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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not use car seats?

143 replies

BlueFergie · 02/04/2012 13:41

Ok not as bad as it sounds.
We are going on hols in June. This will be third year in the same place. We stay on a campsite with amazing facilities and very close to a village with good bus and train links so we don't hire a car. The only issue is the trip from airport to camp site.
First year we got a coach laid on by travel company there and back. Last year coach there but thanks to a fuck up on the travel company's part had to get a taxi back. Kids were 4 and 2. Obviously no seats with us. Not ideal but what could we do, needed to make the plane. We strapped them in and off we went.
This year. Connecting coach charges have gone up and are charged per person so actually cheaper to get taxi there and back. We have a baby now who will be 9 months.
So what to do? I can't really bring three seats with me in the plane. A small booster for Dd who is 5 is fine but DS who is 3 is still well below recommended weight for a booster, and of course the baby is in the rear facing one which I don't want to put in the hold in case it gets damaged and won't be allowed as hand luggage I imagine?
We could pay extra for coach but is that any safer they won't be in car seats there either. Plus coach on way back just about gets us to airport an hour and half before flight. Airport is horribly disorganised and the first year we were stuck in horribly long queues for check in and security do it was awful and rushed and panicky. Last year we were fine because we got taxi and got there early but other people on coach had same experience as we had in prior year. I just don't fancy doing it again with three kids.
So AIBU to get a taxi with no car seats? Or what should I do?

OP posts:
Woodlands · 02/04/2012 14:25

I have been wondering about this issue - we are flying to a Greek island in a few weeks and will take a taxi for the (20 min) journey from the airport to the apartment. I don't want to take our car seat for DS (22 months by then) purely for that one journey (we don't plan to hire a car). I don't know what to do for the best. I am going to ask the (British, has kids) apartment owner what people normally do and whether she can arrange a taxi with a car seat, but I suspect people normally don't bother. I guess the safest thing if I can't get a seat is to strap DS into his own seat (with just a lap belt?).

frankie3 · 02/04/2012 14:30

I would take the car seat and put it in a bag in the hold. Maybe you could buy a really cheap or second hand seat to take with you just for the holiday and leave it there so you don't have to bring it home with you. Then you won't have to worry about how it is treated. The small cost would be worth it.

fhdl34 · 02/04/2012 14:33

I think you can use the carseat for the baby in the plane, mine is a britax and can be used onboard a plane. Assuming that is you have a seat for the baby.

Original poster
BlueFergie · 02/04/2012 14:38

We don't have a plane seat for the baby. People suggesting we take the seat. Do you mean just for the baby or three seats for all of them? And a booster or full car seat for DS1? Who is under weight for boosters.

OP posts:
surroundedbyblondes · 02/04/2012 14:44

I wouldn't want your dilemma OP! No solution for your older ones I can suggest but our babies had a maxicosi car seat which we actually strapped into a seat on the plane and they travelled happily in that, meaning we also had it on the other side.

I don't want to sound preachy or judgemental but I wouldn't take my kids in the car without the right seats. Everyone has to make their own call though.

surroundedbyblondes · 02/04/2012 14:46

just seen about not having a seat for the baby on the plane! We have been lucky that we have been allocated a free seat when flying with LOs that we could do this with. But it will depend on airline and how full they are I know...

janek · 02/04/2012 14:46

just to reiterate what has already been said NEVER STRAP YOUR BABY OR CHILD IN YOUR SEATBELT WITH YOU, YOU WILL CRUSH THEM IF YOU CRASH!!!.

where are you going OP, if there are local buses once you get there, is there no bus (for local people...) to the airport? have you checked the airport's website?

re 'coach is safe without carseats, taxi is not', it is the impact of a crash that causes the problems, so unless the coach crashes into a wall, the other guy will come off much, much worse. that is my understanding, and what i tell myself when i travel by bus.

Softlysoftly · 02/04/2012 14:50

Personally I love the freedom from carseats on holiday, it's part of the holiday experience. I would strap baby in with me, and 3 yr old on dh.

And crush them both in the event of an accident that could just as easily (in fact probably more likely due to safety levels of roads) happen abroad then here, genius.

In answer to the OP, I would carry 2 boosters and buy a cheepo car seat that I didn't mind so much about getting damaged in the hold just for the trip, it might reduce the safety of it but is more unlikely that no seat at all. £30 is the cheapest from Kiddicare and worth every penny if something horrible happened, £30 to spend in the grand scheme of what your children cost you in a lifetime is not ridiculous. Car seats are free in the hold of planes.

porcamiseria · 02/04/2012 14:50

maybe do this

get inflatable booster seat for the 3 year old (cost £22)- pm me for link ?

travel with the baby car seat, ie have it as part of the buggy you use (which will be free)

5 year old, use seat belt

porcamiseria · 02/04/2012 14:51

this has made me think about my own holidays!

imagine my horror first time we got to italy with DS (aged 3 months). SiL whipped him our of my hands and drive off with him IN HER LAP!!!!

