DS travelling into London in a taxi with no car seat

[witherhills]

i know they don't have to have one, but it's quite a long journey, could be an hour, going into central London.

And ds is a wriggler, won't keep still
He's 4.
DH wants to take him in for some NZ concert

Should I make a fuss
I'm really anal about car seats, so not sure if I'm ott

if you worried then get a cheap booster seat and have DH carry that around at the NZ concert in a back pack

or get one of those back pack that converts into a booster seat

www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?rlz=1T4ADSA_enGB377GB378&gs_upl=0l0l0l3312lllllllllll0&q=back+pack+booster+seat&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=13617858926885228482&sa=X&ei=68bgTvayMs-AhQeTvc3-BA&ved=0CHwQ8wIwAQ#

Can't you book a taxi with a car seat?

What's the concert do you know (or can you tell me the date so I can look it up).

Or could they get a train/tube instead?

Use public transport.

New black cabs have a booster seat in the armrest. Lots on minicabs will provide a childseat free.

this

It having a seat belt on that provides the extra safety, more than an actual car seat. My ds (5) is in a taxi at least once a week. Don't stress about it, get this from Halfords.

Addison Lee used to let you book a cab with integrated car seats, not sure if they still do, check their website.

Thanks
Been into halfords and the kid was pretty useless.
That belt was only for over 50lbs so a bit older I think, they only had one.

Tbh I'm really not happy with him being in a booster seat.
Will see what taxi co say. I think Addison Lee are really expensive, but I guess dh is paying, so not my problem

And while we are in the subject of carseats, how is it possible that a high backed booster, not attached to the car and only secured by a belt, is safer?
Surely in an accident the seat is just more weight being carried forward?
I dont get it
DS is at the limit for his car seat, so supposed to go to hbb, with just a belt.
Im so not happy about this.
I need him strapped in, but the harness isn't recommended over 15kg

And yes they should be getting public transport.

witherhills a booster seat raises the child so that the seat belt fits correctly over their body, rather than their neck. It's perfectly safe to use set belts that are already in cars, with a booster seat (I am under thsi impression anyway). What don't you like them? What research?

In an accident, the seat belt with a hbb will restrain the child. Why do you need him 'strapped in' more than with a seat belt?

The boosters with backs have side protection and put the belt across the right part of the body and neck

A seat belt will adequately restrain a fully grown adult in the event of a severe crash. If a child (or a very small adult) uses an adult seat belt then there is a risk that the belt will either pull on their neck rather than their chest (not ideal but not quite as dangerous as it sounds) or the child will "submarine" and just slip beneath the seat belt.

A booster seat or high backed booster will minimise those risks by raising the child to the appropriate level. (there are separate questions about side impact protection)

My preferred option in your situation would be to take a black cab each way and use their built in booster seats.

For a well behaved child who sits still, a booster seat that just raises them up to the correct level is sufficient, I get that.

I'm just not happy about my hyperactive, wriggly child just being restrained by a belt
He would either slither under it or end up being restrained by just the lap belt.
Never mind being able to click himself out of it and try and get in the front seat!
That's the issue, not a seat belt!

I think for this one journey it's fine, but for his new seat I gave to think carefully,
We do long motorway journeys, just me and him in the car.

Does anyone get my point about hbb moving forward with them and just being extra weight behind them in a crash?

If a seatbelt will restrain a 100kg adult (which it will) then it will restrain a 4 year old plus a HBB quite nicely.

I see what you mean about the hbb, but it's a case of reducing risk as much as possible: the risk of extra injury from the weight of the seat is far outweighed by the benefit of having the seat belt correctly positioned so as to hold the child in place safely.

The seat belt needs enough weight behind it for it to work correctly in a crash, which is why there's a weight limit as well as a size limit to using the adult seat belts. So in fact, the seat could well increase your child's safety by providing enough weight for the inertia reel to lock properly and restrain them.

I'd agree with the suggestion to use public transport.

If you're that anal about car seats then check out www.rearfacing.co.uk

If you need him in a harness then some of the rearfacing (RF) group 1 seats go up to 25kg.

In Scandinavia where rear facing until around age 4 is compulsary, they move them straight from 5 point RF harness into forward facing HBB with safety belt. I believe there is some research that with a child big enough and old enough for a HBB a 3 point belt causes less of some types of injury than a 5 point harness would. Sorry, it's a while ago I looked into it, so can't remember the details . The only UK seats with harnesses for bigger weight limits are SN seats like the Traveller Plus or Recaro Start, which go up to 36kg.

If you're worried about the weight of a HBB look at some crash test videos on youtube for HBBs and basic booster seats, especially side impact crashes.

Public transport has no more safety than a taxi. You dont get booster seats on buses or trains.

There is also vitually a zero chance of a high impact crash happening in London as the traffic moves far too slowly.

Unless part of the journey is on motorways, then I wouldnt let it go for this journey, providing of course that an adult is sitting next to him.

Inside London I'd tend to agree with squeaky, but an hour long journey "into" London might involve a chunk of 50 mph dual carriage way. And even a 30mph collision can be damaging if you're not effectively restrained.

Have a look at this OP, it's light and deflates to a small size. We live overseas so do a lot of travelling so this id preferable to lugging around a booster.

www.bubblebum.co.uk/

If you feel this strongly then you should insist they go by train then use the tube/walk/black cabs once they get to central London.

If your DS is NT and big enough to be in a booster seat then you just need to get tough on it. He shouldn't be allowed to undo it/wriggle underneath it etc. Make sure your doors are kiddie locked and get serious about his car safety with him. He's 4, not 14 months - plenty old enough to behave himself. If he does have SN, then you can get a bigger seat to restrain him.

so annoyed, just typed loads and lost it!

i see things like and worry
I know it's not official but it makes you think

I am convinced about HBB re side impact
RF- looks very uncomfortable, not sure DS could do that for 4 hours

Anyway, he says he's not going now, probably sensible as it's Oxford St, and it has been closed a couple of times this week for overcrowding!