Infant Car Seats in Cabs While Travelling in Canada

As many of the other moms have stated and from A LOT of travel experience with my little one using the graco snugride, you ABSOLUTELY do not need to bring the base. Have your husband look at the manual. It clearly states how to install without base. Just make sure you bring the little metal clip that came with the car seat. That will ensure that the car seat is "snug" in the seatbelt. I would imagine that you spend very little time in a cab in Quebec anyway, it is such a walking city. We were there 1 week and took a cab 1x to dinner and walked back because we realized how close we were to our hotel. We were just in Quebec (without little one) in late August. It was such a beautiful city, just very hilly, but there is the funiculaire (sp) that you can use to get from lower city to upper city. Have a great trip!

the best thing about that seat is that it can be SAFELY installed in a car w/o the base! there are directions on how to do it in the owner's manual (and i think on a sticker on the side). interestingly, when we travelled with ours (also to canada--make sure your son has a passport!), i thought it seemed a lot safer and more secure w/o the base!

good luck--and i'm guessing that if you can show your husband the booklet it will quell his fears.

I don't take cabs but I don't use the base for the car seat. I have a Graco snug n go and just strap it in. the base is really to lift the seat up and for convenience-just put the seat in the base, no belts to mess with all the time. As long as the seat itself is strapped in correctly, the baby will be safe. The instruction book even indicates how to properly strap in if you do not use the base.

You won't need the base when you're traveling. The SnugRide is designed to be installed by itself, just make sure you read the instruction manual (and/or the side of the car seat) and practice before you go. I did the same when traveling in Europe. The base is just designed to make life easier when you're going to be putting the car seat in the same car(s) all the time. But it is simple to install the car seat without it. If the seatbelt in the taxi isn't the kind that locks and stays tight, you'll have to use the locking clip that is snapped into the back side of the car seat. It's easy to use.

You are exactly right to just bring just the car seat, Snap 'n Go and Baby Bjorn -- that's exactly what I did and it worked out great. No need for a big, bulky stroller when you travel.

It will take you a minute to install/uninstall the seat every time but it is worth it for the peace of mind.

Have a great trip!

My daughter had the SnugRide too and we did not bring the base when we traveled. It's designed to be used with or without it. Just look at the instruction booklet for how to strap it in without the base. And you may want to bring the instruction booklet with you on your trip in case you need to refer to it.

Check and see if your car seat has the option to hook into a car without the base. Many have this option now just for situations like this.

I used this fabulous item called GO Go Babyz. It is ideal for travel. The convertible car seat clips onto it and it acts like a mobile stroller. So you can leave the stroller at home. My little one loves it. And you can put the car seat with it still attached into the cab and use the cab seat belts to attach it. I have a Britax roundabout convertible and it has the latch system, so if the cab is latch compliant, you can use that and the tether so that the car seat is very secure. I don't think you need the car seat base but be sure to make the seat belt very securely tightened.

C.,

I think your husband is absolutely right -- you should bring the base with you. We've done it on trips to Canada (and even Israel!) just for cabs, and it really wasn't bad. Have a safe and enjoyable trip!

Best,
R.

I've read that the snugride is actually safer while strapped in, so it's what I did for my second and third children every single time I put them in our car...