BertieBotts · 02/04/2012 14:51

I've made short taxi journeys with no car seat before.

I regularly take the bus with DS and can't exactly get a car seat for that, so not so different.

I would probably take the coach in your situation, coaches less likely to crash than a taxi, because they're bigger so people are more likely to avoid them, and the danger from crashes is the sudden stop - a coach is heavier so less likely to stop suddenly, even if crashing it would be a slower stop. And then a taxi on the way back if you think you might miss the plane.

Agree - don't strap the seatbelt over both of you. Baby on your lap, seatbelt over you only. Some kind of sling over baby if you can.

BertieBotts · 02/04/2012 14:53

If there are rear facing seats in the taxi, then you take one with the baby, and put the 3 year old in the other. 5 year old RF if there is one but if not she'll be okay with a seatbelt or a travel booster (one of the inflatable or backpack oens).

StringOrNothing · 02/04/2012 15:09

Rear facing is good - black cabs are excellent if you're somewhere where they have them (some very random places do).

Coaches don't travel as fast as taxis and they decelerate slower in the event of a crash, so they are basically safer - I'd second the person who said coach at the beginning and taxi at the end (while you're on site you may be able to find a solution). Taxi, train, taxi may be the safest compromise, since you'd be doing the most dangerous high speed bit of the journey in a train, but I do realise it's inconvenient.

To some extent it depends where you're going - there are some countries where the roads are horrifyingly dangerous - others where they're nearly as safe as the UK.

inabeautifulplace · 02/04/2012 15:15

For those who've said a car seat is free in the hold, do you have to notify the airline? Have suddenly realised that we might need to do this in the summer.

ElephantsAreMadeOfElements · 02/04/2012 15:31

Trunki Boostapak (or however they spell it) are great for children on planes (they carry them on as hand luggage, the packs hold enough stuff to amuse them on the flight and then they work as booster seats at the other end) -- OK, your DC2 is a little small but a booster would be better than nothing.

You could almost certainly check the infant seat at the door of the plane and it might well be possible to then have it stored in the passenger cabin during the flight rather than put in the hold -- we've certainly had that option on some airlines. Check with your airline.

SoupDragon · 02/04/2012 15:35

"Can you strap yourself in, then have the baby in a BabyBjorn over the top of the seatbelt if you see what I mean? I've done that before on holiday. Don't strap the baby in the adult car seatbelt with you, as I think it would get crushed in the event of an accident."

This is just as stupid and dangerous as strapping the baby in the adult seatbelt with you.

janek · 02/04/2012 15:55

why soupdragon?

Softlysoftly · 02/04/2012 16:08

Yes why soupdragon? I was just thinking that was quite a good idea if absolutely no other options were available. The passenger would be stopped by the belt but without putting crush pressure between their body and the seatbelt onto the child whilst preventing the child' being ejected from the car which is a massive worry.

bronze · 02/04/2012 16:17

I had to do that with a 8 week old ds. I phoned around at least 20 taxi firms before I went away to find one that said they had a baby seat rather than a booster seat and eventually found one who said they did. Got back from my holiday in the
Middle of the night to find taxi with booster seat completely in appropriate for a newborn. So I put my seatbelt on and put him in the sling over the top. It was either that or be stuck forty miles from home. I was livid but didn't dare say anything in case he deserted me there

bronze · 02/04/2012 16:19

Trunki boosters are fab, we have one and it got a hold to carry it as hand baggage with all the bits in to keep them entertained on the journey

BertieBotts · 02/04/2012 16:20

They're not designed to restrain a child in a moving vehicle, so there's no guarantee they wouldn't be ejected. Especially something loose like a baby bjorn. But it probably still has a better chance of stopping them than your hands/arms would.

Obviously there is no substitute for a proper car seat designed for the purpose, but if you have nothing else, it's better than nothing.

bronze · 02/04/2012 16:24

mine was a wrap

Rubirosa · 02/04/2012 16:28

I wouldn't bother with seats personally. I don't drive and take taxis occasionally with ds and never use a car seat. If possible I strap myself in and have him in a sling on my lap (never with the strap round both of us of course!).

NagooBunnytail · 02/04/2012 16:31

I have taken short taxi rides without car seats before now. Sometimes you have no options.

I wouldn't take a car seat on holiday unless I expected we would hire a car. Strapping it into the plane seat sounds like a sensible plan for the 9MO?

worldgonecrazy · 02/04/2012 16:32

Take your normal baby seat and wrap it in lots of cling film to protect it from damage in the hold. As a bonus, you can fit a couple of packs of nappies underneath the cling film, or maybe even a booster seat. Just unwrap the other end and buy another roll of clingfilm over there. We've done this when flying and it means you can have a decent car seat. It may add about £20 to your airfare but worth it, especially given the dangerous roads in many resorts.