new baby, no car do I need a new car seat?

[mamadiva]

Currently expecting dc2, ds is 6 and we used a silver cross Ventura seat for him bought new in 2005.

It has been stored at a relatives house so can be used again but is it safe to use now?

W don't drive and may use a taxi or get the occasional lift so would be good to have something that would be adaptable between cars of required.

Sounds like it should be OK as it hasn't been in an accident or anything, but I would check that it meets current safety standards. There's lots of useful info at this website: www.childcarseats.org.uk/

Based on the age of the car seat alone I wouldn't use it or get another one if you don't have a car as there are no car seats which fit all cars. What I would do, however, is get in touch with your local taxi companies to see if any of them, have car seats available for use with their cabs. It's possible your local police road safety unit will know of a taxi firm which does so it could be worth getting in touch with them.

that's what put me off using.

None of or local companies have seats available I have already checked this out so I think I will just get something not too pricey but safe. As I believe anything is better than nothing.

That's a shame there are no companies out there who do. I'd maybe write to your local head of road policing to suggest a scheme encouraging taxi firms to have at least one car with properly fitted infant seats available. It's possible the liscencing department at your local council would be interested in it too and it'd be brilliant press for any company who takes it up. I'd have a think then about which car you are most likely to get lifts in and take that one to buy a seat so you can make sure it fits. The britax website has a good fit finder section where you can type the car make and model in and it tells you which of its seats fit, that may be useful. If all else fails, just make sure you have damn good walking shoes! Good luck.

My mums dp is a taxi driver so I asked him about it and he said he wouldn't feel safe having a seat in the car all the time as it would mean having various sizes available and with emergency stops our people throwing stuff in the boot they may Getty damaged quickly and he couldn't afford to replace all the time which I guess is fair enough.

I will look into a fit for the cars we are likely to use in the year our so we will be using it.

The taxi companies I know of keep a few car seats in the office and if people let them know when they book the cab, the driver can pick it up before he collects the passengers. It takes a bit more forward planning but to be honest, I don't know why more taxi companies don't do that. If I was a driver I wouldn't accept kids in the car without them being in a seat because I'd be too scared of what might happen. I do understand a lot of drivers would think them a bit of a hassle though. If I owned a company I may charge a bit extra for the use of the car seats but as a parent I'd happily pay it. Now thinking I may get in touch with my local police road safety unit about this...