Can you leave hospital with baby without a car seat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is true. It’s a safety program. They don’t want people to say that they don’t need a car seat because they don’t have a car and then get in a friend’s car, or a taxi, or an Uber with an unrestrained baby. It’s the only moment that the authorities can try to ensure that each baby has access to a car seat. If you can’t afford a car seat, talk to the hospital about them giving you one. If you really don’t want to own a car seat to use even in the case of an emergency, borrow one from a friend to leave the hospital.

Haha. And then will the “authorities” come and inspect your car seat every few months for you to make sure it is appropriately sized? Will they ensure kids have access to healthy food and a clean living environment?

I don’t doubt you that this is indeed a requirement, but it’s actually a perfect example of government overreach, IMO. I don’t have a car —> I don’t need a car seat. And this country clearly doesn’t give a damn about kids. This is probably some kickback to car seat manufacturers...

How did you bring your children home from the hospital or did you have a home birth?

[Anonymous]

And what if it’s raining the day you would be walking home? There are so many “what if” scenarios with this walking home plan. This really is a situation where using the car seems best.

[Anonymous]

Our car/car seat situation was not checked with either kid when we left. They wheeled us to the door and that was it.

My older kid was small though, and they did do an overnight test with her in the car seat where they could monitor her breathing.

[Anonymous]

You can walk home but you'd need a car seat that snaps into the stroller.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is true. It’s a safety program. They don’t want people to say that they don’t need a car seat because they don’t have a car and then get in a friend’s car, or a taxi, or an Uber with an unrestrained baby. It’s the only moment that the authorities can try to ensure that each baby has access to a car seat. If you can’t afford a car seat, talk to the hospital about them giving you one. If you really don’t want to own a car seat to use even in the case of an emergency, borrow one from a friend to leave the hospital.

We have 2, 1 for each car. I just was planning not to bring it since we are going to walk home. We walk everywhere around here, but we do own cars for when we need to leave our neighborhood.

I also walk everywhere—but walking a few blocks immediately after giving birth, when you’re likely still bleeding is a very different animal.

[Anonymous]

I'm very fit. After the birth of my daughter, I went out for my first real walk a week after giving birth (vaginally) and began leaking lochia within the first few minutes. Very disappointing but I learned not to mess with my body trying to heal.

Also, for you to leave the hospital with a newborn and no car seat is a liability for the hospital. They can absolutely refuse to let you go. This is not your typical AMA (against medical advice) because it is about the baby and not you.

[Anonymous]

Obviously a first time Mom LOL. Honey your vagina and pelvic area is about to be ripped apart and stitched back together. Good luck with that 10 min walk.

[Anonymous]

I walked home from the hospital after both of my births. We used the bucket car seat that drops into a stroller so we could check the box. We lived about a 10 min walk from the hospital. We didn’t have that much stuff to go home with, my husband had a backpack and pushed the stroller. I carried my purse and there was a bag of stuff tucked under the stroller. If I hadn’t felt up to it he would have picked me up in the car.

[Anonymous]

I smiled at this, OP. Innocence is bliss.

If I tried to walk 10 min home with my first, it ended up being the hottest day of the year (early June) and the nurse actually checked our car to make sure DH had the AC running long enough and it wasn't a risk of a too hot car. Also, I had unexpected complications and could hardly walk between our room and the babys room for 2 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our car/car seat situation was not checked with either kid when we left. They wheeled us to the door and that was it.

My older kid was small though, and they did do an overnight test with her in the car seat where they could monitor her breathing.

Same, WHC, 2015.

My very urban hospital in Chicago made no mention of a car seat check, either.

That being said, OP, I’d just drive. No need to add the extra stress of worrying about this to your L&D.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Obviously a first time Mom LOL. Honey your vagina and pelvic area is about to be ripped apart and stitched back together. Good luck with that 10 min walk.

Don’t terrify the poor woman. I would have been fine to walk 10 minutes. Hell, going from the hospital room to the parking lot (our baby had a short peds stay for a non-emergency reason) was a 10 minute walk. I would have been fine to walk 30 minutes and spent a fair amount of time pacing around my room waiting for discharge. Vaginal birth, some tearing.

[Anonymous]

I have no doubt that some women have no issues walking 10-15 minutes the day after birth. My mom would be one of those people.
With my first, I had complications (pre-eclampsia and HELLP) and he was delivered 4 weeks early so there was no way I could have walked that far due to all the drugs they had me on.
My second, massive vaginal tear... no way it would be good to walk that far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is true. It’s a safety program. They don’t want people to say that they don’t need a car seat because they don’t have a car and then get in a friend’s car, or a taxi, or an Uber with an unrestrained baby. It’s the only moment that the authorities can try to ensure that each baby has access to a car seat. If you can’t afford a car seat, talk to the hospital about them giving you one. If you really don’t want to own a car seat to use even in the case of an emergency, borrow one from a friend to leave the hospital.

Haha. And then will the “authorities” come and inspect your car seat every few months for you to make sure it is appropriately sized? Will they ensure kids have access to healthy food and a clean living environment?

I don’t doubt you that this is indeed a requirement, but it’s actually a perfect example of government overreach, IMO. I don’t have a car —> I don’t need a car seat. And this country clearly doesn’t give a damn about kids. This is probably some kickback to car seat manufacturers...

It is massive government overreach. I get that it is for the safety of babies, but this type of overreach is wrong.

[Anonymous]

They didn’t check our car seat at WHC, but I think they asked if we had one. And I think maybe it was COVID.

OP, there’s no question that you might be able to walk home. But there’s also no question that you might not be. You should have a car seat. Also because what if you need to take the baby to the ER? To the doctor when it’s raining? I see no problem with relying on taxis but not having a car seat seems very reckless.

[Anonymous]

For everyone asking if OP is going to carry the baby home -- ever heard of this amazing contraption called a stroller?