Moms: a question for you, please come in! :)

smilee

After you delivered, and for your hospital stay, did you keep your LO with you in the room, or did he/she sleep in the nursery?

We were discussing the pros and cons of both at my breast feeding  class the other day.  I was just curious what others have done or if you have any words of wisdom either way.

Thanks you!  

DavezWife

in the room most of the time. Someone told me to LET the nurses take the baby for a couple hours each nite - everyone will sleep better. So true. Glad I did that.

I think the majority of the hospitals have a "room in" standard now. cuts their costs to staff the nursery.

MrsJeffsWife2B

We were SUPPOSED to have him room in, (delivered at Phelps, what hospital are you delivering at?) but he needed to go to the "Special Care Nursery" because he needed IV antibiotics.. It broke my heart. All the other babies were rooming in, he was the only one in the little incubator, attached to a gazillion wires.

Yes, you will be tired and maybe it's nice to have the nurses take baby if you ASK them to, but think of how it is for that baby to have come out into the world and be separated from mama!  Maybe I'm just emotional about it because I COULDN'T have him with me, but it makes me so sad to think how alone he must have felt

ESTH2000

baby roomed in with me but I had the option of using the nursery. one night DD had a choking episode and they took her for a little while..another night they took her for a little  while and brought her back in when it was time to nurse...I missed her incredibly both times but it did give me a little rest..

Mrs.LisaP

Both my kids never left my side...even for tests, etc. they came to us. I jsut wanted them near me : ) DH stayed with me and if I needed anything else the nurses were just a button click away. 

TxJen1972

She stayed in the room with us most of the time. I wouldn't have had it any other way.  We had to stay an extra night because I had a c/s and the last night I was exhausted and she did stay in the nursery for a couple hours that night while I got some sleep.

artygirl

We kept our LO in the room with us.  I waited 9 months to wait the little guy, I didn't want to pass him off so soon! 

PhillySue

I had DD in the room with me for the night. We did have a few hours without her because she needed to get monitored in the newborn nursery because her breathing was labored.  I of course did not sleep anyway because I was worried about her.  I liked having her in the room because I was able to try to nurse frequently and I just liked holding her.  Of course the con is that I did not sleep much in the hospital but I think I would have found it hard to sleep anyway.

BizEB

We put him in the nursery every night.  They brought him to me for feedings when he woke up. 

oct11bride03

She was in the room most of the time, but one night we did send her to the nursery so we could attempt sleep (not very comfortable). Initial bonding is important, but so is trying to get some rest before you're on your own.

duke'sgirl

Our hospital doesn't have a nursery, only the option for a nurse to come get the baby and take him to a small room for a little while where the nurses will watch him. So, we were supposed to have him with us, but he went to the NICU the first day, night and part of the next day, was with us the whole 2nd night, then he had to go under the lights for his jaundice, and the machine kept getting too hot, his apnea pad alarm kept going off, etc., so they kept him at night the rest of the time we were there. He was with us in the room all day every day, though.

I liked having the option for them to come get him if needed. Had he actually been in our room for more than one night, I most likely would have used them!

Soon2beMrs.Sivert

We would have had our daughters not gone to the NICU for their stay but since they were there. It would have been a lot easier to have them in our room for breastfeeding for sure.

chocolatechip06

Babies can room in, but they have a nursery at our hospital.

We will try and send baby to the nursery at night (I think) so we can get some rest but will ask that baby be brought in to feed.

Let's see if I change my mind or not.  I am a light sleeper and want to get some rest before we are on our own.

howleyshell

DavezWife:

in the room most of the time. Someone told me to LET the nurses take the baby for a couple hours each nite - everyone will sleep better. So true. Glad I did that.

This.

I'd send them out of the room for a few hours each night so I could sleep soundly for a bit but I had them bring him back to me when he needed to feed.  I had to supplement Dylan so I got a longer stretch with him than with Jace.

There's no help once you're home so you might as well take advantage of it while you can! 

jenber77

LO was in my room the whole time. I'm not sure it was even an option to send him to a nursery. Not even sure such a thing existed!

LVBlvd

She stayed with us with the exception of a few hours that first night.  She was born my C-Section at 11:17 PM, after a tough labor all day.  I needed some sleep, so I sent her around 2 AM so I could rest.  I woke up at 5 and wanted her back, so I just kept her the rest of the time.

I suggest sending him for a little bit, just so you can close your eyes and relax. 

JGirl2005

we had the baby the whole time.  I am kinda glad we did because he threw up some black stuff - it was scary.  I am sure in the nursery they would have noticed, but we noticed it a lot quicker...it was hard as I was tired.

CMM05

Both of our hospitals (I delivered each at a different hospital....), only had "night" nurseries.

So, the boys were with us during the day and we sent them to the nursery at night. Its such a personal opinion on what you want to do....BUT....IMHO sending to the nursery at night is the BEST thing we ever did! Its the only sleep we got and DS2 had an apnea episode where he stopped breathing the first night. If he had not been with the nurses, I always wonder what would have happened and if I would have been able to deal with it.....

