What to do when taxis have no car seat?

[Catharine]

Hi,

I need to know how others travel in taxis that do not have car seats.

We live in Dubai and will be going back to Singapore for Xmas. Taxis in both countried do not have car seats.

My daugther is 6 and a half months old. What can I do?

Thanks,

In Majorca I prebooked a taxi to meet us fromt he airptor with a car seat. However if it unusual for those countries to use them, let alone provide them in a taxi, can you take your own either in the hold or take her aboard the aircraft in it? It can then be used during the flight, space permitting, or stowed as hand luggage Our dd travelled on planes in her Rock a Tot (short haul) where a spare seat was available. They can use the baby extension belt to secure it.

We are taking a car seat with us because we'll be using it during our stay in Brisbane, the family's got a car.

However in Singapore, it will be tough carrying a baby, stroller and car seat while shopping, going for lunch etc.

Can I put her in a Baby Bjorn while in the taxi?

Catharine, I think the Baby Bjorn is the best idea if you're not going to be using a carseat. But don't put the seat belt around the baby -- put it between you and her. So you'd start putting on Baby Bjorn (the part you put on before the baby goes in), then attach the seatbelt around you, then put the baby on). Otherwise, you'd smoosh her in an accident.

And ask the driver to drive carefully- much better to be hit from behind than to bump someone in terms of holding onto her.

Hope that doesn't sound doom and gloom. It's not meant to. I travelled around with my 6 month old in cabs when necessary without a carseat.

Sorry, but if you do what JJ suggests, in an accident your chin and full force of your head may well smash onto your baby's head. Do NOT use a sling in a car.

When ds was about 3 months old, we wanted to get a black cab home from the station, and I wasn't sure of the law re car seats. I phoned the police station, they didn't know either, said they'd call me back, which they did after 3 hrs of research phoning other stations, going on the internet etc. Their answer was that it was probably ok to have ds in a baby carrier on my chest with the seatbelt just round me.

Legally, at least in the UK, you have no obligation to use a car seat, if you don't have one with you.

I think the safest way to travel with a baby, without a carseat, would be using a sling, as discussed, with the belt around only you, facing backwards. This is because, the most common crashes involve you slowing down very quickly and being thrown forwards in the vehicle. The baby would be pushed into you a bit, this way, but you'd be ok. (Actually, facing backwards is generally safer.)

Realistically, for a single journey, going without a car seat is unlikely to do you any harm. That being said, I've never done it, not even with DS1, who is now 3. When he was smaller, we used to travel with a flight vest to use when we took short taxi journeys without a car seat. It's totally not meant for car trips, but I felt it was better than nothing.

Hi,

We recently had this problem too when we booked a taxi too the heathrow from home and from Sydney to my relatives house is Australia. In the UK, we supplied our own car seats for my 2 dd's, they then took them back to the office once they dropped us at the airport and kept them for the month that we were away, and put them back in the taxi when they came to pick us up from the airport. I was a bit worried about doing this but it all worked out fine. In Australia we hired a Limo instead of a taxi, these appeared to be able to supply 2 car seats where the taxis couldnt. I understood that in the UK you have to have a car seat. Perhaps its different in London cabs but I was advised by our local cab company that we need to have a suitable child restraint system. I was also advised that this is the case in Australia. I personally would not consider going in a car without car seats for my s dds.

I've been to Singapore twice, so not the leading expert on Singapore. When we went we used the equivalent of the tube system, cant remember what its called. Very safe and clean and nothing like the London tube. Admittedly I didnt have children at the time but I would imagine that you would get on fine using this and then you wouldnt need car seats.

Thanks everyone for the excellent advise.

I understand that there will still be some risk when using a baby carrier in a taxi, agreed that it will never be as secure as a car seat in the event of an accident.

Yes, Singapore has a great tube system called the MRT, so we'll use that as often as possible and limit the use of taxis.

When we take a taxi, I will have her face backwards and will put the seat belt between us.

Thanks again!

Catharine: Just to be clear, when I said backwards, I meant both of you should be backwards, which is only really feasible in black cabs. In normal cars, it's not doable. But as you say, the risk is pretty low, however. And a sling is much better than just holding onto a baby.

jenkel: your taxi firm sounds much better than ours! They show up with a random child seat for the wrong age. At any rate, I've had a dig, and here's the law on \link{http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/law/#under3\seatbelts for under 3s). The gist is, a special seat is required for kids in the front seat, but not in the rear seats. If you have one, you have to use it, but it's not illegal to have under 3s riding in the back with no baby seat. (I don't know if you have to, or should, put them in adult seatbelts, if that's all you've got.)

Sorry, here's the link