Bringing Baby Home

P

pattersl

Registered User
Hi,

I will be having our first baby at Matilda, to get home we will take a taxi to Stanley. Question is do taxi companies provide baby capsules on request? We are from Oz and it?s against the law to have a baby unrestrained in a car so all taxi's provide a capsule if requested at time of booking.

If the answer is no - how do people take their baby home?

THANKS!!
 
We carried jr home in our arms in the back seat. The laws here don't require baby capsules or whatnot.
 
There are no laws about child restraint in Hong Kong and you will not be able to book a taxi with a capsule as in Australia.

You have a couple of options though:

Many Mum's here, including expats, use a Baby Bjorn or similar, and sit with bubs on their lap in the carrier and strap both Mum and baby in with the seat belt.

I am going to see how I go with a portable capsule. You can buy 'travel system' prams that enable you to clip on a Maxi Cosi, or similar capsule to them. You push Bubs around in the capsule on the stroller frame, and then take it off for a car journey to strap in.
You can use any car seat belt to strap in these capsules, so they are fine for taxis.

If you want to get an anchored capsule as in Australia, then you will need to get your own car and get one fitted. Interestingly, Australia is the only country that I have found this to be a legal requirement. I don't doubt it's the safest, but in the UK, USA and NZ for example, anchored car seats are not a legal requirement, so many use the same sort of capsule I have outlined above in those countries.
 
i read somewhere that if you'll be carrying your baby in a baby bjorn in a taxi, you should put the seat belt BETWEEN you & baby. so you get seated first, strap on the seat belt, but baby in baby bjorn & lock baby bjorn. that way, if you do get in an accident (let's all knock-on-wood), you baby won't be crashed between you & seat belt. this doesn't sound easy to do, so maybe you should try with a stuff toy first. i think buying one of those rear facing car-seat (travel system like a maxi-cosi) is the safest, though.

(btw, before my baby arrived, my hubby & i practiced putting a stuffed monkey in the rear-facing car seat & strapping it in the carl. poor monkey got slapped in the head by the seat belt several times. it was a funny sight when it's a toy. so i highly suggest 1st ime parents to practice before the real thing.)
 
I bought a maxi cosi seat. I tried holding a bunch of different ones and it was the lightest for me and least awkward. Hold them for a while in the shop. Walk around, you will see how heavy they get empty! And i don't have wimpy arms either!

But even though I have a car, I was planning on taking a taxi home so i wanted a car seat for the ride home to be safe. I did end up taking the taxi which was great, didnt have to think about anything. And we took a photo! I chose Maxi cosi without the base because i often ride along in friends' cars too so i wanted something i could put into anyone's car.

That being said, all seat belt sizes differ so you should also ask the shop if you can try it in your car first.

(joannek... i practised stapping stuffed bear in baby bjorn..sounds like your experience!)
 
We had our baby at the Matilda too. The taxi's you get from the Matilda are very causious and conciderate, well ours was and my friends one was too. They drive much slower down the hill and are aware of bumps etc. It was good for me as I had a c-sec and was a bit sore. We had our bub in a maxi-cosi car seat with the seat belt around it. Fortunately we already had the car seat from our daughter that was born 3 years previous in the UK. If you can get yourself or borrow a infant car seat, Its proberly the safest bet. If not get a baby bjorn. GOOD LUCK with things.
 
I used a mayawrap sling to bring our last daughter home from the hospital. It was easy to put the seatbelt under the sling so it was only around me and not the baby too. It isn't as safe as a car seat but I don't have a car. A car seat is expensive and a very cumbersome thing carry for use in a taxi.
Barb
 
i also had the maxi-cosi car seat. i had the same reason w/ cristletips, cos although i have a car, i always ride in my friends' cars so that maxi cosi was a good choice. besides being one of the lightest, it also is the safest, according to the test done by the consumer council. also when it is put in the stroller, it is very high from the ground, which i think is nice cos there is so much pollution in hk, i don't want my baby to be so close to the ground.

(the maxi cosi cabrio is the one i practiced with my stuff monkey!!)
 
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