Do They Check Your Carseat When You Leave the Hospital?

In every "Deliver My Baby Story" episode on television, there's the scene where dad is trying to figure out how to install the infant car seat at the last minute so that the family and new addition can head home.  According to television and every baby preparation class I took, the hospital will not release your baby until they check and determine that the baby seat is installed properly in your car.

Is this true?

Well, maybe.  In my personal experience, the answer was no.  Before my wife and baby were discharged, the nurse did ask if we had an infant car seat.  And we did. That was pretty much it.  Clark was born on Good Friday and we left the hospital the next day.  So, it was a Saturday and technically a holiday weekend.  A very young woman (too young to be a nurse) wheeled my wife and baby (in carrier) down to my awaiting car.  I inserted the carrier with baby into its base in the center of the backseat.  My wife then joined Clark in the back.  Then we drove home.  No one checked that the base or car seat were correctly installed.   Is this an anomaly, I don't know.  I've only had one baby.  I've never picked up any other newborn baby from the hospital.

Maybe it's just a scary story designed to scare new parents into putting in the effort to be prepared when a newborn is picked up from the hospital. I don't understand how you could not be prepared for leaving the hospital.  There is so much down time.  Why not peruse the manual or check your seat installation while your wife is feeding the baby or herself (food is usual available for moms, you have to fend for yourself).  As a dad, you're not really required, but usually appreciated.  A short absence by you to take care of the car seat will barely be noticed.

They Don't Do Circumcisions at the Hospital Anymore!

Whether you've seen it on TV or remember stories of your own circumcision, you probably think that baby circumcisions are performed at the hospital (brises excepted) before you leave.  Well not anymore.  Insurance companies decided it was cheaper to have them performed in the doctor's office.

Speaking of circumcisions, from the experience with my son, I wished they were still performed at the hospital.  At the time of his circumcision, my wife's milk had come in and the baby was starting to eat/poop/pee fairly regularly.  He was gaining weight and sleeping well.  All of that went out the window after the circumcision.

At that point you have no idea if your baby is hungry, wet, soiled, cold or just feeling the pain from his circumcision.  It will all run together because (it was explained to me by a lactation consultant) the breast milk has pain relieving something something in it.  The baby will suckle at the breast more than usual in an attempt to self medicate.  It would have been way better had this taken place sooner (at the hospital) than later (at the doctor's office).

This was the first time I made it to the  (S) - Sucker in PUBGEMS.  My son Clark wouldn't stop crying, even after being changed, fed and swaddled, even medicated (infant Tylenol).  I was not enamored with the idea of giving him a pacifier so soon.  The books were saying to wait until after the first month to introduce the pacifier.  Screw them.  At wits end, I removed the pacifier, given to us at the hospital, from its packaging and gave it to him.  He took to it like Pooh Bear to honey and slept through the rest of the night, as did I.


        - Clark's Dad