Car Shades - How To Prepare Your Car For A New-Born Baby

With all the excitement of welcoming a baby into the world, we know Mum’s have a lot of things to remember, from nappies to babygrows and cots to pushchairs. However, there is one important environment that is often forgotten about – the car. Throughout pregnancy, it’s important to acknowledge the car as part of the prep, so that you can be as comfortable as possible on your way home.

In fact, 62% of parents admitted they didn’t adjust their car for the big day, and a whopping 57% of you confessed they didn’t think they needed to change anything except add in a car seat. We have teamed up with expert midwife and GlowMummy founder Sharon Salvage, to reveal the best way to prepare your car for a new-born baby.

Here are five essential things we recommended considering for leaving the hospital:

Car Seat: Babies will always need to be in a car seat, and they should be placed in the back of a car – ideally with a parent also in the back. It’s important to take regular breaks where you remove your baby from the car seat (every 30 mins to a maximum of two hourly). You should shop around to find the best new-born car seat to suit your needs. Isofix based car seats are an advantage because they lock into place without using seatbelts and will fit into most modern cars.

Clothing: Babies should be comfortably dressed to leave hospital, ensure you monitor their temperature. Although it’s instinctive, a baby may not need a blanket if they already have thick enough clothes on, but if you do want to use one, opt for cotton, cashmere, bamboo rayon, fleece or rayon materials.

Lighting and Heat: Depending on the month your baby is born, you will need to either heat up or cool down the car. Hitting the right ambience is important, 16-20 degrees celsius is the recommended temperature for a babies sleep environment. Car Shades will help keep the cabin cool on warmer days as well as having the benefit of reducing bright lights for babies delicate new-born eyes.

Sound: Babies generally love listening to white noise as this reminds them of life in the womb, so having this on in the car may be a soothing sound for them as they’ve just left the hospital. Gentle lullabies are a good idea to keep them calm throughout the journey too.

Remember the Mother – New mothers should also pack as comfortable as possible! Think about loose fitting clothes for the journey home from hospital, such as: Leggings or comfortable pants, maternity bra and a jumper.

It’s a scary feeling taking your new-born home, there are huge levels of responsibility, so we hope soon-to-be parents find our guidance useful to ensure everything goes as smoothly as possible when taking your new-born home for the very first time.

To find out more about Car Shades click here