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newborn travel help

8 replies

GothicBabiSnitchRay · 06/01/2025 14:56

hi
so im still trying to get pregnant but im looking into baby travel so can get the right things when time comes to it.
i know that from hospital to home need a car seat. and for the first few months baby's need to be in a laying position when traveling.
also know that baby not meant to be in car seat longer than 2hours at a time.

what is confusing is what do i use in different travel situations:
if im walking to the shop then id use a bassinet or a baby sling?
short trips in a car (doctors, restaurant, other) id use a car seat?
what about town trips (via taxi)? id be in a taxi for only 10-15 minutes but walking around town itself for 3-4 hours.
what visit family? (train/couch and taxi/bus) who are few hours away and id prop be there for a couple nights.
i live on my own and while i have a small support system i will be a single parent and cant drive. im not likely to visit family much but would want to take baby to my mum who cant travel and id have to take a couch n taxi to get to her (about 4hour trip so would have to stay for a few nights).
i wont be able to afford a lot of equipment nor have the space (1 bed flat) so don't want to buy things that wont get used.
doesn't seem feasible to take a car seat and a bassinet to town, can baby travel in taxi for short trip to town in bassinet ??
advice would be appreciated. i do know most things and i know some stuff is conman sense but travel is confusing (only remember basics from school child care study)

random thought, can i just cary baby in sling in taxi then transfer baby to the pram?
do i need a bassinet? or can i just use a stroller that lays flat n says from birth

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JimHalpertsWife · 06/01/2025 15:02

Infant carseat for vehicle trips and then if you are taxiing places then walking when there, take the buggy. Also bring a sling. That way baby can be in the car seat in the taxi and in the sling when walking - carseat on chassis. Can alternate baby on you/in seat.

I loved having a bassinet, and always put ours on for walks / into the boot to use at destinations I've driven to.

So car - bassinet in the boot, leave car seat in the car.

Taxi - carseat and chassis, with sling for when you get there to alt between carseat and sling.

Technically the law says car seats are not necessary in taxis but my own opinion on this (feel free to ignore) is that that is batshit advice. In those instances baby sits on your lap / in arms over the outside of the seat belt holding you in place. You cannot wear the sling under a seat belt and should never hold baby between you and the seat belt.

Alternatively if you get those big black london cabs and can wheel the stroller entirely into, these make more sense and baby stays in the pram but I've never seen these cab styles in my city so never used this option.

If space is tight, find a bassinet which is approved for safe sleep overnight and then you don't need crib/moses basket etc for the first few months.

JimHalpertsWife · 06/01/2025 15:03

There are very very few strollers which are properly lie flat. Often they have the bend at the baby's "knee" part preventing them from being lie flat so are unsuitable under 6m.

POTC · 06/01/2025 15:04

The car seat is the only essential part here. Your baby must be in one for any vehicle travel, taxi or coach.
The 2hrs is a guideline, to prevent people leaving babies in their carseat for hours at a time on a regular basis, not to make your life difficult!
You aren't going to do 3-4 hours in town without ever removing the baby from the carseat, are you? You'll stop to feed, change, cuddle etc. Same when you visit relatives, your baby won't be in the carseat while you're at the house. They will need to get something for the baby to sleep in when there, that could be the bassinet part of the pram which stays with them as long as you purchase a proper mattress for it.
A sling is a great idea though, use that to break up time in the carseat in town and to hold your baby while away but NEVER in a taxi!

Haroldwilson · 06/01/2025 15:09

You might have a magical baby who can be taken anywhere, but I'd scale down your plans a bit. Newborn (like up to 3 months) you'll likely be doing short walks. Have your mum visit you instead. Use a car baby seat. Focus on a pram that's easy to get up and down to your flat rather than into a car.

Newborns are way harder work than you'd think, taxi and 4 hours in town won't be on the cards for a few months at least. The car baby seat will get you to docs.

You'll work it all out.

Fridaysgirl17 · 06/01/2025 15:10

I don't drive either & when bringing my babies out I had the car seat on the chassis,I rarely used the bassinet.i had a carrier too but I would have my babies out of the car seat plenty if going out for a while , hospital appointments etc, I'd be feeding,changing, just holding baby, id go for a coffee & pop them out, they very rarely were in a car seat for 2 hours.

Rowaround · 06/01/2025 15:14

It is a preference, but in coaches, buses, trains and tazis you cab hold them in your arms and not use a car seat

BertieBotts · 06/01/2025 16:28

Don't worry, there are lots of options and you'll work it out :)

Any time your baby is in a car they need to be in a car seat. Legally, there is an exception for taxis, but I would not recommend using this exception unless you have no choice. The car seat is basically your child's seatbelt if you were to crash. A sling is not a safe option in a taxi.

