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Original poster

Newborn: ~1h car journey from Hospital

57 replies

autunno · 12/08/2023 09:25

Hey everyone, long time lurker, finally having a reason to post about pregnancy related concerns!

I’m currently living outside of London, and we have decided to have our baby in a hospital within the city. The car journey should take around 1h, perhaps 1h10 at worst.

Having read car seat recommendations, I can see two lines of thought:

  1. Break up any journey that is longer than 30 minutes with 15 minutes breaks.
  2. Only break up 1h+ journey (NHS website is more extreme, indicating 2h!)

I will obviously get a proper recommendation from my hospital on how to best handle this, but I wanted to get the opinion of other parents who may have faced a similar situation.

We are ok with potentially breaking the journey in 2 or 3 chunks as needed, but I wonder if shooting for a non-stop journey is totally out of the books?

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mumofbun · 12/08/2023 14:57

Our nearest hospital is 45 mins away in good traffic. I'd much rather travel that to go to the hospital I was comfortable with.

We then did the homeward trip in 1 go and I stayed in the back with the baby - it's a one off and we were desperate to get home. After that we didn't need to go as far for quite a while!

coreas · 12/08/2023 14:58

Don't drive slower than usual (unless a serial speeder) - that's weird, unnecessary and can be a bit dangerous.

Oh and I drove home the day after I had my youngest, it does happen!

Natsku · 12/08/2023 14:59

We had a journey of over an hour, maybe an hour 15. We drove straight back but I sat in the back with baby to make sure he didn't slump over and was breathing normally. Think I spent the whole journey with my hand lightly touching his chest to feel him breathe.

PurBal · 12/08/2023 15:06

Hour drive to the closest hospital from our house. We just drove home. Nowhere to stop anyway.

PurBal · 12/08/2023 15:07

Oh, I’d didn’t sit in the back with either of my children.

Thankyouthankyoujellybean · 12/08/2023 16:38

There was a small-scale but otherwise good quality study conducted about this that found that newborns' breathing changes after 30mins in a carseat (doesn't matter if the car is moving or not). The findings were more pronounced in pre-term babies. If it were me, I'd plan a break somewhere but decide on the day if you felt the need to use it and have someone in the back with the baby. Some babies will be absolutely fine, some will not.

Original poster
autunno · 12/08/2023 16:53

DustyGlow · 12/08/2023 13:39

I'd guess it was the dad posting. I don't think any woman would plan to drive home from the hospital.

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Yup, I’m the dad. Trying to think about the logistics. DW will be at the backseat checking on the baby. Just generally anxious about the whole thing :)

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Original poster
autunno · 12/08/2023 16:54

coreas · 12/08/2023 14:58

Don't drive slower than usual (unless a serial speeder) - that's weird, unnecessary and can be a bit dangerous.

Oh and I drove home the day after I had my youngest, it does happen!

Good point. I have to go into the M4, will just keep a steady 70.

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Original poster
autunno · 12/08/2023 16:55

Natsku · 12/08/2023 14:59

We had a journey of over an hour, maybe an hour 15. We drove straight back but I sat in the back with baby to make sure he didn't slump over and was breathing normally. Think I spent the whole journey with my hand lightly touching his chest to feel him breathe.

Do you feel this is enough, that is, if nothing looks off, just do the whole trip in one go?

My concern is noticing something is off in a part of the journey where stopping isn’t feasible.

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Original poster
autunno · 12/08/2023 16:58

PuttingDownRoots · 12/08/2023 13:43

When my first was born, we were an hour drive from nearest hospital (including motorway).

On the day... massive crash and we spent two hours stuck on said motorway, in labour. It was not comfortable! Coming home was the easy part (it was 2hrs in car seats back then)

Have a back up plan. My second was a planned homebirth... Good job due to the unseasonal snow!! (In March)

Very good point, it’s certainly a risk that crossed our minds, I’m preparing a list of options based on how far I am in the journey.

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Original poster
autunno · 12/08/2023 17:05

BertieBotts · 12/08/2023 14:41

Which car seat do you have? The 2 hour recommendation is a general recommendation for all babies in car seats and has no age limit. The 30 minute one is an updated, stricter recommendation for babies under 4 weeks old as it is known that they are more susceptible to positioning issues in car seats. Most car seats are not well designed for literal newborns, they fit better from around 4-6 weeks. If your baby is small at birth, this is even more likely to be an issue. If you have a more basic car seat, or one that is older/second hand, again it's more likely to be an issue.

If your baby is an average or higher weight at birth and you have a modern car seat with good inserts for newborns then the 30 minute recommendation is less likely to apply and I would be happy to stretch it, but I'd want to sit in the back and keep an eye on the baby, you can always stop if you feel worried.

But honestly we got delayed while bringing DS2 home - a man had a bad accident on his bike right in front of the car so we stopped and called an ambulance for him. I think DS2 must have been in that seat well over an hour, and I was really worried about him (DH left me with the man and went off to move the car so it wasn't blocking the road!) but of course he was fine.

Haven’t bought one yet, we’re deciding on it at the moment. I’m leaning towards an uppababy set, do you have any opinion on it for newborns?

