Toronto Pearson airport taxi w/rear face car seat for toddler?

Hi! we are traveling to Toronto in a couple of weeks. Wondering if there is a taxi service from the airport that has a convertible car seat that can rear face for an infant who has outgrown her infant car seat? Any help would be appreciated! All i can find are forward facing toddler car seats in taxis....thank you!!!!

Is taking your own car seat on the plane not an option? Does your little one have a paid ticket or are they flying as a lap baby? I wouldn't encourage anyone to use a rental car seat as you do not know the full history of the seat.

Daydreamz said:

Is taking your own car seat on the plane not an option? Does your little one have a paid ticket or are they flying as a lap baby? I wouldn't encourage anyone to use a rental car seat as you do not know the full history of the seat.

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I completely agree. The FAA, AAP, NTSB, TC, and most airlines agree that lap babies are not safe.

If she's outgrown her infant seat, her convertible on board is a perfectly safe option, then you don't need to worry about ending up with a booster seat being handed to you at the other end (I'm speaking from experience here. Our first trip with 9.5 week old Piper we rented seats. And they handed me a high back booster).

Links:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/air-passengers-children-564.htm
http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/crs/
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/108/5/1218.full
http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/children.html

Wendy

Daydreamz said:

Is taking your own car seat on the plane not an option? Does your little one have a paid ticket or are they flying as a lap baby? I wouldn't encourage anyone to use a rental car seat as you do not know the full history of the seat.

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She has outgrown her infant seat and will be going as a lap baby, so bringing the car seat is not an option for this trip. I know i can gate check but have spoken with a friend who is an airline employee and she did not have anything good to say about how heavy car seats are treated during a gate check! We are only going to and from airport and husband is not interested in bringing the 36lb clek foonf for two car rides. He wants to take a shuttle (no way!!!!)....so I'm trying to find a compromise and find a rear facing convertible seat through a taxi service. I know we cant verify the condition, but feel it is the best solution. I would rather have her rf in an old seat than on a shuttle in her stroller! Going forward i will purchase the diono radian for travel, but can't afford it at the moment.

So any taxi cab companies that have rear facing convertible seats that you know of? Thanks so much!

A rental seat is a seat with an unknown history. You have no idea if it's been in a crash, been washed with bleach between each use, NOT washed at all, who has eaten in it, peed in it, pooped in it, puked in it. You don't know that it's not expired or not recalled.

It's really not the best option. It shouldn't be an option at all.

If the Foonf is too heavy, how about a lighter weight seat for travel? The Cosco Scenera is cheaper than the Radian. Would that work for her age and weight and height? And a seat on the plane just makes sense. How else will she be safe on board? You're right that gate checking isn't an option. Unfortunately you don't have any safe options to choose from here.

A eat in a box that isn't super heavy can be gate checked, as long as you're ok with it being damaged or lost (though the box will protect it as best as it can. Most seats are shipped just fine that way, however, the baggage handlers are not shippers, they're trained to get things on FAST, not fragilely). That might be the safest of the unsafe alternatives. Just don't throw out the box because you'll need it coming home.

Much easier to just have a ticket for her, wheel her seat to the plane, put her in it, and then use it when you get there. Safer, too.

Wendy

I appreciate your input, but am not trying to debate the safety of a taxi and car seat. What I am trying to do is locate a taxi company in Toronto that offers rear facing convertible seats. If you know of one, I would greatly appreciate you passing the information along. Thanks so much.

If you're going to a downtown hotel, consider taking the Airport Express. When my parents still lived in Ontario (but outside TO) we had a carseat at their house, thus didn't want to bring one along (used CARES on the plane) since they'd eventually be meeting us in TO. We used the Airport Express to get to our hotel.

Unregistered said:

I appreciate your input, but am not trying to debate the safety of a taxi and car seat. What I am trying to do is locate a taxi company in Toronto that offers rear facing convertible seats. If you know of one, I would greatly appreciate you passing the information along. Thanks so much.

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I don't think car seats are actually required in taxis in most places in Canada so you might be very hard pressed to find one that is rear facing... how old is your kidlet?

Edited to add: the other thing you could do is ask what kind of seats/brand they have and then be sure you can reinstall it rearfacing yourself before getting into the taxi...

kmw said:

I don't think car seats are actually required in taxis in most places in Canada so you might be very hard pressed to find one that is rear facing... how old is your kidlet?

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Car seats under 40lbs and boosters under age 8/height/weight minimums ARE required in Ontario. Only exemptions to car seat/booster use are if the child is riding in a police car, ambulance or fire truck.

Most taxi drivers will refuse to allow your child to ride without a car seat because if they get stopped the driver gets the ticket. However they probably wouldn't know enough to debate RF/FF with you.

Police frequently watch for and pull over taxis and vehicles leaving Pearson for child seat/seatbelt violations in particular. And though car seats are required in taxis, taxi's are not required to supply them, and I've never heard of any that routinely would.

Not according to this: http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/faq/safety.shtml#exemptions

kmw said:

Not according to this: http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/faq/safety.shtml#exemptions

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:yeahthatsad:

Pearson's our home airport, and we use it a lot, but we're always with our own vehicle so I can't tell you anything about transportation services with carseats. I found this listing you could try, but I can't comment on the condition or suitability of the seats they'll provide: http://www.helpwevegotkids.com/toro...te-kids-transportation/toronto-exclusive-limo

There're also these companies, who say they'll deliver seats to the airport:

http://www.weetravel.ca/products/carseats.shtml

http://www.babygetaway.com/carseats.html

Good luck!