Babble

I'm pregnant right now with our first child and we're having a debate about which travel system to purchase in Singapore. We don't have a car and most of our travel will be done in taxis, but we also want to use the sling as much as possible. I don't think the sling will be a problem on the subway or buses, but the taxi issue is causing me grief. Does anyone have any experience with an infant seat that is lightweight and can be quickly snapped into a seatbelt? We're looking at the Maxi Cosi (which is not yet available in the US) which fits in with the Bugaboo or Quinny stoller frame. Unfortunately, the infant seats that snap into strollers are only good up to 15-20 lbs. How do you fit an infant seat into a taxi with an older infant? Any experiences from other taxi-using parents would be greatly appreciated. 

I can only give the US perspective (don't know what's available in Singapore), but it is an annoying issue.  I am a complete freak about this, so sadly I know a good deal about it.

You are right that the baby seats only last for the first bunch of months (it is a height issue, actually not a weight issue -- once the top of the head is less than an inch from the plastic edge of the car seat, you need to trade up.  This happened between 4 and 6 months for both of my kids).  I think Graco now makes a bigger baby infant seat (safe seat?  something like that) that is bigger -- more awkward to schelp around, but I believe it is still supposed to snap into strollers.  We bought a sit and stroll, which is a combination carseat / stroller (the wheels tuck up under the seat when it goes into the car).  It is neither a very good stroller nor a very convenient car seat, but it is the best solution I know of -- once you get where you're going, you can roll the kid around, but you still have a car seat for the return trip.  It can be used back-facing for infants and toddlers, as well as front-facing for bigger toddlers and preschoolers, and my son used it up to around 4 (when his little sister graduated in to it).  You'll get many years of use from it.

For encyclopedic coverage of the car seat / car seat in taxi issue, there is an amazing website (rideonthesafeside.com), which covers the various options incredibly thoroughly.

 Congratualtions and good luck!

I was fairly well consumed by this as well when I was pregnant and living in NYC.  As my first son gradually outgrew his infant seat, I eventually capitulated to the fact that he would not be in a car seat when in a taxi (which is a minority of his transport time, I reasoned).  I think this is fairly common thinking for city dwelling parents. 

Now I live in London and you can fit a stroller in the taxi without breaking it down, which probably discourages car seat usage even more. 

Thanks for both your responses. We've decided on the Maxi Cosi followed the Joey Safe when the baby outgrows the infant seat. Hopefully we can use public transport as much as possible, although the subway and buses come with their own set of hazards. We lived in London prior to moving to Singapore, so we're used to seeing babies unsecured in taxis. The locals here don't seem to have any hang-ups about the taxi issue, but I guess I just can't let go of my American paranoia for safety. Its nice to know that there are others in the same boat!

We're in Seoul and have been living with a motorcycle for almost ten years now.  I'm due in October, and we're actually going to buy a small car just so that we can have a carseat...

 Of course, car ownership in Singapore is completely different!  I'm often alternately impressed/horrified by the ends the Singaporean government will go through to further their policies - but at least it keeps the streets from getting too clogged, making taxis an even better deal. 

 What I can't believe is that we even had to DISCUSS the possibility of taking the baby on our motorocycle.  Of course not!  We'll be using taxis most of the time too - I think the goverment is actually about to start licencing call taxis with baby seats built in.  We'd have to wait longer for it to show up rather than just flagging one down, but it'll be worth it.