 

mrsolsenk12

In the room 90% of the time. He was born at 3am on a Saturday and Saturday night/Sunday morning, we had not slept much so at 3am when the nurse offered to take him to the nursery, I said yes. We left him there until 7am and it was the best 4 hours of sleep I ever got!

Waiting4baby08

Our hospital doesn't even have a nursery for the babies to go to.  They always stay with the parents.  However, Gwen was in the NICU so she obviously didn't get to stay with us.

mmcarlson1

He stayed in our room most of the time.  I think the first night we had him go to the nursery, but only because we had been up since the previous Monday morning (Eli was born on Wednesday).  DH and I both needed just a little rest to continue on.  He roomed in with us the next night.

laura&dan05

Hannah was in the room with us the whole time.  We had to decide each night around 5pm if we were going to send her to the nursery for the night or keep her with us.  The nursery was right next to our room but I wanted her next to me.

 

BoxTer

She was with us the first night and in the nursery the second night. She was brought back to us at like 5 a.m. so she wasn't gone too long, and it was nice to get a little sleep before bringing her home.

SkypekWithoutAC

MrsJeffsWife2B:

We were SUPPOSED to have him room in, (delivered at Phelps, what hospital are you delivering at?) but he needed to go to the "Special Care Nursery" because he needed IV antibiotics.. It broke my heart. All the other babies were rooming in, he was the only one in the little incubator, attached to a gazillion wires.

Yes, you will be tired and maybe it's nice to have the nurses take baby if you ASK them to, but think of how it is for that baby to have come out into the world and be separated from mama!  Maybe I'm just emotional about it because I COULDN'T have him with me, but it makes me so sad to think how alone he must have felt

This. After a 16 day stay in the NICU, I would never send my baby to the nursery. It's too much of a blessing to have them with me. And if that means less sleep/recovery, so be it. One of the saddest memories of my life was laying awake in the hospital at 4am, listening to babies cry in the rooms around me, and feeling so completely alone.

InLove24

We didn't have a choice. They didn't have a nursery at our hospital. So she stayed with us the whole night.

kimarino13

Ours were in the room most of the time.  They frowned upon babies going to the nursery for some reason.  But we did send them for 2 hours the first night, which was great because I was able to get some rest and heal from my c/s.  Then we kept them the 2nd night which was torture.  Nobody tells you, but the 2nd night is the worst.  They were up all night.  Then we sent them away the 3rd night for a few hours to get some rest.  That was nice, but when I woke up after 3 hours to pump and they weren't back yet, I missed them. 

laura1

BizEB:

We put him in the nursery every night.  They brought him to me for feedings when he woke up. 

Ditto this!  It was nice to get some rest - when I got home it was all up to us! 

emmyloustu

Our hospital did not have a well baby nursery, so rooming in was our only option and I loved it. Can't imagine having it any other way, especially with BFing. Had she been out of the room, they would have been bringing her to me so often to nurse, I can't see where/how it would have been restful. Besides, the nurses were in every little bit to check on me, give meds etc...

We really did not want to be away from her for a second!

GreenEyedGal

Mrs.LisaP:

Both my kids never left my side...even for tests, etc. they came to us. I jsut wanted them near me : ) DH stayed with me and if I needed anything else the nurses were just a button click away. 

This exactly. I wanted my new baby with me at ALL TIMES.

skoorbnibor

He was with me except for the 3rd night.... a very bitchy nurse said, it's not fair to your roommate if you have a crying baby and she cant sleep.

I caved under the pressure of nurse ratched! 

cjsbdl

He roomed in, but I sent him to the nursery for a few hours both nights we were there so I could get some sleep. It was hard, but the nurses encouraged it and I knew it would be good for me because I didn't want to go home already exhausted and sleep deprived.

I hate this discussion because I"m always made to feel like I somehow didn't love my baby as much because I didn't keep him with me 24/7 in the hospital.

princessbeulah

We sent LO to the nursery both nights. They brought her in for feedings though. We definitely needed that, because my water broke at 11 pm and I was not able to sleep at all that night. I had her at 6 pm the next day, so I had been awake for probably 36 hours. I recommend what we did and bringing LO in for feedings if you want to BF.

desabean

I fully expected to keep her in the room the entire time.

 

She slept in the nursery.  It was *one* of the first of thousands of things that have and will go completely differently than I expected about becoming a parent ; )

I was so stinking exhausted and....to be honest....quite terrified of her.  I did not trust myself to take care of her yet (now I'm sorry I let that fear affect me so much, but I'm glad I sent her to the nursery, it was the only sleep I got the first few days).  You need to do what you feel comfortable with but if your birthing experience is anything like mine was I would suggest putting him in the nursery to take the break.  They will respect your wishes and bring him to you to nurse/not give him a paci, etc.

JillRock96

Ava was in the room with us most of the time.  The first night she was coughing up a ton of mucous, so the nurse took her to the nursery for a few hours just to monitor her (which I didn't know at the time, but it was the only sleep I would get for several days).  The second night she was in our room all night.  Looking back, I wish I would have sent her to the nursery for at least a few hours the second night (between breastfeeding attempts).  I literally did not get ANY sleep until our 2nd day at home.  This time around I am definitely going to attempt to get a few hours of sleep each night at the hospital.