Do you buy a car seat if you don’t have a car?

[NeedAdvice8]

For taxi rides, e.g. getting home from the hospital? If yes, is there anything to look out for in terms of compatibility / easy installing in the taxi? If no, how do you get home from hospital with a newborn? (There’s no one who could pick us up and I can’t take public transport because that would involve too much walking after a c-section). DH will be with us, but neither of us drives. DH wants to take a black cab and hold baby, as technically permitted by law, but I’m not convinced that this is safe.

I would get one of the travel system ones that has a car seat you can clip in easily.

They still have lay flat option for most of your travel but car seat option when needed.

Car seat tends to only be for smaller size so probably only do the first 6-14 months depending on percentile but by then they'll be fine in a buggy on the bus and you'll know how often you go in cars and if it's worth bothering ?

www.argos.co.uk/product/9599763

www.argos.co.uk/product/3980127

Yes, get one.
Your best option is one of the basic Maxi cosi baby seats. No base. Then they are just seatbelt fitted into car and maxi cosi have easy belt guides. They also fit with most pram adapters.
Do you can take pram with car seat ontop for times you need to use taxi or friends cars and pop onto pram at arrival. The basic maxi cosi with no base you can get for around £80-120 and it will last around 18 months

It’s always handy. You never know if you need late night hospital trips for baby or one of you and baby had to go with. Or if it’s easier to just go somewhere by taxi.

I would also get one.

Why risk it and hold your precious baby in the taxi? I would never do that even for a short ride.

as others said, you will also use it in the future for taxi rides or lifts.

Yes. Most hospitals won’t let you leave without one. We bought the cheap John Lewis own brand one. I think we used it three times in total. We now have a second hand spare up in the loft just for emergencies.

Another vote for, get a basic seatbelt fitted one. Although legal to carry a baby without a seat in a taxi, it is definitely not safe. And you may well get lifts from other people at various points too.

Thanks for the advice, I’ll look into these options!

Do you know anyone else with a baby? I'm sure they'd be happy to give you a lift home and use their seat.

We have purchased a car seat. We regularly visit family by train and then get picked up in a car or take a taxi to their homes. Initially we planned to pre book taxis with their own car seat but decided having our own was easier.

We went for the Maxi cosi Pebble pro - it's easy to install without the isofix base (we practiced in a friend's car) and it's compatible with our pram.

We initially planned to come home from hospital on the bus (an hour journey with one change) but as I approached the later half of the 3rd trimester I realised I may not feel up to that, especially if I have a c-section. So, now we have the car seat we can get an uber!

If you just need it for the 1 time, do you have a family member or friend who may have one they don't use anymore if you can borrow it for the ride home?

Or look on the marketplace to get one for cheaper

My dc are all older now but yes get a car seat. You never know when you will need one.
I have 4 dc. I have never driven or owned a car, neither has DH. We worked out that over the years (large age gaps) we must have owned at east a dozen car seats. Grandparents, childminders, ones to keep at home. It's always easier if you have one just tucked in a cupboard.

Definitely get a car seat. Maxi Cosi or Joie are good low cost, safe brands (there are some very unsafe brands out there allowed to be sold) and you'll be able to get adaptors to attach to most pram bases.

You never know when you'll need to rush to kids A&E with baby (you'll probably have at least one fever which requires a check up), so I wouldn't be without one.

It is legal to travel in a taxi without a car seat, but it's absolutely not worth the risk.

Sorry to be brutal, but if your DH remains unconvinced, in February a 4 month old baby was killed in a crash while travelling in a taxi.

An infant car seat is the best £100 you will ever spend, even if you only use it once.

Get a basic one that clips onto the pushchair and uses the seatbelt to attach in vehicles. I was in the same position and managed to borrow one

I'd get the ones that you don't need a base for, and can sit onto a pram base. You'll use it for the pram, and future taxis or lifts.

I bought a car seat because I have a car. We forgot to take it to the hospital. I had to get someone to go home and pick it up but it took hours and the hospital needed their bed back pretty urgently so I was discharged without the car seat arriving. The nurse said you don’t need a car seat. I didn’t like travelling back without it, but I did with the baby in my jacket. It not ideal - but fortunately it was a short journey.

I think there isn’t any harm having one- you can get a cheap one. Bur according to the midwife - it’s not an essential.

This is ridiculous, as many people do not drive, and should be allowed to take a baby home walking in a pram.

