using baby carrier and bus the first day from hospital

[emmasi]

Hi everyone,

Do you know if it's possible to use a baby carrier (the ones similar to backpack) to bring the baby from hospital to home the day after birth?

Thanks

 

[marmoset]

My hospital did not do car seat checks so they wouldn't have cared, however I lost a lot of blood and it was all I could do to take two steps from a wheelchair into the back seat of the car (holding the car door on one side and DH on the other), so physically I couldn't possibly have managed it. I'd say 1) ask your hospital if they require a car seat check, 2) go for it badass mama and 3) have a backup plan in case the birth knocks you out physically.

 

[marmoset]

OH and no, you won't be able to wear baby on your back! Just caught that detail. Baby needs to be able to hold their head and torso steady to do that. Either a wrap would work, or a 'backpack-style' one worn on the front with whatever newborn insert it uses.

Hope this helps

 

[Bevziibubble]

My hospital checked car seats but I'm not sure what the situation would be if you were going by bus. Possibly they would check that the baby was safely in the carrier before you left. Baby should definitely be worn on the front for now though.

 

[emmasi]

Thanks for your answers!

PS: Don't worry, I meant the ones that are worn in front

 

[marmoset]

Good luck!

 

[ParisJeTadore]

Not sure if all carriers are like this but my carrier required a newborn insert. Baby is so small at that point and definitely needs some extra padding and a boost (I've heard of some rolling up a towel and placing it at the bottom). I would check to be sure. Also agree with pp who said you should have a back up. Last two births were great but after my first I could barely shuffle out of the hospital.

 

[jtink28]

have a backup plan in case you need a c-section. you will NOT be able to use a carrier for at least a week or two after a section. good luck!

 

[LoveCakes]

You might be better with a pram. I loved my carrier but remember bringing a LOT of stuff home from the hospital, my stuff, baby's stuff as well as all the leaflets they give you

 

[loeylo]

I definitely couldn't get a bus home from hospital and I had a relatively good recovery and use buses quite regularly.

Is there nobody who can give you a lift, or even get a taxi?

 

[DaisyDreamer]

I definitely couldn't get a bus home from hospital and I had a relatively good recovery and use buses quite regularly.

Is there nobody who can give you a lift, or even get a taxi?

WSS also if at a birth center you may be discharged in the middle of the night, depending on when you gave birth.

 

[emmasi]

Thanks,

I think I'll get a taxi. But I think even for a taxi I need to have a car seat and install it in the taxi.

 

[loeylo]

In the UK you can use a taxi for a short journey without one. My taxi company hires them out for £5 per journey.

 

[donnarobinson]

Most hospitals won't let you leave with baby being in a car seat so even tho you can travel by taxi without a car seat a hospital won't allow that I wouldn't want to put my newborn baby at risk what if there was an accident .. I'd defo get a taxi if you need to but use a car seat that's what I had to do as we don't drive .. if the problem is because u don't have a car seat then can't u borrow one for a friend or family just for the journey ? X

 

[dimmu]

We took a bus home from the hospital, my husband carried the baby in his wrap, the hospital didn't object to that but they wouldn't have liked the idea of us taking a cab without a car seat. Mind you we live very close to the hospital, like less than 10 min by bus.

 

[marmoset]

In the UK you can use a taxi for a short journey without one.

Oof, not worth it IMHO. Newborns have such delicate little necks.

I believe many infant seats can be strapped in with a seatbelt without the base - if you do a search for 'best car seats for taxis' there are review sites that can help figure out which models would be easier/harder to manage.

ETA: here's a link that might help https://thecarseatlady.com/taxi-videos/

 

[smileyfaces]

Not worth the risk really...just find a cheap car seat or borrow one from someone just for that one journey x

 

[loeylo]

In the UK you can use a taxi for a short journey without one.

Oof, not worth it IMHO. Newborns have such delicate little necks.

I believe many infant seats can be strapped in with a seatbelt without the base - if you do a search for 'best car seats for taxis' there are review sites that can help figure out which models would be easier/harder to manage.

ETA: here's a link that might help https://thecarseatlady.com/taxi-videos/

I wouldn't do it myself but I was just stating that you can do it. Personally I'd feel safer in a taxi without a car seat than on a bus which stops suddenly and is full of the general public who in my experience cant keep their gross hands off a baby.

Many people on the buy and sell pages on facebook give them away free.

 

[marmoset]

In the UK you can use a taxi for a short journey without one.

Oof, not worth it IMHO. Newborns have such delicate little necks.

I believe many infant seats can be strapped in with a seatbelt without the base - if you do a search for 'best car seats for taxis' there are review sites that can help figure out which models would be easier/harder to manage.

ETA: here's a link that might help https://thecarseatlady.com/taxi-videos/

I wouldn't do it myself but I was just stating that you can do it. Personally I'd feel safer in a taxi without a car seat than on a bus which stops suddenly and is full of the general public who in my experience cant keep their gross hands off a baby.

Many people on the buy and sell pages on facebook give them away free.

I hear you loeylo, not trying to argue with you at all just want to point out for others reading/thinking about this that transfer of momentum in an accident is very different on a bus vs in a car because the bus is so much heavier, so it transfers most of its momentum to the other vehicle (hence why you don't need a seatbelt on the bus). However in a car the momentum transfer between the two vehicles is more equal which is why people get launched through the windshield etc.

Again loeylo this is not directed at you by any means. I just feel compelled to talk physics when this comes up. Sorry for the derail OP.

 

[loeylo]

In the UK you can use a taxi for a short journey without one.

Oof, not worth it IMHO. Newborns have such delicate little necks.

I believe many infant seats can be strapped in with a seatbelt without the base - if you do a search for 'best car seats for taxis' there are review sites that can help figure out which models would be easier/harder to manage.

ETA: here's a link that might help https://thecarseatlady.com/taxi-videos/

I wouldn't do it myself but I was just stating that you can do it. Personally I'd feel safer in a taxi without a car seat than on a bus which stops suddenly and is full of the general public who in my experience cant keep their gross hands off a baby.

Many people on the buy and sell pages on facebook give them away free.

I hear you loeylo, not trying to argue with you at all just want to point out for others reading/thinking about this that transfer of momentum in an accident is very different on a bus vs in a car because the bus is so much heavier, so it transfers most of its momentum to the other vehicle (hence why you don't need a seatbelt on the bus). However in a car the momentum transfer between the two vehicles is more equal which is why people get launched through the windshield etc.

Again loeylo this is not directed at you by any means. I just feel compelled to talk physics when this comes up. Sorry for the derail OP.

It isn't always about physics though. Between the hospital and my home is all 30mph residential zones and the roads are pretty much straight one-way streets. Chances of a collision are virtually nil. The bus route has stops every few hundred metres and the bus stops at moat stops. When it stops the momentum has thrown me out of my seat before, even when not holding a baby. I was never comfortable sitting down when babywearing (I'm pretty short) so the bus journey would have been spent standing. I honestly couldn't have stood for a bus journey - even in the car I had to stop en route as I was so uncomfortable, and it is only a 10 minute journey (although we got stuck in football traffic and it took far longer than it should have!)