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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Do I Really Need a Car Seat?

39 replies

catsofa · 06/09/2014 20:20

All advice seems to say we'll need a car seat, right from when we take new baby home. I'm confused though because we don't have a car and won't be getting one, so although I have no idea how we would get baby home, I'm a bit reluctant to buy a car seat just for one taxi ride home.

What have I not thought of? Can you hire them from somewhere? What will the hospital do if you need to go home but don't have a car seat?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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JennyBlueWren · 07/09/2014 08:50

We're in the same boat although we are in a rural town we have a good bus and train service. We'll get a car seat though that can be transferred easily between cars for use in in-laws car and my parents' hire car when they're up. Not sure yet how we'll travel home from hospital -maybe taxi or maybe in-laws.

Will be handy to have for emergencies too if we need to get a taxi somewhere.

My mum was worried about how we'd get out of hospital as she'd heard from my brother's girlfriend that you're not allowed to leave without a car seat. In her day you just carried the baby -or had a moses basket on the back seat!

Bellyrub1980 · 07/09/2014 09:39

We bought our Silver Cross pram from Kiddiecare (at the Baby Show exhibition) and got the car seat thrown in for free.

Might be worth looking to see if they still have deals like that on their website.

People tend not to buy second hand car seats so, as a result, people tend not to try bother selling them. I think there's some kind of 'rule' about second hand car seats, similar to second hand bicycle helmets I suppose. But if you're comfortable with the idea why not check out some of the baby sale pages on Facebook?

Or just borrow one from a friend for that one journey?

unweavedrainbow · 07/09/2014 09:55

The "car seat test" is only done for premi babies-if your baby is born after 37 weeks you should be fine. It's because in very small or very young babies, semi-reclining can cause a sudden drop in blood pressure/blood oxygen which is dangerous.

couldbeanyone · 07/09/2014 09:55

For what it is worth, we had a car seat that stayed in the car - not one of those with the handle to carry around. We left the hospital with baby carried in a sling and walked to car. It would have been impossible to leave the ward with her actually in the car seat!

Solo · 07/09/2014 10:11

You could have a look on Freecycle for one on offer or request one on there just in case. It could be handy and cost you nothing. I think most people wouldn't offer one 'free' if it had been in an accident, whereas I think some might try to sell one that has iyswim?

WhyOWhyWouldYou · 07/09/2014 10:21

Id definately speak to the hospital you plan to give birth in. When i had ds the hospital had a ridiculous policy of you couldnt leave the hospital without a car seat and car, and that under no circumstances were you allowed to carry your own baby in anyway (in arms/sling/carseat) from the ward to the car - the midwife had to do it. Then you had to piss about outside getting baby into car seat, which had to be sat on the back seat of the car whilst you did it. Then you had to strap seat in and midwife waited whilst you all got in the car to drive away and she waved you off. It really pissing annoyed me and i actually demanded a copy of their policy over it. The whole stupid rigmarole was to make sure you used a car to leave hospital but it was absolutely ridiculous. I think at the very least they should have let you put dc in the car seat inside so they were strapped in and tucked up with a blanket instead of them freezing out side whilst you had to piss about.

rattlesnakes · 07/09/2014 10:27

You are not a prisoner in hospital. You can leave any time you like, by any means you like, and you can take your baby with you! Just because someone has a laminated "policy", that doesn't mean they have the power to tell you how to transport your child.

bronya · 07/09/2014 10:31

We got ours for £30 from Argos. If there's any chance that you might have friends give you lifts to things, you'll need one. Or do you have a friend who has kept theirs (for baby no.2 perhaps) that you could borrow as and when you need it?

hollie84 · 07/09/2014 10:38

We didn't have a car when DS1 was born but actually ended up being in a car (getting taxis and lifts) in the year after he was born than we ever had before. We had a pram that came with a car seat and it was really useful.

WhyOWhyWouldYou · 07/09/2014 10:45

Rattlesnakes at discharge the midwife just picked my baby up whilst i was zipping up my bag (havin just put the medication, shed just passed me for discharge in my bag) and pointblank refused to give him back or allow him into the carseat. The hospital in question feel this is acceptable behaviour because their policy is so bloody important. As a first time mom i hadnt expected it and didnt know what the hell i could do about it. So i think its important that op checks her hospital policy so that she knows if shes going to have a nightmare over this and can plan ahead.

This time round im at a different hospital but will not allow them near my baby and will be carrying dc out tucked up nicely in the carseat.

DanyStormborn · 07/09/2014 10:54

I'm worried about this too. We will be driving to the hospital but got a birth to age 4 car seat (it reclines and has a newborn insert to make it suitable for little babies). It won't be leaving the car as it doesn't have a carry-handle and once it's properly secured I don't want to take it out again. If the midwives don't want us carrying baby to the car in our arms we'll be happy to bring the pram up for the two minute walk to the car - surely that's acceptable? And if they really want to see the baby in the car seat maybe they can come to the car (our maternity unit is rarely busy so they should have time)?

rattlesnakes · 07/09/2014 11:11

If a midwife refused to give me my child I would tell her I was calling the police. She simply doesn't have the power to do that. I think sometimes they have a bit of a power trip and forget that actually they're not god.

MultipleMama · 07/09/2014 12:20

Yes, two of mine were preemie but 4 of them were not and 3 had the car seat test too (1 did need a little help with oxygen but the other 2 (twins) must have been due to their size...). I didn't bother myself with it or why they were doing it.

My car seats where in the car also except for DC1 so a nurse just followed us to the car to make sure we had fitted the seat correctly and secured the DC properly (especially head support). We told the hospital this and were happy to compromise with us seeing as the DC passed the test.

I'd ask to look at policy and I don't think it would really harm to have a carrier for back-up, and there are some cheapish ones out there.

WhyO - They refused you your baby?! I would have been tempted to hit them and I'm more a pacifist!. Can't belive they did that!

Solo · 07/09/2014 13:16

When I had Ds in '98, a HCA carried him out of the hospital for me according to policy.

He did, however have to go into a car seat before being driven away! I couldn't actually fit the car seat (didn't know how ) and so I sat in the back holding it, then asked another mum how to do it on reaching my destination which was literally 3 minutes away.

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