Reply to Do you need a car with a newborn?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I didn't have one for my first, but do now for my second (different city/circumstances). I strongly preferred not dealing with a car. It's just easier to put the kid in a carrier and walk out the door---no need to buckle in and out or deal with a crying baby that you can't reach in the backseat. If your usual routine is within walking distance, you don't need a car.

Re the ped, I actually don't think you need to be close to it. There really aren't that many appointments in the first year or thereafter. Covid does make things harder, but we're still only talking about maybe 7 trips in the first year. And, presumably cases will be going down by the time your baby is here. Personally, I would punt the decision until April and see how you feel then. It's not too long from now, but we may have a little more clarity on the year ahead re Covid vaccinations. [/quote]

We got our first car about 3 weeks before DD was born. We lived in Van Ness and ped was out in Chevy Chase. We’d had this debate ourselves (DH wanted car, I didn’t). Then he was sick one night (kidney stone) and we were out on CT at about 12:15 am mid winter trying to hail a cab on a weeknight. It was freezing and he was in a lot of pain. I said “imagine how stressful this would be with a sick or injured child!” That was the night we decided to get a car. Definitely not necessary (very easy to seat belt a car seat into a car) but our first was premature and we got sent to the hospital or the pediatrician / lactation consultant 10 times in her first two weeks home! so almost daily! It was miserable and I was in pain and exhausted and it would have been worse without a car for sure. By the time our second was born we’d moved and my DH took the car and older DD to daycare and if I needed to go anywhere with the baby I would just get a lyft. That was a few years ago. I don’t feel comfortable taking lyft or metro or taxis now. [/quote]

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