To take my toddler to my growth scan? No childcare.

You could even ask a babysitter from an agency to come and sit with the child in the waiting room or the cafe at the hospital. Reading books, drawing
I really don't think it's any risk to the todler.

A common occurrence around the world since giving birth is an entirely natural phenomenon.

Out of interest why can't we take children to scans?

Your child was there when you gave birth??

A toddler can be unpredictable and there's a lot of expensive equipment there! I had to arrange and pay for childcare when I had my own hospital appointments, not easy I know, but what we have to do. Xx

You've already asked the hospital. They said no. Stop pestering them.

Also FWIW I have had internal (non pregnancy related) examinations and ultrasound scans with my toddler in tow. No issue at all.

Gosh you’re getting a hard time here OP, I can completely understand where you’re coming from. Can you befriend some of the parents at your DC’s nursery? Or neighbours? I found building relationships with the other nursery parents to be an absolute life saver long term in terms of emergency ad hoc childcare, but do appreciate it takes time to build those relationships.

Not as simple as that if you read the thread as it wouldn't just be taking the time off it would mean not going on a week long work trip and being disciplined for it.

You don’t get a random different person each time. It’s not like ordering an Uber. You look them up, speak to other parents they work for, interview them/meet them, see them interact with your child. Have some supervised sessions. Then decide if you’ll use them regularly. You need to know a few so you can get someone when you need them.

Same as hiring a nanny or choosing a nursery.

No you can’t because if they have a melt down or god forbid something is wrong it’s not appropriate for them to be there. There’s plenty of online nanny services so I think either pay someone or postpone the appointment.

This, 100%. Just go, and take her. If the scan is so essential, I think they'd be negligent to turn you away if you explain the circumstances.

I'm suprised they are so strict about this tbh. I had a mole removed and my 2 year old had to come with me so he just sat in the room while I was having it removed. The nurses were lovely to him.

If you don't have childcare you take your child. During my last pregnancy scans were only offered at evenings and weekends, useless if you have no family or childcare. We managed to get a relative to come (from 3 hours away) but I don't think they'll turn you away. You're entitled to health care.

It has blown my mind that people get random childcare from apps.

Does Sitters still exist? I used to work for them and you book for childcare. All sitters are checked and work in the sector.

We used sitters.co.uk for a few years for occasional evenings out and were very happy with all the sitters we had (all of whom were either teachers or nursery workers) - have a look at https://www.sitters.co.uk/why-sitters.aspx to hopefully give you confidence that they are OK. Or any chance that there's a member of staff at your nursery not working that day who would happily earn a bit of extra money?

Wow, bit harsh over on some of these comments...
I bought my toddler to all of my scans. Hubby never had time off work. She also was there when I gave birth.
Ask for forgiveness not for permission in those sorts of circumstances. Nobody battered an eye when i did it without asking, but if I asked before hand I got shut down immediately also.
Do what you gotta do

I think you're really between a rock and a hard place here op and I do think some of the responses you've got on here are unnecessarily harsh.

I also wouldn't be comfortable leaving my child with a stranger - unsettling for the child at best, unsafe at worst.

I think asking your nursery if anyone does private babysitting is your best option in this scenario. Otherwise I'd be asking to rearrange the scan.

I do understand why children aren't allowed but I do think there will be some parents out there who need a degree of flexibility on this to be able to manage. For example it can be really difficult to find babysitting that's suitable for a child with additional needs - in that scenario does a single parent just not access healthcare?

We know women take on the lions share of caring responsibilities, we also know that maternity care is crucial for mum and baby's safety so to me women shouldn't be in a position where they are forced to choose between the safety of their unborn child/themselves and the safety of their older child. There should be a degree of discretion provided people are not taking the piss with it.

You'll just have to rebook the appointment for a time when someone can mind your child. Nothing you can do ! I'd look into does it really have to be done within a 7 day period though.

Every single babysitter/childminder/nanny is a stranger until you get recommendations, meet them, check their disclosure status and see them interact with your child. It is perfectly normal and it’s pretty disgusting to accuse mums who use bad sitters of not caring who they leave their children with. I’m a single parent, a proper single parent as their dad did sweet fuck all until he turned up after disappearing for 5 years. I used babysitters. And I’m pretty pissed off at your accusations than people like me don’t care who our children are with.

Yes. We leave our children with strangers playing on M3 and don't care at all...
Or wait? We find a way to work it out.

The poster you tagged was really rude. But actually, you could do some research here. Some of the proper sites for babysitters etc are really good and have proper vetting required, they have reviews from other parents and can provide proof of DBS, first aid training etc. then you obviously meet them in person and vet them yourself. There's no 'rando off the internet', the internet is just how many useful services are found! It's worth taking a look into it to understand the process and if it could work for you before writing it off as shit parenting.