OP posts:
Natsku · 12/08/2023 17:07

autunno · 12/08/2023 16:55

Do you feel this is enough, that is, if nothing looks off, just do the whole trip in one go?

My concern is noticing something is off in a part of the journey where stopping isn’t feasible.

Show quote history

We didn't have to travel on a motorway so there was always an option to pull off onto the side of the road if we felt worried, but it was winter so that was obviously a last option. We were desperate to get home though after nearly a week in the hospital.

Fluffycloudsblusky · 12/08/2023 17:08

In all likelier stopping will be more stressful that just driving all the way back. Pick a quieter time if you can. Wife in the back keeping an eye on your newborn. It will be fine. You will be ok and so will your wife and baby 👶

ThatDreamSheep · 12/08/2023 17:08

It's been a few years since I used one but isn't there a lie flat car seat? If you had that would you feel more comfortable for the car journey home?

Original poster
autunno · 12/08/2023 17:08

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 12/08/2023 14:51

I agree with @Hufflepods . If the mother has a C section (and maybe tears, but I have no experience of them), she'll find a long drive very uncomfortable. Don't forget, she'll be bleeding and exhausted too, regardless of how the baby is delivered.

And bear in mind you're meant to register a birth in the borough the baby is born, so you'll need to make an appointment do it and trek back in to London with it before the baby is 6 weeks old. (I think you can register an out-of-borough birth locally, but it's not straightforward, with more layers of admin. It was certainly not practical when we had an out-of-borough baby).

Oh dear, thanks for the heads-up. My TODO list keeps growing

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Clefable · 12/08/2023 17:10

We were an hour from the hospital. I just wanted to get home both times so I sat in back with each DC and we didn't stop. I had a C Section both times and didn't want to be getting in and out of the car unnecessarily or delaying getting home to a more comfortable setup!

Clefable · 12/08/2023 17:12

The most important thing is a good quality car seat that fits newborns well. Not all do. Something like the Avionaut Pixel Pro or the Maxi Cosi Cabriofix is what I would go for if I was doing it again.

Original poster
autunno · 12/08/2023 17:16

ThatDreamSheep · 12/08/2023 17:08

It's been a few years since I used one but isn't there a lie flat car seat? If you had that would you feel more comfortable for the car journey home?

That’s a good point. After researching better what (potentially) causes respiratory problems, it seems like a lie-flat one should be much less risky, with the drawback of only being usable fot 6 months (which is fine)

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Original poster
autunno · 12/08/2023 17:17

Clefable · 12/08/2023 17:12

The most important thing is a good quality car seat that fits newborns well. Not all do. Something like the Avionaut Pixel Pro or the Maxi Cosi Cabriofix is what I would go for if I was doing it again.

Appreciate the recommendation!

OP posts:
Ariela · 12/08/2023 17:17

As @Clefable recommends, some seats suit newborns much better than others . Another good one is Britax Baby-Safe 5Z2

Take proper (not all staff are well trained) advice on this.

Mysleepisbroken · 12/08/2023 17:20

As long as your wife is in the back, I think it would be fine.

Our journey home was short, but we went on a day trip to visit friends on day 5 (after a planned section), that was 45-60m away. I think I just sat in the back.

I think it's a bit of an odd choice to go so far to have a baby though, unless you live extremely rurally though. It adds a lot of stress in labour and if there are complications she'll be stuck away from friends and potentially family.

Topseyt123 · 12/08/2023 17:22

We lived a similar distance from the hospital when our younger two (of three) were born. They are in their twenties now.

I don't recall there being any such recommendations regarding time in a car seat in those days, but I just sat in the back with the baby and we went straight home. No stops. It wasn't an issue.

Whenwillglorioussummercome · 12/08/2023 17:25

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 12/08/2023 14:51

I agree with @Hufflepods . If the mother has a C section (and maybe tears, but I have no experience of them), she'll find a long drive very uncomfortable. Don't forget, she'll be bleeding and exhausted too, regardless of how the baby is delivered.

And bear in mind you're meant to register a birth in the borough the baby is born, so you'll need to make an appointment do it and trek back in to London with it before the baby is 6 weeks old. (I think you can register an out-of-borough birth locally, but it's not straightforward, with more layers of admin. It was certainly not practical when we had an out-of-borough baby).

There’s usually a separate wait to register an out of borough birth but it’s not something a registrar will be very thrown by. The London borough I lived in had no hospital in it so registered very, very few births. My child was born at home and we got an appointment next day whereas my friends were in the other queue and had about a month’s wait - it may be the other way round in other places!

gogomoto · 12/08/2023 17:30

Remember babies are born outside of cities all the time, 2+ hour journeys aren't uncommon, in fact I have friends who had to fly home at 2 days old! As long as the journey isn't much more than an hour I don't see the issue for an uncomplicated birth. Only 20 years ago nobody mentioned time limits at all and people kept them in car seats all day long in the house!

Coffeaddict · 12/08/2023 17:40

If you haven't got the seat year another vote for a lie flat seat.

I got the I level 3 years ago but I think there are even better models out now that I would opt for

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