Advice from your hospital

Mama Jo · Feb 25, 2009

One of the posts in the 'when did you install your infant seat' thread got me thinking...

Did you ever get bad, wrong, or downright ridiculous carseat information from the hospital when you had your babies??

Anyone ever get surprisingly helpful information from their hospital??

Bad advice story...

The driveway in front of the hospital where I had DS was really steep, so that when the car was parked, it had to have been close to a 45 degree angle... Anyway, after I snapped my bucket seat into the car, the nurse that walked me down was looking all over the carseat, like she was looking for something. I asked her if there was something wrong... She said she was looking for the "bubble" to see if it was installed at the right angle. I told her my seat didn't have a "bubble" and that even if it had, there was no way it would read accurately on that steep driveway. Of course, I had to add, that I sure hoped she never asked anyone to reinstall their carseat because the "bubble" wasn't in the right spot! There's a reason you're supposed to install your seats when the car is parked on level ground...

Good advice story...

I had received an after-market carseat infant head support from a friend. Very substantial, lots of cushion and really deep. Of course, I wasn't about to put it in my carseat, but it worked great in my stroller. When I no longer needed it, I gave it to my cousin, who was soon to have a baby, and emphasized that she was NOT to use it in the carseat. She said she just wanted it for her stroller. Well, she put it in her carseat anyway... But the hospital refused to let her use it! They told her it wasn't safe, that you should never use aftermarket items in a carseat, and that she had to take it out before they would let her leave!

fyrfightermomma · Feb 26, 2009

Mine were awesome. SHe wasn't a tech but she took out my aftermarket head rest and immediatly showed me the receiving blanket trick. I also had the chest clip a tad high and she moved it down and explained how tight the base should be and even explained how to install without the base :thumbsup:

*Spoiledinmyhouseofblue* · Feb 26, 2009

With Michael-I specifically remember my carseat base going side to side and flopping around. I told them that I didn't think it was safe and they said, "Oh it will be fine on the way home(1 hour drive).
I then asked if they knew someone who could fix it(at that time i knew nothing about carseat checks, techs, ect..).
She said there was no one and parents have to figure it out on their own and read the manual(we did and the stupid eddie bauer

base slid everwhere.

I do remember we had the straps pretty tight and chest clip at armpit level.

With Logan the nurse knew exactly what she was talking about and was wonderful(different hospital than michael). We had the base installed great this time(graco snugride base). She took out our aftermarket head support(and i remember thinking she was nuts

). She double checked everything on his seat and even tugged on the base to make sure it was tight.
I remember riding home thinking he couldn't be possibly safe with the harness so tight

and loosned it on the way home

FrogJuice · Feb 26, 2009

When my oldeset was born in was when you could still purchase carseats without the base, my mother in law had purchased the cheapest seat she could find which happened to be a cosco infant seat without base. When we went to leave the hospital my husband buckled the seat up and around the seat like you normally would and hes always been very good about it being tight the nurse informed us we must have a base, she let us leave but said that we had to get a base for the seat inorder to use it. Thankfully I've always been a bit of a carseat freak to know I didnt' have to have the base. I hated that infant seat, we ended up replacing it with the snugride.

sparkyd · Feb 26, 2009

I kept waiting for someone to even look at our son in his infant seat before we walked out of the hospital, but they never did. My discharge experience was weird overall - we were just kind of standing there wondering if we could leave because no one did any final check of anything or actually said "you can go now". So eventually we just left.

kaysmom · Feb 26, 2009

In the NICU before they did K's car seat test they took out the Bundle Me and made sure that we knew the straps had to be tight and adjusted them for us, ect. Knowing what I know now, I'm really glad we never got around to putting the Bundle Me back in for the rest of the cold MN winter (because I was tempted

)

lorismurph · Feb 26, 2009

A friend of mine decided to use a convertible from the start (bad for nurses who have no clue). They told her the harness had to be in the top slots (for a newborn!!!) because that's how our seatbelt fits. They also told her the seatbelt had to be routed around through the FF only belt path. I was horrified and I didn't see the seat until the poor kid was 8 months old! I called the hospital and even offered to teach mini-inservice classes to the nurses but they said it was a liability issue and they couldn't do that (liability? what about sending a baby home like that?!)
When my dd was born (same hospital), my husband forgot to grab the car seat (base was in my car) so the poor nurse had to stand there and wait until I got the straps re-routed and the LATCH strap re-routed to use my older dd's convertible so we could go home. She didn't check much, just stood there waiting to make sure I buckled the baby in.

flutie128 · Feb 26, 2009

Nothing about safety but I remember when DD was born I could not carry her out in the car seat. I had to carry her on my lap and then the nurse made sure I had a car seat and I put the baby in.

smurf · Feb 26, 2009

A friend of mine gave birth in the same hospital as me and they actually checked the expiration date on her baby bucket. They made her (her husband, actually) buy a new seat because it was expired. They also recommended she get a 5-point seat rather than a 3-point (this was about 2 years ago when you could still find 3-point harnesses on some baby buckets).

