Infant car seat laws in Germany

[JennyWren]

Does anyone know what the laws are in Germany regarding car seats for infants? I am going to visit a friend for the weekend and we'll be taking a cab from the airport. Does anyone know what the laws are there for babies travelling in cars? And how likely is it that a taxi would have a carseat? I think I know that answer to that one...

could you take yours with you?

I will if I have to, but as I am travelling alone with dd I'm not sure if I can manage more than the buggy and my rucksack. We'll be travelling by train and bus for every other journey, so it seems a real pain to take the car seat for one trip.

you need to have one.
can your friend call in advance and arrange a taxi with seat? this is more likely than just trying your luck at the airport.
which airport will you be arriving at?
(how's the feeding going btw? - I used to be berolina)

Hi foundintranslation,
The breastfeeding is going really well; there's no stopping her now! Getting her to take a bottle though... It's my own fault - I should have kept giving her a regular bottle, but expressing seemed such a hassle and I kept putting it off. She's lost the habit now and much prefers it draught! She's learning to drink from a beaker though, so I'm hoping that she'll get proficient enough at that.
What do German people do when they take taxis? Do they always take their own car seats? I've never done it here, but I do know that it is legal for a child not to be in a car seat, if there isn't one available. If push came to shove, would a cab driver refuse to take me - is it illegal in Germany? If not, I am contemplating wearing the car seat myself, then putting dd in her baby sling on me, but outside the seatbelt, IYSWIM. Not ideal, I know...

German taxis have to have a child seat available by law (and I think they have to have a booster seat too). They're not obliged to take you though, but at the airport there will be loads of taxis on the rank so it shouldn't be a problem. When I lived in Berlin (ages ago) my friend had two children and didn't have a problem getting taxis unless it was raining, because then the taxi driver would refuse because he would have to get out in the rain to get the seat from the boot and fit it.

Thanks Bran - great to know. In that case, we'll be fine. I was really hoping not to have to take it - they're so bulky and I don't have a buggy where the seat attaches to the frame so I'd have to carry it seperately. That was the one part of the trip I was nervous about. Roll on Christmas!!

JW - great that you got the feeding sorted! ds is now 5mo and hasn't had a bottle since 4 weeks - I am hoping to go straight to the cup stage if poss.
Small cautionary tale re. car seats in Germany... 2 weeks ago we flew from Stuttgart and had a stopover the night before. We didn't have our car seat with us as we had too much to carry. At the airport we tried to get a taxi to the hotel, but NONE of the taxis had a seat available and all refused to take us without. This is why I would try and get your friend to arrange the taxi beforehand. Otherwise, if it happened to be Stuttgart airport and depending on the dates of your trip, we could lend you our car seat for the weekend.