Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Taxi journey 5-10 min - car seat needed?

103 replies

LaVitesse2022 · 25/08/2023 18:58

Hi all,

Due in a couple of months and thinking about logistics after birth. We live very close to maternity and I've been walking or taking the bus to my midwife appointments. Ideally we'll get the bus home from hospital after the birth but obviously not sure what state I'll be in. We may need a taxi, in which case it'll be a 5-10 min ride home.

I know by law it's not required in these circumstances - so AIBU to not wanting to get a car seat just for that hypothetical and very short drive home? I know accidents happen even in short rides, but it does look like a very small risk.

For context, we don't own a car and live in a small flat in London so I'm not keen on getting stuff unless absolutely necessary.

No hateful comments please, just interested in what other people would do in this situation, particularly ones who have been in similar circumstances.

OP posts:
QuestionableMouse · 26/08/2023 16:28

GRex · 25/08/2023 19:15

We walked DS home from hospital. If I wasn't up to it, DH was going to walk him. It was really cold but sunny, so it was a decent excuse with the midwives to get the paperwork done quickly so we could leave in the light before it got even colder outside. If that doesn't work, you could get a newborn car seat for about £15 on Facebook marketplace. There isn't much market for used seats, so they go cheaply. Just checked and there are two on offer for free near me, plus a few at £15. You can sell on again afterwards or upgrade to a bigger seat for emergency journeys, just store the seat behind your sofa and get a foldable booster once the baby is a small child.

Edited

Buying second hand safety equipment is a terrible idea - you have no idea if it had been involved in an accident or stored properly.

bellac11 · 26/08/2023 18:04

Unsafe in that the parents are taking the child back to a drug den while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, yes they would call the police who would enact their powers and then hand over to SSD

Unsafe in that the parents have zero parenting skills and have dropped the baby numerous time and dont know how to feed it, then yes, same scenario above

Unwise decisions (perhaps) by parents who dont want to use a car seat, when not legally obliged to. No (if that was the only concern they had)

anotheranotheranotheranother · 26/08/2023 18:17

@Devilsmommy

Surely if they suspected a newborn was going to be in an unsafe situation they would do something surely?

Do what?

mileenderr · 26/08/2023 18:46

I've (fairly recently) had 3 babies at 3 different London hospitals. Never been asked about a car seat, or heard about anyone else being asked. I do have a car seat at home so could have taken a taxi but always opted for the bus - it's far more comfortable - you don't have to sit down!!

TropicalTrama · 26/08/2023 19:07

Yup no one asked me where I was going with DS in the pram when I left my central London hospital. He was born 2021 so fairly recently.

FoodFann · 26/08/2023 19:11

Mrsphilmiller · 25/08/2023 18:59

They won’t let you leave the hospital without a car seat (is what I’ve heard through the years)

They can’t stop you leaving. You’re not a prisoner.

FoodFann · 26/08/2023 19:12

OP, baby and I went on a very short taxi ride to the train station without a car seat, it was fine. Good luck with your LO

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 26/08/2023 22:38

FoodFann · 26/08/2023 19:12

OP, baby and I went on a very short taxi ride to the train station without a car seat, it was fine. Good luck with your LO

So that one time you took your baby unrestrained in the back of a car and didn't get involved in a car crash means it's safe for everyone to take 10min car rides with their fragile newborns unrestrained?

Why do shops even sell car seats in your utopia I wonder.

User15387500 · 27/08/2023 04:25

Devilsmommy · 26/08/2023 16:04

Surely if they suspected a newborn was going to be in an unsafe situation they would do something surely?

Show quote history

Are you thick, a hospital isn't going to stop all parents without car seats from going home.

malmi · 27/08/2023 07:34

Get a car seat, it will get plenty of use over the coming 12 months. Ignore posters saying it's ok to hold baby in your arms or sat in their pushchair (nobody can say why one is actually any safer than the other in the event of a collision). Ignore those who say "it's just 20mph". If you offered to slam their newborn into a wall at "just 20mph" they wouldn't go for it would they? This is what happens in a collision. Anything not strapped down just carries on moving. So much research, time and energy has gone into designing car seats to minimize the risks, and people think they knows better cos it's "London innit". Morons. Ignore them.

mileenderr · 27/08/2023 10:18

malmi · 27/08/2023 07:34

Get a car seat, it will get plenty of use over the coming 12 months. Ignore posters saying it's ok to hold baby in your arms or sat in their pushchair (nobody can say why one is actually any safer than the other in the event of a collision). Ignore those who say "it's just 20mph". If you offered to slam their newborn into a wall at "just 20mph" they wouldn't go for it would they? This is what happens in a collision. Anything not strapped down just carries on moving. So much research, time and energy has gone into designing car seats to minimize the risks, and people think they knows better cos it's "London innit". Morons. Ignore them.

What a horrible post. I've got three small children in London and in the last 6 years I've used a car seat twice. It's not moronic to take public transport- millions of people do it every day, and ive never heard of a kid being hurt as a result. Have you ever actually been to London?

