What do hospitals do when...

[coleslawcat]

If you already know it's going to be a problem I would just borrow a friend's bucket for the hospital and move my baby into the convertible when I got to the car. I wouldn't want to bother trying to deal with the hassle of explaining why the policy is flawed when I just want to get home from the hospital.

At the hospital I delivered my first a car seat tech came to our room to make sure the baby was securely fastened in the seat before we left the room and then she accompanied us to the car to make sure the base was installed correctly. At the hospital I delivered my second no one checked our car seat and we walked out while carrying our son in the bucket.

 

[swtgi1982]

With DS2 we used a convertible when he was a newborn. He just rode down in my arms in the wheel chair with me. I did hear some nurses at the nurses station mumbling something about "there goes another without a car seat" to each other under their breath. I was all but waiting for one of them to say something to me! Trust me I was ready too! The nurse that took us out look to see we did have a seat in the car and made sure I buckled him, but after that she said have a nice day and off she went.

I will admit our hospital is more worried about first time parents and after that you kind of get forgotten. Even during your stay.
with DS1 I had issues with nursing and the nurses would not call a lactation consultant for me, they just assumed I knew what I was doing since I was not a first time mother. (I bottle fed the first time, but thought I would try the second time, but due to lack of support, even after asking them, and the hospital operator to send one to my room, I just gave up).

The nurse the third time looked at me a said, "Of course you have a car seat" and checked it off of the education checklist they are required to cover in the hospital. Just because I was a third time mother apparently I knew all, and did not need to hear it.

 

[my2kidsSafe]

i had a bucket with both my kids but walked out alone with dh only. No nurse or anything with us both times at seperate hospitals ontop of that.

 

[mamabear]

with both kiddos (born at different hospitals) they just ask if you have a carseat, and whoever escorts you to the car (nurse or aid) checks to see if one's in there.

 

[canadiangie]

I think if this baby is actually big enough I might bring it home in a convertible.. just for fun. To see what, if any drama arrises from trying to do so.

Seriously, I think I just might.

 

[HappyMommy]

My hospital would not discharge you unless your brought the car seat in your room and they saw you put the baby in the car seat.

 

[Cilia]

Thanks for sharing your stories. Like I said to begin with, I just never thought about it before.

It was no biggie for us except for how to get the bucket to me and dd2. Due to h1n1, dd1 was not allowed into the ward at all, so the nurse had to go get the bucket from dh and then bring it to me and dd2. I buckled her in and was wheeled down to the car where I got up and carried dd2 to the car and put the seat in the base. I think that if I had said that we do not have a bucket, we would have had to bring the convertible up to the room, but I am not entirely sure... The nurse that released us was very :thumbsdown:

 

[geekKT]

At the hospital I delivered at they asked to have the car seat brought in to check the baby in it. I mentioned it was a convertible and asked if they could just check it in the car, but the nurse said they still needed to see it. I wanted out of there so I didn't push the issue, and had to explain to my DH how to uninstall the thing and bring it in to the hospital (I hadn't yet shown him how to install and uninstall it, baby was a few days early)

I set it on the bed at the proper recline, put baby in it, the nurse vaguely checked the strap tightness and said we were good to go, then gave me a nicely outdated pamphlet on proper use. She did mention no puffy coats though.

I made DH bring the seat back down to the car, and when they discharged us a half hour later we walked out of the ward through the hospital and out to the parking lot, me carrying baby.

I then had to reinstall the seat in the parking lot while DH held the not yet 24 hour old baby. If I had had a c-section this might have not worked so well but I was able to get it back in with an acceptable install, though I did come home and adjust it the next day.

Next time I think I will either push the issue a little more or use a bucket just to get past that check. Luckily the TFP without the headrest isn't a huge thing to have to lug through the hallways. Oh, and I'll make sure to teach DH the install before we end up at the hospital.

 

[Murphy's Law]

I had a convertible with my first baby. The nurse came out to the car while I carried him down and they watched me put him in. No issues at all.