And of course they checked how the baby fit in the seat (harness, chest clip).

Pretty good, IMO.

rodentranger · Feb 26, 2009

I was allowed to bring ODS home in a Marathon with an infant insert.

With YDS, the nurse questioned everything about the TF. And yet she said the straps were fine when they weren't at all tight. She moved the chest clip down! And the recline was incorrect so I had to hold his head up all the way home or it flopped forward.

amelia · Feb 26, 2009

Nope the nurse who wheeled me out to the car holding the baby didn't even look or check for a carseat, just literally dropped me off standing near the car holding the baby and turned and left. HOWEVER, the entire way out of the hospital (which was husband was videotaping) she without any prompting starting quizzing us on whether we had just circumcised our son. I couldn't believe it. Then when we said we hadn't (our family is European and we do not do that) she went on to ask us if we were doing it in a few days and when I said no, she then responded in a horrified way "well why not? I circumcised my son" to which my only reply was to my husband asking him to turn off the videotape (I was about to cry). She pretty much ruined our video of leaving the hospital with our son and infuriated me. So I guess she had other priorities other than checking to make sure we had and/or correctly used a carseat.

Pixels · Feb 26, 2009

The nurse looked (eyes only, hands behind her back) to see that we had a seat, baby was in it, and the straps looked tight enough. I don't know if she looked at the chest clip or not (it was good). We have a bucket and DH brought it up to the room before they even said anything, so I don't know what they would have done if we were using a convertible. They asked if I wanted a wheelchair ride or to walk out, and I chose to walk (from L&D), so nobody even saw the car, let alone the installation.

I definitely got the impression that she was NOT going to touch the carseat or the baby (while in the carseat) for liability's sake.

Citrine · Feb 26, 2009

I had my girls at the same hospital and neither time did a nurse help me out, and they never looked at the car seat. I was rather disspointed that I was not wheeled out.

Mom2three · Feb 26, 2009

We had to take the carseat up to the room and put DD in it, and watch a carseat safety video. Then, the nurse came in and checked the strap height and tightness. They kinda freaked cause we only had the head support that came with our SS1 and it is the flatter type, so her head kind slumped until we put blankets around her. Then they made me sit in a wheelchair and hold the heavy car seat on my lap with DD in it. That sucked. We got down to the pickup and the nurse just kinda left us.

xursusmaritimusx · Feb 26, 2009

I don't know if ours was standard procedure but they didn't check anything when we left the hospital. my daughter had been in the nicu and special care unit for a lil while. When it was time to go we had the infant seat with us but they didn't have us put her in it or anything.

We walked out of the special care unit with my daughter in my arms and my husband carrying the seat and diaper bag.

We walked ourselves down to the parking garage and I put my daughter in her seat.

Thankfully I had already educated myself on car seat safety while I was pregnant and my sister is a complete car seat freak so i learned a lot from her too

safeinthecar · Feb 26, 2009

Mom2three said:
We had to take the carseat up to the room and put DD in it, and watch a carseat safety video.

I had to watch a video with DD2 also. I took notes about the outdated info, and sent a letter to the hospital with a copy of the court case against the hospital that was sued for showing a video that warned parents that infant HAD to be in the front seat at all times for monitoring.

skaterbabs · Feb 26, 2009

When we were leaving the hospital with Joy the nurse tried to tell me her harness was too tight, despite the fact I could fit two fingers under it. I knew better though, and really avoided going ANYWHERE until she fit a little better because we were bottoming out the harness on her Snug Ride.

skueppers · Feb 26, 2009

Both times, they expected us to bring the infant seat to the room and leave with the baby in it. I have no idea what they do about convertible seats.

Nobody actually checked anything about the seat, how we were using it, or how the base was installed.

An orderly wheeled me to the door, and my husband carried the car seat with baby. I thought that was silly, and wanted to walk, but they told me it wasn't allowed.

hesgimenez · Feb 26, 2009

We received no advice at all. They person who wheeled me out didn't even look to make sure we had a car seat

. It was an orderly I believe, definitely not a nurse.

My brother was born in 1985. I was 11 1/2 at the time. When they wheeled my mother out, she was going to put my brother in his seat. The nurse told her she didn't have to, that most new mother's held the babies on the way home

. Boy how times have changed. You couldn't have paid me enough money to hold K on the ride home.

Pixels · Feb 26, 2009

I'm tempted to bring #2 home in a Radian, just to see what they would do. That will be a couple of years from now, though. Need a new house first.

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