Eclipsepearl

Someone with a medical background can provide details but there are not many truly dangerous diseases someone can catch out in public in most industrialized countries.

My babies have been on public transport in numerous countries with no ill effects. The dangers of riding in a car with an unrestrained child are much greater than any perceived threat from deadly diseases flying through the air (most transmission is by touch anyway). Most public transport is slower, larger and less inclined to have accidents than a car would. I was careful with them on stairs, crossing streets, etc. It's just common sense.

Actually, the greatest risk on the Paris metro is being pickpocketed...

themicah

Agreed, and this is why I have no problem taking my kid on the subway or bus (which I do FAR more often than riding in a car with or without a car seat). The disease thing was a bad example, but the point stands: there are risks everywhere. If we really wanted to eliminate the risk of kids getting hurt in car accidents, we wouldn't let kids ride in cars at all (even with a car seat). But that's not realistic, which is why car seats exist--to mitigate the risk.

SEA-Flyer

There is only one type of vehicle that I'd feel comfortable riding in with my child attached to me in a Baby Bjorn:

A very large boat such as a cruise ship or a auto ferry.

Anything else, I would find a way to bring/use a car seat, or I wouldn't take the trip.

themicah

What do you do if you have to change terminals in an airport like ATL, DEN or DFW where you have to take a train? What do you do if your plane isn't at a jetway and you have to take a shuttle bus to get to it? What if you're in a taxi that doesn't have seatbelts or LATCH connectors (not uncommon in many cities)?

catper33

Completely agree. Whilst you take every precaution and plan and plan again for as many eventualities as possible sometimes things just happen that result in you having to do something that is really not ideal. Then you have to deal with it as best as possible.

Eclipsepearl

For the record, I've connected alone with a car seat and three kids. I've changed terminals with a train (CDG) and those funny people movers at IAD. I've carried my car seat down countless air stairs when we didn't have a jet way.

It wasn't such a big deal. Either the child walked or was in a baby carrier (the Bjorn was chucked after the first child for a more comfortable and longer lasting ring sling) and the seat was under my arm. I usually waited to be among the last to disembark to not hold the others back. Often the Flight Attendants, getting off the plane themselves, will lend you a hand. I often did this for passengers with children when I was a Flight Attendant myself, either grabbing a diaper bag or holding a little hand as we went left the aircraft.

I've actually never encountered a taxi without seat belts but I understand this can happen in the Caribbean, for example and elsewhere. Look into this issue on the net ahead of time. Sometimes, you can either order a taxi with belts or simply wave the taxi on and there is often a later one with seat belts. The other alternative might be using public transport.

themicah

My point wasn't the feasibility of schlepping the seat. I've got plenty of experience with that myself (ask the folks at the 13th St Hertz office in Manhattan, where I often show up fresh off the bus or subway with a baby in arms and a car seat strapped to my back).

My point was the implausibility of SEA-Flyer's blanket statement that (s)he would never take a child without a car seat on any vehicle other than a big boat (i.e., not even a train or bus).