Parents-to-be often ask, “Do I have to have an infant carrier in order to leave the hospital?” Well, the simple answer to this urban myth is that you don’t need an infant carrier to leave the hospital. However, if you’re going to drive your baby home, you do need a suitable car seat BUT this does not have to be an infant carrier!
Each hospital trust has its own rules, and some of them tell you to bring your baby carrier up to the maternity ward before they let you go home. But if you don’t have an infant carrier, we suggest that you bring proof to the hospital that you have a car seat that’s suitable from birth but isn’t easy to carry!
You may have a Joie iSpin, a Cybex SironaZ2, an Axkid ONE+2, or any of a number of seats suitable from birth that are not infant carriers and are intended to remain in your vehicle. If this is the case we recommend that you take a picture of the seat in your car with your phone and pop the instructions in your hospital bag. Do not panic and certainly do not go out and buy an infant carrier purely to get home from hospital if you have another seat. We have never heard of any parents who had to leave their baby at the hospital for weeks because they didn’t have an infant carrier! In fact, if you took a taxi or bus home, you wouldn’t even have to put your baby in a car seat, though we wouldn’t recommend it.
What should I do if I am unsure whether my car seat is suitable from birth?
If you are not sure whether your car seat is suitable from birth, we suggest that you either get in touch with us at Parenting Expert (we have a trained car seat specialist in-house) or visit your local independent Nursery Store who will be happy to help you. If you would like some advice from our in-house car seat specialist please email us at hello@parentingexpert.co.uk.
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