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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Getting baby home from hospital

27 replies

DeeOfTheNorth · 23/11/2011 19:42

Hi,

Not sure if this is the right place to post this.

I'm 33wk pg, due in early Jan and me and DH don't have a car. At this point it looks like we'll be getting a taxi home from the hospital (don't fancy public transport after having just given birth!).

Can anyone give me some advice as to which car seat is best to buy? Obviously we won't be able to practice fitting it, etc so it needs to be something that we can easily and safely put in whichever car we are getting a lift in without too much trouble.

We've got an oyster pram ordered - not sure how much we'd want to use the car seat with the pram but I guess if it can be fitted to that too it would be a bonus.

Any suggestions (about the car seat or coping with a baby & without a car!) greatly appreciated.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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JambalayaCodfishPie · 23/11/2011 19:54

If the car seat is never going to be used again, then you could just ask the taxi firm to send one when they collect you.

Original poster

DeeOfTheNorth · 23/11/2011 20:02

Oooh hadn't thought of that Jambalaya. That would solve the immediate problem anyway.

I was thinking though there might be a few occasions where we need to get a taxi or if we are getting a lift off someone so if it wasn't too expensive it might be worth getting one anyway.

OP posts:

chinateacup · 23/11/2011 20:12

You do not need to idea car seat by law in a taxi.
Just sayin . . .

chinateacup · 23/11/2011 20:14

Should I try again with that post?!

I understand that it is legal to travel with an infant or toddler or child in a taxi without an appropriate car seat.

JambalayaCodfishPie · 23/11/2011 20:15

You can pick car seats up pretty cheap, especially if you don't need it to match everything else or be specifically fitted to your car - maybe try mothercare or toys r us for ex -display ones?

Mum1369 · 23/11/2011 20:17

Crikey, you've spent 9 months keeping that baby safe, don't go home without a bloody car seat, law or no law!

RobynLou · 23/11/2011 20:18

I'd get an infant seat of your own, we don't have a car and once the kids are in the bigger seats it's easy to find a company who has them, infant seats are less common, so it can be a pita not to have one.
we just got a mothercare one, wasn't expensive but met all the regulations. it fitted on our buggy but we ended up using the buggy about 3 times before we realised with no car a sling was far more sensible for being able to walk everywhere and on public transport, just got a granny shopping trolley for the shopping!

Original poster

DeeOfTheNorth · 23/11/2011 20:19

Will definitely look into ex-display - good idea.

OP posts:

JollyBear · 23/11/2011 20:27

Can you not borrow one? It is a big expense if you are going to only use it once!

tentative123 · 23/11/2011 20:29

cabriofix fits on an oyster as well as their own one which is not quite so safe but cheaper..

aswellasyou · 23/11/2011 20:49

You can fit a Britax, Maxi-Cosi or Oyster carseat onto the Oyster. I'd go for the Britax because it's the least likely to get buckle crunch.

Flisspaps · 23/11/2011 20:52

Can you not get someone with a car and car seat to pick you up from the hospital? Then if you need to buy one later on, you can.

spottydogpencilcase · 23/11/2011 21:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Lambethmum · 24/11/2011 13:38

We don't drive either and for first baby bought a cheap carseat from Argos (Nania? about £30) and used a minicab but we've only used the carseat twice since, and it's mainly a cat seat now. This time we'll get a black cab home with the (now double) pushchair - with a black cab you just put the pushchair in and put the brakes on - don't really know how safe it is, but you will need to take one sometimes...

nailak · 24/11/2011 13:41

In our last hospital they wouldn't send baby home without car seat, and had the details of cab firm with.infant seats, and inspected it.in the car before we went.

Flisspaps · 24/11/2011 17:35

nailak They cannot prevent you from leaving without a car seat. What do they do about people who choose to walk or get the bus home?

aswellasyou · 24/11/2011 18:22

Yes, they definitely can't stop you from taking your own child out of hospital. It would be fun if you'd bought a big birth-18kg seat and they expected you to carry the baby out in that! You'd most likely have dropped the seat before even getting out of the hospital.

Original poster

DeeOfTheNorth · 24/11/2011 18:55

Thanks for all the help ladies - think I would like to buy one as we can usually borrow IL's car at weekends if we need to. But like you say there's no rush - and we do know some people who I'm sure could help us out.

OP posts:

hubbahubster · 24/11/2011 19:10

aswell that's exactly what we had to do. Ridiculous, especially as it's such a pain to fit in the first place. Cue me, post CS, standing with two day old DS over my shoulder in the car park while DH swore loudly as he refitted it. Grr. Do the midwives think we'd just sling a newborn on the backseat or something?!

aswellasyou · 24/11/2011 19:14

Seriously?! They're just being ridiculous. There's no law against not owning a carseat when you have a baby. Plenty of people don't drive. I think walking home from the hospital with your baby sounds like a lovely thing to do.

harassedandherbug · 24/11/2011 19:20

We bought this one as it scored really well with Which and it's a great price. You've got a while to go though so hang on as we paid less than that.

Doesn't fit on my buggy, but I'm not bothered about that as I don't like them scrunched up in the seat for long. But, please please do get a seat of your own or one from someone you trust 100%. It's just not worth it.

marthastew · 24/11/2011 19:27

We don't have a car and brought our DS home in a taxi - in a MaxiCosi Cabriofix.

I would seriously recommend getting an infant car seat. You never know when you'll have to jump in a taxi to get the little one to the doctors quickly, or to a friend's/family member's house if you are not up to walking or if the weather is bad or if you are getting a lift somewhere with a mate.

The ones that go on buggies are great plus a newborn can fit into an infant seat for up to a year so you'll have plenty of time to get your money's worth.

We got ours from a friend. Its worth asking around as lots of people with kids have them in their attics and are only too happy to pass this kind of thing on.

Lambethmum, putting a buggy in a black cab like that is unsafe and illegal.

Dirtydishesmakemesad · 24/11/2011 22:35

We dotn have a car i got a cheap carseat which we have used about 6 times for 3 babies but it IS useful to have. I wouldnt bring a tiny newborn in a taxi without a seat unless it was totally unavoidable (which this isnt).

princesss · 25/11/2011 09:20

i didnt have a car at the time of my ds sons birth either and we had to get a mini cab-i would never trust one of those drivers! or any other driver on the road without a car seat! we got a maxi cosi one which was expensive but we are now going to use it for dc 2, or if you dont have dc2 you could sell it on ebay. it came in really useful too when my friends/family who had cars looked after my ds. i would never compromise on car seats on matresses-everything else yes, but not things to do with safety

Flisspaps · 25/11/2011 14:03

marthastew it is not illegal to strap a baby in a buggy into a black cab. It's far safer than having them on your lap. FIL owns a black cab and carries both GDs this way, he is a stickler for the law and would not put his livelihood at risk by doing so if it weren't allowed, never mind risking endangering the lives of his precious GDs.

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