How do you take baby home from hospital?

[jellybean13419]

This probably seems a daft question. But friends have told me you must take baby home from the hospital in a car seat and they don't let you leave with baby in your arms. We are planning on getting a birth to 4 years car seat that stays in the car permanently. So what's the process here? It must be fairly common as there are loads of this type of car seat on the market. Do you take your pram with you to the hospital and take baby out to the car park in that? Or do you have to have another car seat handy that you can take out the car? 🤔

@GerardWay123

Yep, nurse walks out the hospital with us and baby in car seat., then goes back inside. We get to car, it won't start so we are stuck in the carpark. Phone a friend up, he arrives in his van and takes me and newborn son home whilst DH is still in the carpark. P.S It's for legal reasons. Once you are out of the building they are no longer legally looking after you and the baby.

There is no legal reason in the UK for a nurse to walk you through the hospital.

I agree with pp about asking about the policy as it differs widely and can change.

Way back with my oldest, they walked us down the car carrying him and checked the car seat.

With my younger two children at the same hospital, I walked out with them in a sling. No one checked or asked how I was getting home.

I'm not sure if it's because he was my first, because of a difference in policy between them, if it was because of the age difference so they enforced a policy they typically don't (I was just turned 19 with my first, and one of the midwives made it very clear her thoughts on that and made me go through a lot more tests like prick tests to prove he was eating and such that I also didn't have with my younger two when I was 24/26), or something else, but with so many differences going on, it's good to ask your midwife what to expect.

@DollyParton2 I think it's entirely possible some children have only ever been in one car 🤷🏼‍♀️ I think my DC only went in my in laws car once before the age of 1.

Also it's not safe to leave a baby sleeping in a baby carrier, especially when newborn. They should be laid flat. It's generally not the end of the world if a baby wakes from a nap, would much rather they were grumpy than asphyxiated !!

I walked out of the hospital with the baby in my arms

Think about it. It's not compulsory to take baby home in a car.. therefore it cannot be compulsory to take them out the hospital in a car seat.

In regards to taxis, legally speaking, baby does not need to be in a car seat. You can request one when booking with most companies, but if one is not available you can hold them in your arms. Wether you are comfortable doing this is obviously personal choice, and may depend on length and location of journey.

ok I am going to be argumentative here lol. What qualifications/training do midwives have to know if a car seat is correctly installed? So if they say its fine and you put your wee baby into it and heaven forbid something happens on the way home, are they or the hospital liable cos they approved the car seat? That's a very scary law suit waiting to happen in my eyes

@DollyParton2

I really think you’ll end up getting a separate baby car seat OP. To never remove it will end up being a pain in so many situations!

I had a removable one, one that clipped on and off the base. I only removed it 3 times and the third one was when DC1 grew out of it.

They told me I had to put my baby in the car seat in the ward to be checked. I just let them because I wanted to go home (they were encouraging me to stay another night but the woman next to me was too loud to cope with). If I have DC2, I shall just walk out with them in my arms as I wanted to with DC1.

Our car seat never left the car.

Hospital wouldn’t let us carry in arms, so I got pushed in a wheelchair to the door while holding baby. Once we got to the exit, they were happy to let us walk to the car.

I'm really surprised at how many on here are saying they had the 1 carseat rigidly fixed in car they'd never remove!
So you'd just risk waking baby every-time you stopped driving/had to carry into house? Yes, or just sit in the car for a big longer cheerfully having having nap/ browse on MN myself.
Carry baby in arms in rain etc? Yes, why not? Or popped them in a sling
Presumably- never travel in any other car ever- as doing so with baby in lap would obviously be highly dangerous?
No, never did. Never had any need to travel in a different car when small enough to be in the first size. PIL bought their own one for their car when DC1 was about 18 months.

We got the whole travel system assuming the car seat being able to clip out and onto the buggy frame was a great idea and in reality no occasion presented itself for when this would be helpful.

People still not commenting on the fact these 0-4 year car seats are generally less safe for baby.
Really no idea why you’d make life more stressful for you (I mean you’re trying to leave house in a hurry- so you faff around pitting baby in sling to walk out to car then faff around taking out of sling by the car/ why??!) as well as the fact not having car seat to use as a travel system definitely makes life harder. A lot of babies don’t last long in lie flat bassinets of prams as they just don’t like it. They’re then still too tiny to put in upright buggy seat... being able to use car seat during this stage is amazing. Also you’re definitely in the minority if you say you don’t travel/ ever use hire cars/taxis either!

