually have loads of seating, so can be a good place for a regular meet of larger groups of parents. As your children grow, they can begin to make use of the baby/toddler play areas as well.
Want to get out and about, have fun with your baby or toddler, and meet other parents?
Search Happity to find everything that’s happening for the under-5s in your local area – from music and singing classes, to messy play, arts and crafts, baby massage, gymnastics and more. Simply enter your postcode and child’s age to search, and then book your spot in a few taps. Enjoy dedicated fun time with your little one, watch their skills develop, and make friends at the same time. Mums, dads, grandparents and carers will all find something to love!
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