Car seats aren't usually totally flat, and it is best for babies to have time each day lying flat so that they can develop the muscles they will need for rolling, sitting, crawling etc. It's not a big problem that car seats aren't flat, because you won't be in a car for most of the day anyway. They can have time lying flat at home, in their cot, in a flat carrycot/bassinet in a pram, on a playmat or blanket on the floor, etc.

You can use most infant carry type car seats on a pushchair, and it's OK to do this sometimes for convenience, but if you're planning to use the pushchair a lot, it's worth getting one with a flat lying position or a carrycot/bassinet attachment (carrycot and bassinet mean the same but carrycot is more British English whereas bassinet is more American - they're interchangeable.)

There is a further issue with car seats in that they are angled at around 45 degrees when they are in a car. This is important for crash safety, but babies kept in this position for too long can occasionally struggle to get enough oxygen. Because of this, it's important not to keep babies in car seats for too long at one time. For example, if you put them into the seat at home, then drive to the shopping centre, move their car seat to the buggy, walk around, go back into the car, the baby falls asleep and you carry them asleep into the house in their seat - this may add up to several hours in the seat without a break, which is a problem. The recommended max time in a car seat used to be around 2 hours but there is now no specific time limit recommended and the guidance just says to be aware of the risk and give babies regular breaks from the car seat.

IME, this is fairly natural anyway especially if you take them out of the seat to feed them. One of the benefits of the carry type seats is that if the baby falls asleep you can move them in the seat without disturbing them, so just use common sense here - if they have only just fallen asleep, they will probably transfer to a carrycot fairly easily if you start walking straight away. If they are likely to wake up in the next ~10 minutes, personally I'd let them finish the nap in the seat.

The risk is higher for newborn babies, as they don't have the muscle control to maintain their own airways and don't often get a perfect fit in car seats anyway. The guidance used to be 30 minutes at one time during the first 4 weeks. That one can be a bit more difficult to stick to, which is why the current guidance is just to limit car travel as much as possible for newborns.

To use taxis like you say I would probably use the car seat on the pushchair chassis - use the car seat strapped into the taxi, then use the car seat as your pushchair seat when in town, making sure to take baby out every so often to give them a break (which they will want anyway).

Or you may find a local taxi firm who can offer a car seat for you to use. Or you may meet another parent who can drive and will pick you up so you could leave your car seat in their car for the day.

Or you may find a bus route that takes you into town- that was what I did most often. The safest place for a baby on a bus is in a pushchair, ideally in the wheelchair space (if a wheelchair user doesn't need it, of course) facing against the direction of travel with brakes on.

If either your town or your families have black cabs then you can also wheel a pushchair directly in here with the same principle but bear in mind this is likely not as safe as a proper car seat. It's not so bad at low speeds in city traffic, but I wouldn't really want to do this in a town travelling 30mph+.

To visit your mum I'd probably take the train rather than a coach, because you can't usually fit a baby's car seat on a coach, and then either keep a car seat at her house, again find a taxi firm with car seats, or bring the car seat on the buggy.

Bear in mind that to do any of the car seat/buggy combos you're looking just at the first stage of car seat which usually lasts up to approx 1 year. Some of them do last longer - Cybex Cloud might be worth a look, especially since it lies a bit flatter, so would be more comfortable as a buggy seat. Babyzen Yoyo for your pram perhaps. But once your baby is bigger you'll still be stuck because they still need car seats and they can't go into the more portable booster seats until ~5/6 years old minimum.

If you're not pregnant yet and you don't want to learn to drive, would it make sense to look into potentially moving closer to town so that you can walk everywhere? When I was looking at places to rent with a toddler on my own I had accessibility (walking access to things I needed plus bus routes) as an essential criteria. If it didn't have those things I didn't even look at it.

GothicBabiSnitchRay · 06/01/2025 16:53

wow that's alot helpful advice. thank you so much. iv no actually travel plans for town or go see my mum in the first few week but wonted a good idea on what do if/when those types travels happened. most travel during few few week/month with newborn most likely will only be to appointments or walking to corner shop

ill most likely wait till baby few months before went to my mum unless a friend/family took me. (my mum cant travel and is basically bed bound now so she cant come to me, so i would make this trip eventually so she can meet the baby)

will look into a pram/car set 3-in-1 system. and i wont use sling in a car (only asked that as wasn't completely sure if that was safe).

will move eventually but cant yet.

im British but the names of bassinet is what keeps show up on sale places lol.

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