are car seats needed beyond the airplane?

[ten822]

I have seen a lot of discussion over whether or not to use a car seat on the plane- but, my question goes a bit further. If you DON'T bring one, and need to take a taxi to the hotel or elsewhere while in Orlando, will the taxi driver refuse to take you? Isn't it the law to restrain a baby in a car??

 

[TiffJ]

Yes it is the law that babies have to be in car seats. You will have to bring one for that. However, you won't have to use a carseat on WDW buses. Buses have different rules & passengers dont have to be restrained like in a car. If you dont want to carry the carseat on the plane you can check it & pick it up with your luggage. This is what we did when we flew with DS3 & DS 6 mo. We held the baby for the flight.

 

[justhat]

Taxis will take you without a carseat. Not sure if they have different laws or if they just don't care, but they'll let a baby ride on your lap. We live in DC and are offered a taxi very frequently when we're walking around town (we always refuse as we planned to walk, otherwise we'd have taken our own car). We did take one to the airport once and installed our carseat and the driver seemed annoyed (not sure why as he charged us for the time it took to install it anyway) and suggested we just hold her.

 

[safetymom]

I wouldn't hold a baby on my lap in a taxi. They don't want to take the time for the seat to be installed and want to get on their way.

It's not safe to just hold your child.

 

[dtsaos]

I think if you make arrangements with some of the car service places, they will provide a car seat. You can call a couple of the towncar services that advertise on these boards and find out for sure.

 

[DebIreland]

There is a product called Tote n' Go which I saw mentioned on Mousesavers. It's a portable baby car seat. It looks good and seems ideal for taxi rides. Here is a link:
http://www.babyage.com/product_details.aspx?productid=11732&sourceid=qIbAQkjWUVjSAli9Kan1

Here is the link to the piece on Mousesavers about it
http://www.mousesavers.com/taxi.html

She also says that if you request a taxi van (as opposed to a regular taxi) they can normally provide a child safety seat. But you would need to ask first.

I haven't used this product but I'm seriously considering it for regular everyday use here at home. I don't always have a car and it would be nice to hop in a cab with my baby every now and then!
Oh, just a quick note, it is not approved for air travel, but I know you weren't asking about that anyway, just thought I'd mention it for anyone else reading.

 

[sskem96]

Some of the shuttle buses from the airport don't even have seatbelts, so a carseat wouldn't be of any use in that situation. There's something about safety restraints not being required in commercial vehicles, so maybe taxis fall under that too, although I'm not sure. Most of the towncar services will provide a car seat if requested in advance. I'm not saying it's safe not to use a car seat, just offering what little info I know about the rules.

 

[Aneille]

I am also considering bringing a smaller carseat for my kids on our next trip and the tote n go looked promising however I went to a carseat board I used to frequent quite a bit. I searched for Tote N Go and I got a Costco version but it looks to be the same seat. If it is, it was not highly recommended due to it being very difficult to install correctly. And one of the threads I read: http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-ppcarseats/?msg=56243.1

Here is one review: http://www.carseatdata.org/TNG.html (not sure if its the exact same seat)


These were recommended: http://www.safetrafficsystem.com/
http://www.ezonpro.com/products/familyVehicle/86yHarness.shtml

 

[Aidensmom]

In the state of Florida, legally you must have a baby in a carseat in a car. (And it has to be in the backseat unless you are in a vehicle -like a pickup truck which does not have a backseat. I don't know how honest the taxi drivers are, but I can tell you that a lot of time there are speed traps set up near Disney (where they stop people not even speeding - we got a ticket for not having the address on my DH's drivers license changed within 10 days of moving), so I would not take the chance of being pulled over. Not to mention you should always use a carseat for the safety of your baby.

 

[safetymom]

I wouldn't depend on the limo or taxi company to have a car seat. Even if they did you don't know the history of the seat. This also isn't the time to be learning how to use a different car seat.

Bring your car seat if you are going to be riding in cars.

 

[tjmw2727]

In the state of Florida, legally you must have a baby in a carseat in a car. (And it has to be in the backseat unless you are in a vehicle -like a pickup truck which does not have a backseat. I don't know how honest the taxi drivers are, but I can tell you that a lot of time there are speed traps set up near Disney (where they stop people not even speeding - we got a ticket for not having the address on my DH's drivers license changed within 10 days of moving), so I would not take the chance of being pulled over. Not to mention you should always use a carseat for the safety of your baby.

Limos, taxis and buses are exempt. If not renting, we usually use a towncar service from MCO to the resort. For an infant I brought the infant seat and installed it easily without the base (ours had that option). For older kids we used the seat provided by the towncar service. We have had great service from Tiffany and Quicksilver. For WDW bus transportation you don't have the option of a CSR - just a bus with no seatbelts.

If you don't intend to use the CSR on the aircraft and you need one for a rental or taxi you can either check it through as luggage or gate check it.

The tote n go carseat mentioned above is, IMHO iffy at best! We tried one when my dd was 3 and it was VERY diffucult to install. Even when we thought we had it tight, with a locking clip my dd would slide around. Once, while remaining totaly in the harness she managed to slide so that the back of it was flat on the seat. Needless to say we returned it for a full refund.

TJ

 

[Mellie0119]

We had the Cosco version and never used it. It was hard (read impossible) to install and just seemed kinda cheap and flimsy to me. Not enough protection for a child IMO.