We didn’t have a car seat. We took the baby home in a sling on the bus.

I'm really surprised at how many on here are saying they had the 1 carseat rigidly fixed in car they'd never remove! So you'd just risk waking baby every-time you stopped driving/had to carry into house?Carry baby in arms in rain etc? Presumably- never travel in any other car ever- as doing so with baby in lap would obviously be highly dangerous?

Not sure what's so weird about any of this? Yep, I just wake them. If they are really tired they'll go back to sleep. If not, they are ready to wake anyway. Rain - yes maybe a few drops get on their clothes, what's the big deal? Other cars - no they wouldn't travel in other cars, who else would be driving them around except me or DH?

DappledThings So just not to wake the baby by forcing it out of its car seat asleep, you’d arrive at your destination and just sit “cheerfully” in your car... or nod off yourself till baby woke up? Err right

(I mean you’re trying to leave house in a hurry- so you faff around pitting baby in sling to walk out to car then faff around taking out of sling by the car/ why??!)
I never had to contend with on street parking far from the house admittedly. So walking to the car from the house consisted of about 10 steps. No I wouldn't put them in the sling for that! Only if getting out of the car and I wanted to extend a nap.

Is it really that unusual not to have used taxis or hire cars? I've only ever hired a car a handful of times in my life anyway. And taxis only after a night out which we wouldn't be bringing a baby to anyway!

So just not to wake the baby by forcing it out of its car seat asleep, you’d arrive at your destination and just sit “cheerfully” in your car... or nod off yourself till baby woke up? Err right hmm

God, I did this all the time with DD - I’d go to the McDonald’s drive-thru for a coffee or just sit in my comfortable car reading MN. I was on mat leave with one kid, it’s not like I had big plans for the day.

@Iknewyouwerewaitingforme

DappledThings So just not to wake the baby by forcing it out of its car seat asleep, you’d arrive at your destination and just sit “cheerfully” in your car... or nod off yourself till baby woke up? Err right

Sometimes! I did it today with the 3 year old as it goes.

But if it was a really inconvenient time for enjoying the peace and quiet then I'd use a sling or just deal with an interrupted nap.

There really was no occasion that grappling the seat out of the car ever seemed like a helpful idea.

We just left once a doctor said we could go. No one came and checked car seat or anything else. I don't know if it's just a myth or maybe they do it at some hospitals.

0-4 car seats are perfectly safe for babies

People have differing lives - some people drive multiple times a day and perhaps for them a removable car seat is helpful. Some don't.

@DollyParton2

I really think you’ll end up getting a separate baby car seat OP. To never remove it will end up being a pain in so many situations!

I don’t necessarily agree - this will depend just how much you use the car. Babies grow out of the carry ones fairly quickly and they don’t always sleep in them so moving them from car to seat won’t always be a huge deal. Much more economically (and environmentally) friendly to get the birth - 4 years one, in my opinion anyway.

OP j bought a carry one for our first and also had birth - 4 years installed too. My afterthoughts are that I just think the carry seat was pointless, especially in our case. We used the car a handful of times and should’ve just not bothered with the carry.

I think once you get to the next stage of car seat, a second seat becomes really useful as they generally do stay in the car. And if you’re both back at work/sharing nursery runs etc, having two seats is a godsend.
But that wasn’t the discussion on the post. I don’t think it’s a car seat specifically... but most trusts don’t like you carrying a baby out in arms, in case you feel wobbly/there is an emergency that crashes into you on the way out. It’s not a car seat check, but simply safeguarding the hospital about a mum carrying a baby out and fainting when they hit the fresh air or something like that. If baby is safely out in a pram, a car seat or a baby carrier, then the hospital have done due diligence that risks are limited.

@yellowspot

I think different trusts may be different on this. When I had DS in 2019 the midwife came to check he was all strapped in properly before we left. A friend of mine had a car seat like you mentioned that couldn't be carried around- her DP bought the car to the door and a midwife came down to have a check.

That was at princess anne in Hampshire x

Same! Great hospital

"How do you take baby home from hospital?"

Carefully!

I'll get my coat...

I honestly think it’s an urban myth that you need a car seat to take your baby home in. I know people who took their baby home on the bus, in a taxi or in one case on the tube!!
I wouldn’t worry. However I think you’ll find a portable baby car seat useful. You can pop it in the front seat. Otherwise you can never leave your car when baby is sleeping or you’ll have to wake him/her up. A travel system where you put the car seat on the top of the buggy frame is very useful when they are tiny.