We live in London and dont have a car but we bought an infant carrier - a maxi cosi cabriofix (although i think the latest version doesnt last quite as long as my version which i bought in 2021). It just fastens in with the seatbelt so fits taxis easily and my buggy brand sells adapters to attach it to the buggy base for short journeys (it's not good to keep baby in them for long periods).

We used it for getting home from the hospital but also, you'll be amazed at how many appointments you might have in the first six weeks in random places. Children's centres that are a 20mins walk from public transport or you might be sent to a hospital for an apointment that isnt your usual one etc. DD1 and i were both ill after her birth and we had one appointment for something or other every second day in the first month. We were so glad of the car seat to be able to get somewhere in a 20mins taxi rather than 1hr on public transport etc.

Yes we did this, we bought a cybex from John lewis and used it a ton in cabs and even on the airplane/abroad. We used it in a black cab home from the hospital. It clips in with a seat belt. Also can be put on a bugaboo chassis for around town as a buggy.

we used our car seat all the time, but it was a fixed 0-4 swivel type, so stays in car. Nobody cared that I just popped Ds in sling and walked out of the hospital with him. We had car seat, it was in hospital car park. But it wasn’t even asked if we had one, let alone looked at.

But yes for you a portable one would be handy.

You wouldn’t hold the baby in a black cab- they stay in the pram and you apply the brake, same as the bus. I would get a pram where they’re strapped in though, like the YoYo with the newborn pack (not the bassinet) so they’re secure if you do a lot of taxis and public transport. And in a taxi I only do it centrally so you’re crawling at max 20mph, not down the m4 to Heathrow, in my mind it’s no different to the bus really! My babies both came home from hospital that way. No one asked about a car seat, I don’t think that’s a thing in London. We do actually have a car and had a fixed convertible car seat but hospital parking is a nightmare so wasn’t driving back!

We were in the same position- no car, use public transport mostly but needed to get baby home from hospital after c section.

Bought a joie isnug 2 and a maxi cosi cabriofix (as a spare to keep with grandparents). Both are lightweight, we're under £100 but well-rated, and have 3 point fastening with seatbelt alone. I prefer the joie - it's slightly lighter and I think more supportive for a newborn.

We have also once taken our baby in a black cab in the pram which is also permitted and actually worked better for a journey across London (ie never above 30mph and mostly below 20mph, but took longer than the 20 mins max a newborn is supposed to be in car seat). However I'm not sure how I'd have felt about it 3 days post birth.

Oh, and noone in hospital checked we had a car seat.

If you are ever going to be in a car you do need one. There are car seats which can be fitted just with a seatbelt so fit into any car.

The most annoying stage for a non driver is the toddler one so I would recommend getting a baby seat which works with your pram (this makes it easier if you get a lift/taxi one way and public transport the other way) and pick one which is long lasting.

I think this is probably the cheapest one around at the moment (though it's not compatible with any prams) https://www.online4baby.com/p/beone-comfort-plus-group-0-infant-carrier-car-seat-black-0-15-months the Beone gets a decent safety score, even though it's a budget seat. Or Joie Juva Classic at Halfords.

Or this looks like a decent budget option if you do want the pram compatability - Recaro go onto the standard, Maxi Cosi/Cybex adapters, so if your pram says it can take one of those, it can take this seat. Recaro are a good brand with good safety reputation. https://www.online4baby.com/p/recaro-avan-prime-i-size-group-0-car-seat-silent-grey-0-15-months

If you prefer something you can use longer than the ~1 year and you don't mind it not being compatible with a pram, this is a good option: https://www.halfords.com/baby-and-child/car-seats/baby-car-seats/graco-extend-lx-r129-convertible-car-seat---midnight-814494.html

Another good option is to ask around friends and family if anyone has one they are no longer using which they would sell/pass on. Second hand is not recommended if it's a stranger, but from someone you know and trust, it's fair. You shouldn't use a car seat which has ever been in an accident, even if it looks fine, had mould, had any parts repaired or replaced (except by the original manufacturer), is visibly worn out/damaged or which is over 10 years old. You should also know the entire history of the seat, e.g. if your friend was given it from their SIL and the SIL had originally got it from somebody else, that's no good. It needs to have all the original parts e.g. newborn inserts, strap covers and the instruction book.

We got one. Holding baby is simply not as safe as being in a car seat. Plus you never know when you'll need to grab an emergency cab and not want to hold baby / want baby to sleep / not be able to hold them.
We got one on a travel system and within the limits of how long baby can be in there, we actually used it on the bus alot. It felt safer than in the basinet and once they were alert they likeditcos they could see. meant we didn't use the basic buggy bit until a bot older