Singapore Expats

How do most of you run daily errands with young kids that still need to be in carseats if you don't have your own car? Do you take a taxi and then deal with lugging the carseat around or do you just use public transportation?
ETA: found another thread on pg. 2 with lots of info

A baby carrier is very useful to lug a kid around. I found prams difficult due to the many steps and other obstacles everywhere.
There is no need for a child seat in taxis. We never had one. But I took buses/trains wherever possible (and liked the fact that I always get a seat ...).

beppi wrote:A baby carrier is very useful to lug a kid around. I found prams difficult due to the many steps and other obstacles everywhere.
There is no need for a child seat in taxis. We never had one. But I took buses/trains wherever possible (and liked the fact that I always get a seat ...).

You mean there is no legal requirement. The need is rather obvious.

Yes, I meant there is no need for it.
I don't know if there is a legal requirement, but obviously it's not enforced if there is one.

If I'm not pressed for time I'll either take the baby in a carrier (baby bjorn or a faux-by wrap) and go on a bus-my preferred mode of transport in Singapore. I have a Quinny Zapp/Maxi-cosi combo which I've found easy enough to take on the MRT so sometimes I'll take the MRT one way and a taxi home. Taking a stroller on the bus is too much trouble for me. I'll often take both the wrap and the stroller so my son isn't in the seat for too long. At 5 months he is already 8+kg so he gets heavy in the baby bjorn, but I could literally wear the wrap all day long, and I suspect it will be just as easy to wear with a 1 year old. It can be switched to carry the kid on your back also.

Sorry, I forgot to state the age. What about for an 18 mth old? The idea of just holding her in the taxi makes me really nervous and she's already too large to wear in a carrier.

intbound wrote:Sorry, I forgot to state the age. What about for an 18 mth old? The idea of just holding her in the taxi makes me really nervous and she's already too large to wear in a carrier.

Sorry, I don't think there's an easy solution for this one. At 18 months she's probably too big for the reclined infant seats that fit with stroller travel systems, so you'd either have to carry the seat with you (a deal breaker for me), carry her on your lap (also a no-go) or take the bus/MRT everywhere you go. The public transit system here is actually very cheap and has excellent service. Once you get the routes down (google maps is very helpful in this) you can get quite used to it.

Or bite the bullet and get a car...

poodlek wrote:Sorry, I don't think there's an easy solution for this one. At 18 months she's probably too big for the reclined infant seats that fit with stroller travel systems, so you'd either have to carry the seat with you (a deal breaker for me), carry her on your lap (also a no-go) or take the bus/MRT everywhere you go. The public transit system here is actually very cheap and has excellent service. Once you get the routes down (google maps is very helpful in this) you can get quite used to it.

Or bite the bullet and get a car...

Thanks all the info. I'll look more closely at the MRT info and see how that might work for us. We're still in the early phases of even researching the possible move so my brain is on overload We've looked into renting a car so that may be a possibility too. Thanks

It can be hard to keep a young kid restrained in a taxi, especially during a meltdown. But I wanted to add that I don't think that taking the bus / MRT is necessarily safer than a taxi. At least in the taxi, they'll get a seat, and you can put the seatbelt around their waist (and put the shoulder strap behind their back). On public transport, you may not get a seat at all, and almost certainly won't be sitting down before the bus/train takes off. If you only have one child, you can put them in a carrier, which may be better. We don't have a car, and we use all forms of transport, but my kids have had more bumps and near-accidents on public transport than in a taxi. Probably the safest option is a car seat in a car (depending on your driving!), but I wouldn't choose public transport over a taxi for safety reasons.

I carry my son in an Ergo carrier and strap myself in securely putting the seatbelt under his bottom. It is important to note that you should never put the seatbelt around you and the child at the same time. If the car crashed, your weight would crush them against the seatbelt. You can take a lightweight buggy too if you wanted to. It is the best solution to a difficult problem!