How do you take a cab with a baby/toddler? I've wondered this for awhile. Do you install a car seat?
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In NYC, cabs and for-hire cars are exempt from car seat rules, and you can have a child up to the age of 7 sitting on your lap. I *have* seen a lot of people take taxis without a car seat.
However, it's obviously safer if you bring a car seat and install it in the taxi before it drives---BUT I can imagine a lot of impatient taxi drivers would be pretty POd about that. And some areas (like anywhere remotely near Time Square, taxis have to double park or just stop in the middle of the furthest lane to pick up people, so allllll the cars behind would be honking within seconds.
So, even though it's the safe thing to do, it's not particularly easy or convenient.
So, to be honest, I'm not sure. But at some point, I'll have to figure it out if I keep living here! Generally, I would try to take the subway or Path, and then drive myself if that isn't an option.
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You can buckle the carseat in with the seatbelt. That's what I've seen most people in NYC do with infants (like, little babies). Once they're toddlers, I do think most people just hold them on their lap.
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Liv was born in NYC and we lived there for 4 years (a short time with her.) I brought her home from the hospital in a cab lol. I had her in her car seat and held it for dear life (before I knew how to do that seatbelt install.) After that and now when we go into the city, I wear her in the ergo or sling. Now shes at the age though, where she likes to sit on her own and look out the window, so its becoming a wrestling match when we take cabs now lol
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When my sister lived in the city, she would only take a cab if she had her son's infant seat with her and would always buckle it in, even though the law does say you don't have to have them in a car seat. Now that he is a toddler and way too big for an infant seat, I really don't know what people would do.
I also know people that wear the baby in an Ergo and just put the seat belt on like normal, just making sure it wasn't pressed over the baby in a bad way. Personally, I'd only do it with a car seat with a little baby, unless it was a true emergency. -
I feel like everyone just takes the subway here lol! The subway is always filled with strollers and I've never seen anyone with an infant take a cab before.
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Using the seatbelt to secure the seat is pretty easy!
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Just a heads up that you shouldn't put a buckle around you with a child on your lap, it is far safer to buckle yourself and hold the child or, oddly enough, put them on the floor. If you are rear ended with the buckle around both of you, your weight will fly forward as the seatbelt locks to stop you with the child stuck in the middle causing a lot of damage.
@Foodnerd81 (I know you weren't doing this but just thought I would pass three info along
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I haven't taken a cab yet but whenever we're using a car that isn't ours I always just buckle the carseat in.
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everyone in NYC takes infant carseats and cabs. you just install with a seatbelt. easy!
what's tricky is when they outgrow the infant carseat... that's a bit tougher.
check out carseatlady.com. good info on there
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I've been thinking about this a lot lately.
I want to take DS to NYC the next time I go, but he's too big for an infant seat and I don't know how I feel about riding in a car with him on my lap. -
@Cole: I wondered about that when I heard of a friend of a friend doing it. It seems like if the buckle was below where the baby is attached (like, only over your hips when the baby ended at your belly button) it would be ok. Not that an Ergo is meant to withstand a car accident anyway, but still better than squishing them with the seatbelt.
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When we have to take a taxi/car service, we bring the car seat and buckle her in using the seat belt. We once had a cabbie with an older car that didn't have seat belts, so we waited for another one. It's pretty quick to do once you know how to do it and my DH is a pro at it.
Now that LO is outgrowing her infant car seat we are not sure what we'll do, but we don't take taxis much.
@SAHM0811: Yup, we used the Car Seat lady to figure out how to do it.
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I took a cab while in Washington DC when DD was 5m, I just kept her in the Ergo.
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It's straightforward to buckle a car seat into the middle section of a taxi, with mom one side and dad the other. Our car seat is the Cybex Aton and it takes under a minute to put in:
(the "European method" for doing this starts at 4 minutes 43 seconds)
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