 

[scoutingbear]

At our hospital tour they told us we would have to bring the seat in. At our Lamaze class (same hospital) they told us that if we used a convertible, the staff would look at it when we were d/c'd. We are using a convertible. The CCO is a PITA to install where I want it in the car and it takes 2 people to do so. It isn't coming out. L&D is on the ground floor. They can certainly make the trip outside to see it in the car before we leave. If they push the issue, we can flip the Radian around (or dh can bring it in since it is so much easier to install).

 

[Mags462]

No one even ASKED about car seats... I had all 3 of my kids in the same hospital w/in the last 4 yrs and no once did anyone ask about our car seat, check to make sure we had one, or anything of the sort. They did however INSIST that i was to ride in the darn wheelchair and be escorted to the front door. But no one followed me to my car to check a thing

 

[ketchupqueen]

They tried to insist that I ride in the wheelchair, too. I said no. If they wanted to keep me that was fine with me...

 

[xursusmaritimusx]

its interesting to hear how each hospital works...

for DD they didnt say we had to bring the car seat in but we did anyway.
DD was in the nicu and special care before we left and we had to wait for all the doctors to check off on her charts before we were discharged.
i originally had DD in the infant seat but because of the wait i had taken her out and held her.
i carried her out in my arms while DH carried the car seat.
no nurse escort or anything.

 

[thepeach80]

Did everyone get a wheelchair but me?! lol I don't even remember having one w/ AJ, but I'm sure I would've since he was a c/s 7 years ago today!

 

[amyd]

We had a bucket, but if we hadn't, there's no way we would have hauled a convertible up to the room. There's a waiver for everything else if you want to refuse it, I'm sure there's one for this too (actually, there is one for our hospital & I've seen it & it's terribly written & leads parents to believe that it's okay to use a seat that doesn't meet CMVSS as long as they sign it, but I digress). And no wheelchair ride out here either, even with a c-section. We walked, DH carried DS in the bucket.

 

[RainbowMama]

Did everyone get a wheelchair but me?! lol I don't even remember having one w/ AJ, but I'm sure I would've since he was a c/s 7 years ago today!

I didn't get a wheelchair but I was discharged before my DS was and didn't leave the hospital until he was transferred to another hospital to NICU so I didn't actually leave the hospital when I was discharged. So I might not count. LOL

 

[Judi]

Our local Safe Kids coalition doesn't give buckets unless it's a special situation (premie, low birth weight...). They mostly give out convertibles, so I expect that the hospitals know that the babies can leave in them.

I talked our safe kids into doing this too. We do not do buckets.

Oh, and I walked to the car, and had a convertible.

 

[hel]

I honestly have no idea what the rule would be at the hospital where I had DD; most of the nurses were, frankly, more interested in meeting the baby and getting a picture with the three of us than they were the car seat (which was a bucket that we did bring up to the room). I also walked to the car (wheelchair wasn't even suggested). I think some of them were disappointed that we left 4 hours after DD was born.

Of course, my mother was a nurse in the L&D department there for 37 years, and mentored many of the current nursing staff as they started on the floor, so I think they just assumed we had it covered.

 

[thepeach80]

Our coalition doesn't do infant seats either except in special cases, twins etc.

 

[Mom2FiveGirls]

With DD#1 they didn't look at the car seat at all. They took me down in a wheelchair and I was holding her. I buckled her in her car seat and turned around and the nurse was already gone...

DD#2 was born at the same hospital as DD#1 but was transferred to another hospital with a NICU. She had to pass the car seat test before she could be discharged so we had to bring her seat in. We had an infant seat though, so it wasn't a big deal....we just had to bring the base and everything in.

DD#3 was born at the same hospital as DD#1 and 2. They wheeled me down in a wheelchair and I held her. This time they did look to make sure we had a car seat, but that's it.

DD#4 was born at a different hospital and was in the NICU for a while. We had to bring the whole seat (base and everything) up for the car seat test then DH took the base back down and installed it. I carried her in her car seat (infant seat) when she was discharged. She was in the NICU for 2.5 weeks, so I felt fine by that time and told them I would really rather just carry her if that was ok. They said they usually use the wheelchair, but if I didn't want to, they couldn't make me.

DD#5 was born at the same hospital as DD#4. They did not ask to see the car seat before we were discharged. They pushed me in a wheelchair and I held her. When we got to the car the nurse quickly checked to make sure the seat was installed and watched me buckle her in.