Do toddler car seats with pram adapters exist?

[jasperscott84]

Are there any non-driving mums out there that can share any advice for getting around once your baby is too big for a car seat with pram adapters? I’ve looked everywhere for a toddler car seat that attaches to a pram chassis, maybe it doesn’t exist! As a non-driver, being able to take my baby out safely in a taxi or friends car in the car seat and then pop it on the pram is vital for getting around in London. Perhaps I’m missing something or being dumb, but is the next step going to be go out with a stroller and lug a car seat around with me too incase I need to get a cab? Any advice greatly appreciated!

This is the only one I have seen. Not sure if it is available in the uk .

This is why taxis are exempt from car seat rules although some may carry car seats with them

No, they don't. It would be much too unwieldy to carry a toddler around like that as they weigh so much more than babies.

Which car seat do you have? How close is your baby to outgrowing it? You might be able to get a larger infant carrier and/or stretch out your use of the current seat for a much longer time.

After this your options are fairly limited. There are some folding seats on the market, but they tend to be pricey, and honestly don't fold that small, unless you get a forward facing only one (which means your baby needs to be over 15 months, preferably over 2y).

You could find a taxi company which carry car seats and only use them. Or get lifts from friends who have children and borrow their car seat. Or if you often get a lift with the same friend/relative, buy a car seat and install it in their car (many come in and out with the seatbelt so would be easy to remove).

You could use a black cab and wheel the buggy into the wheelchair space, facing backwards.

Or, plan ahead/use public transport.

I am in a similar position. We have the cybex cloud, which works until 2 years old, if a 50 centile baby.

For the next seat I’m looking at Nachfolger or Tiny Seats.

Nachfolger looks like might take too much time to inflate and deflate. And Tiny Seats requires Isofix

I think Isofix points are not all the same, so I don’t think it’s a case of booking a taxi with Isofix and just plugging it in. It might not fit that Isofix socket.

I wish there was an easy answer. I don’t like the idea of travelling in a taxi without a seat.

@RippedJeansAndCashmere all isofix are a standard size and 99% of cars used as taxis will have isofix

You could get a folding car seat eg Maxi Cosi Nomad Plus for taxis etc and see if it would go in the bottom of your existing buggy when folded

We had an urban kanga which unfortunately I don’t think they make any more and hooked the bag over the handle bars of the pram. The maxi cosi nomad Iooks similar, but maybe a bit bulkier. So frustrating that there isn’t much thought in designing more seats for this scenario. I was never comfortable to use nothing in a taxi.

You don't need a car seat in a taxi as they are exempt, on some you can just wheel the pushchair straight on and child remains in it like on the bus or someone who uses a wheelchair.

We used to use a Trunki backpack that converted into a booster seat which is better than nothing but aimed at older than toddler age.

I just take buggy in black can if I have to

You can also get trunkee booster seat back packs

I read that the Isofix receiver sockets are not always the same. Some cars need 2 arms and some need 3.

Is this not the case?

Taxis and cars are not vital in London. Toddlers need to be rear facing or at the very least in a proper car seat so any portable solutions are just not safe. You can legally not use a car seat in a taxi but that legal status has no relation to safety.
If you don’t have your own car walk or use the bus or tube. If you go on holiday and use a car then you can hire car seats.

Which would only be safe for a child aged approximately 9/10 years of age not a toddler.

“If you don’t have your own car walk or use the bus or tube. ”

This is a really silly comment to make.

As a Londoner, without a car, and with a family of children with motion sickness, we avoid cars.

However, there are times when a taxi is necessary (late pregnancy or newly postpartum and having to travel across the borough for midwife appointments, A&E, GP when too unwell to walk to bus stop, going on holiday and travelling to areas without public transport, needing to travel with big cases…).

Some of us would prefer to be prepared for safe journeys, where they are necessary.

Not really. Basically the two Isofix points at the bottom of the seat where your bum goes are standard. Most cars everywhere in the world have this now. It was invented in the late 90s and has been put into new cars basically since then, a bit sporadically during the 00s. In North America it's called LATCH or lower anchors. All Isofix seats use these two points. You can put an American LATCH fitting into a UK Isofix point and vice versa. It's an international standard, which is what ISO means.

Then unless you're in a developing country, or it's a European/UK car more than 11 years old, all cars will also have a top tether anchorage point, but this is not usually needed anyway, and isn't needed for the Tinyseats. (It is for the Nachfolger unless you get the Nachfolger World). Most American seats have top tether but it isn't always required (it's highly recommended).

People talk about third point of anchorage for Isofix seats but that can be the support leg, which doesn't need to click in to anything, it just needs a solid floor.

I reckon Tinyseats is much more practical than Nachfolger. But keeping the Cybex cloud until one of the limits are reached is also a really good choice. You might even get over 2 years if you're lucky. It's a really roomy seat, and the buggy compatibility is a huge benefit too. I'd wait until LO is close to this and then look, because you might be more comfortable with something like the maxi Cosi seat by then anyway.

I should have been more specific sorry I meant in terms of a portable car seat. There are obviously cases like mentioned above where you need to use a car or taxi however for those instances you need to use a chair you store at home.

Sorry about that Dragonfly, I can see I mistook your meaning! I agree with you mostly a car or taxi is not needed.

Gosh, thank you for such a detailed response! I have been searching for this past week trying to make sense of isofix. Thank you!

This is really helps make up my mind for the Tiny Seats!

I’ve read another thread where you helped someone earlier in the year, another mumsnetter said they are trying to bring out a Swedish Plus Test version. Have you heard any updates on this?

I haven't, sorry. You could try sending a message to carseat.se (carseatsweden on FB and instagram) as they always seem to know these things.

My DD fit the cybex cloud height and weight limits until she was 2.5yrs.

I didn't really use the adapters much as I walk everywhere but technically had the option.

I was hopeful of the same, but she’s on the cusp of the weight limit. We may get another month from it.

The connectors were helpful for transferring train to taxi on holidays, especially as the Cloud can lay flat on the pushchair.

Dad struggled with the belt instructions when feeling under pressure to get moving by the taxi driver. Watching YouTube demonstrations on repeat helped him get used to the steps.

We liked that the SIPS wings are attached, we didn’t lose them during travel.

She’s still comfortable at 2 years old, I will really miss the flexibility of travel this car seat brings.

Wheel them in their buggies into the cab. The chances you achieve any degree of speed is slim in London.

I have been in a slow speed (15mph) accident. Where a car coming off their driveway t-boned the taxi we were in. Passenger side rear door was hit.

My brother, no car seat, was in that seat, got a fractured vertebrae in his neck from the impact. There was no spinal
cord injury and he recovered, but even so, I won’t ever take this risk.