Hospital nursery vs "rooming in?"

GoMaltby18 · March 2013

SymphonyGirl:
I had both kids room in with me and if you are trying to establish milk supply, I think it is really helpful. It is tiring, but I think it's worthwhile. And, frankly, I didn't want to be away from them anyway - I just wanted to snuggle my babies.

All of this, plus I deliver at military hospitals where there isn't a "nursery" unless your baby has health problems that require observations.

MommaMay06 · March 2013

With DD I had originally planned for her to be with me the whole time. We spent 20 days in the hospital prior to her birth and we became very close with all the nurses. So when DH jumped up to check on her every five seconds to make sure she was still breathing I decided for my sanity it would be best if she went to the nursery. I knew she was totally fine and they brought her to me when she woke up to eat.

mrsthomas3311 · March 2013

At first I was all for keeping LO in the room with us at all times and him not leaving unless medically necessary, I would like to still try that but I guess it will depend on how he is and how worn out and tired I am after delivery so I guess we will just play it by ear when time comes.

lhull · March 2013

MaggieMooMom:
I'm a STM and I say let baby sleep in the nursery. You're probably only there 2 days, so take advantage of that rest. I did that with DD and plan to do it again.

This.They only took my son from about 11:30 p.m. until about 6:30. The second night I went and got him at 6 when I woke up. It was great to rest.

CharlotteJ2 · March 2013

We had our tour of L&D and it seemed to me that they pretty much have you keep the baby in your room the entire time. When I had DS I was so exhausted that I let the nurses take him for a few hours at night so I could sleep and they brought him to me when he was hungry.

We'll see how it goes, but if you have the option I would get some shut eye

MrsJ723 · March 2013

The first night with DS, DH stayed with me, so we roomed in. I remember being so exhausted that I feel asleep while feeding him. The chair/bed thing that DH slept in was super uncomfortable so he ended up only spending the first night, so at the suggestion of the nurses, I sent DS to the nursery the last 2 nights (I was a c/s so it wouldn't have been super easy to get up and get him/change him/etc).

I'm curious to see if anything has changed since I had DS-with him the nurses were very open to taking babies to the nursery for the night and letting mom sleep (they didn't bother me in the middle of the night). Hopefully they'll be that helpful again, especially since we don't have anyone to watch DS so DH has to go home at night.

BossMamma83 · March 2013

I've always roomed in. This will be baby and c-section #3 and I don't know if I could even think about not rooming in. DH is great he usually looks after baby while I'm sleeping and wakes me to feed him. But now that our other kids are older I'm not sure how much time DH will be able to spend at the hospital with me. I'm just over protective and don't want anyone taking care of my baby other than me and DH nurse or not. But who knows without DH's help I may choose to send baby to the nursery so I can get some rest before going home to be a mom of 3 lol...

JPMD06 · March 2013

Keep the baby with you. This is best for breastfeeding. The only time DS went to the nursery was for his hearing screen and when I showered before we left (DH had gone home to get a few things ready so couldn't stay with him).