When do you put car seats in?

LittleLady77

When should we do this? Also, when did you pack a hospital bag?

caden

If you are like me, the day before you give birth. I had an appt with a car seat inspector that I had to skip because I had just given birth. That was at 35w so my vote is before that.

LegalLadyBug

I think we put DDs seat in our car around 30w. It was one less thing to worry about doing. We're planning on getting a minivan in a few months and will put the twins seats in ASAP.

pinkmickey24

The car seats were in the car around 32 weeks, however, the seat itself was left inside because if I were in an accident at least the car seats would be safe from needing to be replaced. I would only have to replace the bases. When my water broke at 37 weeks 4 days the seats went in the car. My hospital bag wasn't packed until 35ish weeks. We did a little at a time and found we didn't need or use most of what we packed.

SamanthaJoD

We just packed our hospital bag and installed the car seats 3 days ago! I'm at 34 weeks and feel like we are cutting it close!

LittleLady77

Okay, I need to get on this!

LegallyBlonde217

Not soon enough.  I had something like 4 things in my bag at 29 weeks when my water broke and I was put on hospital bed rest.  DH had to just bring me a few things each day as I remembered them.  The car seat bases were installed around 28 weeks.  My recommendation for everyone is to have everything done by 28 weeks just in case. 

katieg314

I started packing my bag around 28 weeks, although I just finished this week (32 weeks). We have the car seats ready to go, but probably won't put them in until it's Go Time. We aren't that far from the hospital, so I figure DH can get them if for some reason we don't have them with us. As we progress and we know we are close I might put them in sooner...

chickaboo1974

I had a basic bag packed at 28 weeks.  The car seats were installed at 31 weeks- when I was admitted overnight and then released on bedrest.  Both were not "have to have done" since my boys stayed in the NICU for 17 days and my DH had to go home every day twice- to check on the dogs.  We only lived 15 minutes from the hospital.

Ylvelill

I told my husband I want the house/car/hospital bag to be ready at 26w

Wishing35

36 weeks,, I put the bases and got the seats set up and then took the seats and left them by the front door. I didn't want to leave the seats in just in case one of us got into a fender bender. I started packing my bag around 30 weeks little by little.

carrotcake06

H packed my bag for me the day after the babies were born I dictated a list of things for him to bring while hopped up on morphine after my c/s. Not ideal, but far from the end if the world.

Car seats weren't in either, but they were in the NICU and honestly, I was emotional enough leaving them in the hospital when I was discharged that seeing two empty car seats would have been even tougher. I didn't let H put them in the car until we knew when we'd be taking them home.

raraavis28

My bag was packed by 30ish weeks. DH installed the carseats before we left for the hospital (35+4) :-P I'd recommend doing it sooner than that.....@pinkmickey24 has a good point about just installing the bases first, though.

JodiAriel

If you install them early I recommend doing what these ladies suggest and keep just the bases in the car because even unoccupied seats need to be replace in an accident.  Also consider going to a car seat fitting station to have them installed where they will not only make sure they are installed correctly but will teach you how to install them as well so if you ever need to take them out you can safely put them back in yourself.
Go here to find a tech/fitting station local to you: https://ssl06.cyzap.net/dzapps/dbzap.bin/apps/assess/webmembers/tool?pToolCode=TAB9&pCategory1=TAB9_CERTSEARCH&Webid=SAFEKIDSCERTSQL

dmurrie

Although be careful and double check the seats that someone else installs. They did it totally wrong when we had it installed for our singleton. They even bullied me into putting it in the wrong seat of the car. I came home and my husband reinstalled it correctly!

JodiAriel

@dmurrie Not all police/fire are CPST (certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians).  Sometimes police/fireman do installs and they are not CPSTs therefore they don't know more than the average joe which is not helpful to anyone. If yours however was installed by a CPST and you think it was incorrect you should contact Safe Kids which is our certifying agency to alert them.  We go through a very rigourous training and have to maintain continuing education to keep up to date with all of the latest NHTSA rules and regulations and you should feel confident when a CPST helps you to install that it is being done correctly.  If it was a CPST they should have taught you to do it as well and had you fill out a worksheet that documents how the install was done, etc for recordkeeping/insurance purposes. 

PurpleIris30

I wouldn't stress about doing it too early. If your babies are born early, they'll be spending some time in the nicu and won't be going home right away. My girls were born at 32, and we had 4 weeks to install car seats before the first one needed a ride. No biggie.

dmurrie

JodiAriel said:

@dmurrie Not all police/fire are CPST (certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians).  Sometimes police/fireman do installs and they are not CPSTs therefore
they don't know more than the average joe which is not helpful to
anyone. If yours however was installed by a CPST and you think it was incorrect you should contact Safe Kids which is our certifying agency to alert them.  We go through a very rigourous training and have to maintain continuing education to keep up to date with all of the latest NHTSA rules and regulations and you should feel confident when a CPST helps you to install that it is being done correctly.  If it was a CPST they should have taught you to do it as well and had you fill out a worksheet that documents how the install was done, etc for recordkeeping/insurance purposes. 

That's good to know. It was supposed to be a certified install site, but it was several years ago, when the Chicco seats were just becoming popular. I believe he said it was the first of that kind that he'd seen. When installed with the retractable side belts (as he did it), they're different from the other brands. At least, that's what I've heard. I'm so happy our new van has the LATCH. Car seats are so much easier with that!

zazu13

I just found out my local hospital takes appointments once a month for car seat checks. We'll make an appointment for next month to get installed. It will be about 33 weeks.

ShannonSky

I'm planning to do the hospital bag around 32w and the car seats around 35w, though I might do the bag sooner based on this thread. The seats I'd probably do at the same time if the twins were our first, but once I install the baby seats my big girls will have to move to the back of the minivan, so I'd rather hold off on that until we know there's a possibility of them coming home within a few days after birth. If they come earlier than 35w, we'll have time to install before they come home. And of course, all of this is predicated on us owning a minivan, which we do not yet. lol

dmurrie

Another question... do you bring the snap n go into the hospital when you're packing up to leave? They may have done things differently with our singleton because it was the middle of winter, but my husband went out to pull the car around first and then they waited a couple minutes and pushed me (carrying the carrier) to the parking lot. With twins, I'd need a stroller of some sort in order to carry 2 carriers.

LittleLady77

^^ great question

Wishing35

dmurrie said:

Another question... do you bring the snap n go into the hospital when you're packing up to leave? They may have done things differently with our singleton because it was the middle of winter, but my husband went out to pull the car around first and then they waited a couple minutes and pushed me (carrying the carrier) to the parking lot. With twins, I'd need a stroller of some sort in order to carry 2 carriers.

We didn't, my husband pulled the car around and I was taken down in a wheelchair with both babies in my lap.

Mama-Bear

For DS1 we had it done around 36 or 37w.  With my twins DH did it when we were ready to leave the hospital.