Getting Around Ba With A Toddler

[BlueArrow]

Hi again everyone.
I'm interested in knowing how folks who have a toddler get around town, with not having a car. And how do you deal with taxis?

When the wife and I brought the kid with us last year, (he was 2 years old at the time) we tried to use vehicle transport as little as possible and pretty much walked everywhere. That being said, we still had to get from the airport to Recoleta, and when our car service showed up without the planned carseat, we just rolled the dice and proceeded without one. We also had some short cab rides in the city without one.

On the one hand I know that we have an extremely safety-oriented culture in the US compared to other countries (and even to how some of us were raised in the US in the 70s and 80s), but on the other hand - traffic and driving is nuts in BA, and as safety regulations increased in the US, child injuries and fatalities in accidents went way down.

Anyone with small kids? How do you handle travel/transport?

 

[Girino]

I understand your point and I agree with everything you've said about children car seats, however this is not how it works here.
Rich people tend to adopt these higher safety standard, but average people don't. Unfortunately I don't see any taxi driver offering to add a baby seat or to install your for every 20' ride you take. I think the most they will accept is if you store the stroller (folded) in the trunk.

 

[RichardP]

The best thing is to have your own carseat. Kind of a hassle putting in in and taking it out when you take a taxi but it is for the safety of your child. You also have to carry it around but there are some lighter models available.
Many of us grew up in an age when nobody used carseats so you have that option too. As far as I know they are not mandatory here like in the US.

 

[mmoon]

if your son is 3, you could just use a booster seat, which is certainly easier to carry around in a tote bag than a full car seat. To be honest, we didn't use a car seat when we took taxis (which was pretty rare, since we were close to a train station and pretty close to the subway). We put our child in the middle seat with the lap belt on. If that seat didn't have a working seat belt, we would put him on the right side in the back and have the driver move the passenger seat way forward (since you can't use the shoulder belt with a child that young, you will need to put it behind him, but you don't want him to hit his head on the back of the passenger seat in case of an accident). It wasn't an ideal situation, but it was okay, and most of our drives weren't very far, and never on the highway. All of the drivers were very accommodating, and I'd like to think they at least drove a little less maniacally when they had a small child in the back! Our vocal appreciation didn't hurt either!

 

[fifs2]

We used a n inflatable booster seat called a bubblebum...great for taxis and rental cars alike

 

[jantango]

Use the public transportation system. It's safer and cheaper than taxis. You'll see more of the city, and your toddler will be fascinated looking out the window of the bus or subway while riding with other children.

Walk and push a stroller for outings. You'll connect with other families who are doing the same. This is a city designed for walking.

A car may seem like its the faster option, but you're isolated for the ride while dealing with traffic, detours, and looking for parking.