Baby has outgrown car seat

[1996mummy]

Please help, my baby has outgrown her travel system car seat and was wondering what to do now as I get Ubers a lot for hospital appointments etc and do not drive! Please what do others do in this situation? Thank you

I had a car seat that just needed a seatbelt rather than isofix, it’s bulky but it’s what I used to swap between cars.

@tealandteal thank you for your message, is it something I could easily hold around town or at appointments? As I need something light or foldable to take places with me. Thank you

This was such a problem for us from the age of around a year to 4 or 5.
There is very little available that's portable for the in-between years of baby carrier and booster seat.
I have seen online attachments essentially like a luggage/camping trolley that you can fix a car seat on and your child can sit it in sort of like a pushchair.
That's the only solution I can think of.

@1996mummy this type of thing.

@Needmorelego thank you for your reply, I was looking at this but when I’m by myself and pushing the pram it’s just going to be a lot. I have no idea what to do as everywhere is at least 2 buses away… and I can’t drive :(

I idea is you use this instead of the pram.
I will confess that my daughter just sat on my lap in taxis from when she was about 18 months old.
It's actually perfectly legal. Obviously not the safest but sometimes you do what you need too.
We travel on buses and trains that don't have any form of seatbelts (and trains go much faster).
I am really surprised that none of the pushchair manufacturers have designed a a bigger car seat that can attach to the frame.

@Needmorelego im surprised too! I have no idea what im going to do. I may just have to put her in my lap soon she just is a very wiggly baby so I don’t know how it’s going to work 😅 thank you

Has she definitely outgrown the seat how old is she and what seat? Sometimes people think they're outgrown if feet stick over edge for example but its not always the case 🙂

How old/ big is she? We use a Cybex Cloud which is good until a biggish 2 (13kg) and clips onto the buggy. After that, the Cybex Solution is easy enough to lug around, although it is forward facing, but that's the price of taking taxis. We're in a similar position and fly a lot for family.

18 months to 3 years was the worst for travelling.
On buses she would prefer to sit on my lap (rather than in her buggy) but omg the wiggles and fidgets and climbing all over me but she wasn't quite big enough to plonk down on a seat by herself.
Some big taxis you can just push the pram on and they have belts to hold it in place (like a wheelchair) so that's a possibility if you can get one of those taxis.
Hopefully you will figure something out 🙂

I don’t know how it does safety wise, it probably isn’t the best for a young toddler as forward facing, but the maxi cosi nomad is portable.

It does seem like there’s a gap in the market. Can you book taxis that provide a car seat?

How old is your baby? Have you looked at the Doona? Otherwise a maxi cosi nomad.

If it's a hospital appointment and you need to get a taxi, you don't have much choice but to have her on your lap. I agree it's a total pain. I'd minimise taxi rides as much as possible, use buses.

don’t put them on your lap, if there is an impact you would either crush them or they are loose to get thrown around and injured. Unfortunately there is no safe portable option, from stage 1 they usually fix into a car with seatbelt or isofix. You either use taxis with no seat, find a firm that can provide one although you have no idea of its history and quality or use public transport. Alternatively buy the lightest suitable one and find a way to carry it.

Can you please tell me which travel system you have and your baby's current height, weight and age?

It is possible you can keep using the seat you have safely. They are not always outgrown as quickly as people think.

If you book your taxis in advance, call around to see if you can find a firm which has child seats. Some may have longer lasting rear facing seats - they are much more common these days. Though you might prefer to stick to a seat you know the history of.

It might be possible to buy a new one which is a similar type which will last a good few months longer. There is a Britax one on offer currently under £50 which is good, and compatible with most travel systems.

If baby is over 15 months, there are some forward facing folding seats which fit using top tether and isofix which are much better than nothing, although it is best to keep babies rear facing as long as possible. So personally I would try to keep baby in the rear facing travel system seat as long as they safely fit, then I would swap to one of these folding seats - an R129 approved one like the Kinderkraft, MyBabiie or Cosatto, not the fabric ones which are sold online (those are not crash tested or legally approved). It is well worth spending the extra £10 on one with isofix rather than seatbelt fitting.

Legally you do not need to use a car seat in a taxi, although do be aware if the driver were to crash, it would be high risk for an unrestrained child. In private cars, children must use an approved child seat up to 135cm height.

Some people use black cabs and park the pushchair facing backwards in the wheelchair space, this is a reasonable compromise at city speeds, though a pushchair is NOT crash tested, so be aware that you do not know what would happen in an accident, and it cannot offer the same protection as a car seat.

If you ever travel in a taxi with a baby on your lap, wear your own seatbelt and hold baby (under 3 years) in your arms but do NOT put your seatbelt over them at all. In an accident, that has a high chance of causing fatal injury. If they are over 3 years old, put them on their own seat wearing the seatbelt as an adult would - don't tuck it under their arm. It won't fit properly, but it is better than nothing. Use a backward facing seat if you have the option.

This is basically the run down:
Best > rear facing approved child seat
If not practical > forward facing approved child seat
If not available > own restraint (e.g. seatbelt) is always better than none, backward facing seating is preferable.

Never share a seatbelt with a baby or child.

My friend lent me a travel one that is called the Scallop. If folds into a backpack. It’s meant to have a food safety rating although it is forward facing. It’s pricey but cheaper than a car I guess! I’m not recommending it specifically as I haven’t looked into it in much detail but have a google and see what you think!

https://www.nachfolger.com/en/

This is the only rear facing seat I’ve seen that prides itself on being very portable. I don’t know how old your DC are but if your describing them as a baby they really are too young to forward face in something like the nomad.

@BertieBotts is very knowledgeable on this kind of thing!

Nice idea, but they're insanely expensive!

Where do you live as the taxis near me you can ask for a pram taxi where the child stays in the pram and they strap the pram to the floor attachments so it can’t move, obviously not the safest in a crash but would probably be safer than her on your knee

The cheapest one is €299 so similar ball park to an Axkid, erf Britax and less than a Besafe.