Taxi travel abroad with newborn

[ForInstance]

Looking for a bit of advice about what is safe and practical here.

We are due to attend a wedding in Romania in September, when DS will be 10 months. We are likely to have to travel from hotel to venue (plus a few other venues for various activities the couple are organising) by car. We don’t drive (yes, we’re those people ) so our plan would be to get taxis for those journeys. What would we need to transport DS safely? Should we buy / borrow a car seat and bring it from the UK? Is there any way of hiring a car seat from a rental company without hiring a car? Even with a car seat, would you travel by taxi with such a little one given that road safety may not be that great (no offence intended to any Romanians - that is based on my general experience of travelling outside W Europe)? Perhaps we could shell out for a driver whom we would pre-arrange before travelling, if that’s a thing and is not prohibitive cost-wise. I’d be very grateful for any thoughts, and especially anything you’ve done in similar circumstances.

Also open to the answer ‘don’t even attempt it’!

The trouble with hiring a car seat (if you can even do that) is that you have no idea on it's history - whether it's been dropped, in an accident etc.

Do you have a car seat for taxi journeys here?

Get an infant seat and take it with you. It will be useful for you to have one for the odd taxi trip/ride in friends cars over here anyway. The joie juva is a cheap but well rated seat that does well in safety tests - it’s available for less than £40. You don’t need a base for it, it will belt in with the seatbelt. It will be free to take in the hold of the plane.

clevs True and hadn’t thought of that

tulips No, we don’t. We live in central London so lots of other transport and so far (DS is only 8 weeks) we have just taken one black cab journey for which he was in his pram.

That sounds great @welshweasel - will definitely look into that. And yes, very open to having a car seat on hand when at home.

Does your pram accommodate a car seat at all? If it does you could buy a car seat and the adaptors for it and then use it as a pram and a car seat.

I'd take my own car seat and speak to the hotel about booking a suitable car with driver for your stay.

Buy an infant carrier and take it with you. It's useful to have, not that expensive and you can fly with it for free. Rented car seats are always ancient and shit, I can tell you from experience, even in Western Europe.

We used taxis on holiday in gran canaria and i just held dd 10 months on my lap. Same for coach transfer to/from hotel

Road conditions in some rural parts of Romania can be poor- depends where you’re going. IME you’d do well to get a driver with a nice car and take your own car seat. Your hotel may be able to help arrange before you travel; alternatively look for a local high end tour company in your destination.

You'll have to take your own.

You don't know the condition of one that might be in a mini cab. Unless it's a highly reputable company I wouldn't risk it.

And it's not safe to have baby on your lap etc.

What about a travel car seat? depending on how big the baby is.

I have used Urban Kanga (from 9kg I think) loads on holiday and it packs into a carry bag, we have got quite slick at getting it set up in the back of Ubers with the entertained driver watching!

We took DS to Thailand and Bali for 6 weeks and took our own infant seat. It was a pain sometimes but was worth it for peace of mind. If your pram / buggy is compatible with a seat it's worth getting that one, maxi cosi are compatible with most with adaptors. We have a bugaboo bee and sometimes just took the car seat and frame when away for a weekend etc as it took up less space. We leave in zone 2 in London and have a car to visit family but still worth having an infant seat for the odd taxi etc. DS has only just outgrown his infant seat at 18m (25th centile though)!

In this situation, I would buy a car seat you can put in with a seat belt. They’re easy to use, don’t need a base and are cheap. You’ll be able to bring it free on the plane.

The fb group Car Seat Advice UK is brilliant for questions like this.

I'd get a car seat that clips onto a buggy. I have an oyster pram but when travelling just took the chassis and a Britax babysafe seat - in taxis the car seat was belted in and the chassis folded and went in the boot.

Thanks so much everyone for your helpful suggestions. I will buy an inexpensive (but well reviewed) car seat to take away and to have at home just in case, and I’ll ask the hotel for help finding a driver.