How to prepare for leaving the hospital with the newborn?

If, like me, you give birth in the summer, you can consider packing things in a hospital bag for going out, but if you give birth in winter, stuffing all warm things for you and your baby in the bag will only make your stay in the hospital difficult. That is why at home I prepared all the necessary things to leave the hospital in one place ...
- in a child car seat, ready to be picked up by the person who will be picking us up from the hospital - my husband Wojtek was here.
So I invite you to a movie in which I will tell you everything ...
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The first question we need to answer when planning our exit from the hospital: how will we go home? It is probably a car for most of us, but there will certainly be people who, for example, live very close to the hospital and decide to go back on foot. In each of these situations, we must have something to carry the newborn in and decide whether it will be a stroller or a car seat.
Personally, I gave birth in a different city than I live every day, so I knew that I would come home by car. That's why the most important thing I prepared for leaving the hospital was the car seat.
Car seat
Our choice fell on Cybex Cloud Q car seat - for the previous son, we had a very similar car seat of the same brand, only a slightly different model - Aton Q, which did not have one, the most important function of the Cybex Cloud Q seat, which we have this time - it is the function folds the child seat flat out into the lying position, almost like a pram.
As far as I have been a huge opponent of transporting children in car seats outside of the car, on pram racks, i.e. treating a car seat like a gondola or a home deckchair, when we have car seat fold out outside the pram almost flat, here I see new possibilities that do not harm the health of our baby. Of course, it's best to stimulate our child by transporting him in a gondola, where his movements are unrestrained neither by the position forced by the shape of the seat, nor by the belts, but such a fold-out seat can be an interesting alternative, for example to go to the doctor or shopping, when our baby just fell asleep in the car, we do not want to wake him up by carrying him to the gondola. We can then easily mount the seat using adapters on most stroller frames and go for a small walk or visit friends.
Why is this so important? Such A toddler up to two months old should stay in the car seat a maximum of 30-60 minutes, because in the position forced by the seat the baby's heart rate and the number of breaths increases with a simultaneous decrease in oxygenation of the body, and this is just one of the reasons why this safe position for traveling is not ideal for relaxation. You can read more about it here.
Swaddle for car seats and more
Despite the fact that Maks was born at the end of July, I was not able to predict what the weather will be on the day we leave the hospital - and 10 or 30 'C make a difference. That's why I decided on mounted in a special car seat Leaf swaddle from Wallaboo - the unfolded swaddle has the shape of a flower - on the inside it is 100% delicate, high-quality cotton fabric, insulated on the other side with suede.
This cover can be used both in a stroller as a sleeping bag, in a cot as a cone, on the floor as a play mat or in a car seat as a sleeping bag for a car seat - and this is the application that I used in preparation for leaving the hospital with the newborn.
Thanks to the unique flower shape, this cover is ideal for any weather - on a hot day, it is enough to put the Baby on a cotton fabric, thanks to which he does not sweat in contact with the artificial lining of the seat. If the weather is a bit colder, we can put the Baby in a pocket sewn into the cover and provide it with a warm blanket cover. In case of bad weather, we can additionally wrap the baby in the next petals of our cover, as well as fasten the next leaves to the snaps, thus creating a cozy hood, protecting against wind and cold.
Having this cover, I knew that in late spring, summer and early autumn I don't need extra clothes for my baby except a hat in case of a cold day, and in winter I have extra protection against cold.
You can find our cover and many similar items here.
Mom's clothes
In the car seat prepared in such a way I also put clothes prepared for leaving the hospital for myself. Due to the uncertain weather, I prepared two sets, and on the day of departure I only told Wojtkowa which set to take with him.
What should you pay attention to when choosing clothes for going out of the hospital?
First convenience - no matter how you plan to give birth, any delivery can end with a cesarean section, so it's worth giving up here, for example, tight jeans, also those of pregnancy, whose rigid material, belt loops, zippers fall perfectly at the height of the scar after cesarean section and will not provide us comfort, especially when traveling.
Secondly, appropriate size. Personally, I did not expect 2-3 to wear clothes before pregnancy days after delivery, so I opted for these pregnancy or looser solutions. After giving birth, many of us accumulate water and for this reason they are unable to fit in normal clothes or shoes.
That is why while completing home exit sets, I focused on:
- set for a very warm day: I chose for me a pregnancy dress with white and navy blue stripes and tied sneakers, which in practice I could barely tie because of the retained water,
- set for a cold day: I prepared for myself pregnancy long leggings, a loose T-shirt and a very warm sweater as well as sneakers.
On the day of our departure the weather was very nice, fortunately it wasn't too hot. That's why I put on a dress and sneakers, and I put the baby in a pocket on the legs, zipping the hood around the head to protect him from the wind that accompanied us that day.
The post featured:
Cybex Cloud Q car seat
Wallaboo swaddle
Be sure not to forget to take a few souvenir photos from your first big trip!
If you liked the material, I would be glad if you let me know, "Like it":
Julia
We are planning a parent in Warsaw and we are from Wrocław and I am terrified to come back for this reason, I do not know how to organize it, how to come back with such a baby that would be safe
Kasik
Should you take breaks along the way? I don't know what could be more appropriate ..
Małgosia
Welcome. Your beautiful Leaf Gray Swaddle, as far as I can see, has a white lining. Today, however, when opening the parcel with it inside, I was a bit disappointed, because the lining is beige, beige and yellow. Is the white in the photos the effect of the photo or is it really white?
Agnieszka
hm I don't have it on hand right now, but it seems to me that neither it was snow-white, but such natural white and gray patterns.
Patricia
Have you been using the Cybex Cloud Q for some time, are you still satisfied with it? Does the son still fit in it? Isn't it too heavy to wear with your child? Is the installation of this car seat belts bothersome? I'm thinking of buying it for our daughter and I don't know if it's worth it.
Agnieszka
Yes - Maks is 15 months old and he is still riding it. This seat is perfect, it has only one drawback - the weight. but I haven't found a better one with a lower weight. Mounting with belts is convenient ... as for mounting with belts - we use the base, but initially I did not have it in the other car and I mounted it on the belts, wait a minute, it's hard to do it wrong.
And when it comes to carrying it - I do not look at it as a baby carrier, but as a safe seat, instead of carrying adapters, I put it on the pram and transport it. And I also have such a special shoulder strap to wear - very helpful: https://muppetshop.eu/search.php?text=pas+do+noszenia
kurusia.wordpress
Thank you for very useful knowledge about the time that your toddler can spend in the car seat. We were thinking about the Cloud model but ultimately we decided on Aton Q. The finances and the results of the car seats decided in the tests.
Agnieszka
I had Aton Q for my older son, I have the impression that apart from unfolding they are identical 🙂
Magda M. blog
Nice cover, I didn't know there was such a thing. How little Maksi, my Sara was also like that recently and is growing fast
Agnieszka Kudela
This seat cover makes everyday life easier! In addition, a foldable car seat and everything becomes simpler 🙂 Maks in the photo has a whole 2590g - today he weighs more than twice as much!