Peachpicklepie · 27/08/2023 10:37

Some of the posts on here are bizarre. A bus is different to a car in a crash - it has more momentum and takes longer to stop. You'd be less likely to be injured in a bus crash than a car crash at the same speed. Dad can push baby home in a pram regardless of weather, mum can get a cab. Or just get a car seat - it will last a while. Not a second hand one though! Everyone knows that dropping a newborn is not a good idea, so why it's suddenly ok to have them unsecured in a car where they become a projectile baffles me.

ButterCrackers · 27/08/2023 10:42

Ask the taxi company if they have a first stage car seat. Reach out to your local community and another parent might lend you a safe car seat (in date for use and not been in a crash). To add (edit used) I like the idea of dad walking home with your newborn and you taking a taxi. That’s a great solution.

IamFamousIam · 27/08/2023 10:47

No one should be buying 2nd hand car seats from Facebook, gumtree etc!

Oliotya · 27/08/2023 11:16

Buy a car seat. A joie juva is a decent seat for around £50. I'm sure it will come in handy at some point in the ~18 months before it's outgrown. And joie seats are pretty universally compatible with travel systems.

malmi · 27/08/2023 11:42

mileenderr · 27/08/2023 10:18

What a horrible post. I've got three small children in London and in the last 6 years I've used a car seat twice. It's not moronic to take public transport- millions of people do it every day, and ive never heard of a kid being hurt as a result. Have you ever actually been to London?

Show quote history

I live in a city and we use public transport plenty. Mostly trams and trains, sometimes buses. Cars have a different risk profile. Taxis are cars.

mileenderr · 27/08/2023 11:50

malmi · 27/08/2023 11:42

I live in a city and we use public transport plenty. Mostly trams and trains, sometimes buses. Cars have a different risk profile. Taxis are cars.

Show quote history

Agreed, but most people can manage fine without taking taxis and therefore have no need to buy a car seat. There's nothing moronic about that, not everyone has £££ to spend on a car seat they will never use :S

malmi · 27/08/2023 11:58

mileenderr · 27/08/2023 11:50

Agreed, but most people can manage fine without taking taxis and therefore have no need to buy a car seat. There's nothing moronic about that, not everyone has £££ to spend on a car seat they will never use :S

Show quote history

Ok, apologies if it wasn't clear but I was referring to people advocating transporting unrestrained babies in cars (including taxis).

If OP thinks they might need to use a car, they should have a car seat. If not, they should plan on using public transport.

You obviously wouldn't need a car seat if you only use public transport (where there isn't even anything to strap it in with). Hopefully that's clear.

caringcarer · 27/08/2023 12:01

Doggymummar · 25/08/2023 19:03

Can dad wheel bABY home and you cab it?

This. If you've been walking in he can walk baby home in pram.

Cosyblankets · 27/08/2023 12:17

Someone wiped my car off the road the other week. I'd been in the car about 3 minutes. I was about 3 minutes from where i was going.

fiftiesmum · 27/08/2023 14:08

The hospital I used to work at loaned car seats for the journey home by cab

BertieBotts · 06/09/2023 10:54

A second hand car seat is better than no car seat.

Yes, it's good to be aware of the risks but it's still better than nothing.

A sling is a bad idea - most people struggle to put tiny newborns in slings anyway, and crash tests show that even in a low speed crash, the adult's head is highly likely to impact the infant's head, if the sling does not break (which it might, as it is not designed to cope with crash forces, which make objects act as though they are much heavier).

Wheel pram in facing away from the direction of travel - this is not a bad idea with an older baby who is in the sitting up position, it's not going to offer much protection to a newborn who is lying flat in a carrycot with no restraints.

I would personally beg/borrow/buy a car seat, second hand if you like, just make sure it has a newborn insert. One that has been knocking around a taxi firm for years probably won't have one any more. If you do buy second hand, inserts and then check that you can get hold of the manual online if the original owner doesn't have it any more.

Holding in arms is legal and probably better than the sling, especially if you can sit on a backward facing seat, but will offer no protection in an accident.

bahhamburgers · 18/11/2023 08:36

Honestly, I would just buy a cheap car seat and get a taxi home.

We were in the same situation. London with a bus outside the door and a tube at the end of the street, but we still had to do quite a few taxi rides to drs/hospital/appointments with the baby as sometimes it’s a hell of a lot more convenient and quicker to get a cab than faf about on public transport with a pushchair and a sick baby.

Car seat lived on top of a wardrobe it wasn’t a big deal. Don’t make your life more complicated than it needs to be for the sake of a car seat.

Original poster
LaVitesse2022 · 18/11/2023 09:03

Thought I'd update: we decided in the end to get a car seat (the Joie Nuva which is one of the lightest, cheapest but still safe) and get an uber home. The midwife did insist we take the baby on the car seat when leaving the hospital due to trip hazards apparently (I was taking him in the sling up to the entrance) which I was annoyed about but didn't have the energy to fight her on it - so good thing we did get the car seat.

OP posts:
Whataretheodds · 18/11/2023 09:08

Thanks for the update @LaVitesse2022 . I'm in the same position as you, due in Jan.

Did the Joie Nuva work with your pram?