Hi!
I am about to travel with my 5 months old baby to Capri. I will have to take a taxi from Naples airport to the Napples port (ferry). Do I need to bring with me a car seat for the baby or I can do without? It will be hard for me as I will have on my hands my baby, stroller and a bag on wheels. If also a car seat, I just don't have enough hands and don't know how to manage... What are rules in Italy about it? In my home country I will be driven by my husband to the airport, so there is an infant car seat, but I can leave it behind.
Thanks!

Don't even think about not taking and infant seat.

Its nothing to do with rules but the safety of your child. You will need one on the plane anyway.

Why would you be any less likely to have an accident in a taxi than in your own car? On that basis would you put your infant in your car without a proper car seat?

If it were my baby, I'd have a stroller that included a removable seat to use on the plane, in taxis, etc. Even holding a baby tightly, in an accident it would be very easy to let go and the child would become a flying object.

Some folks who have travelled with infants will likely give you some good ideas - I hope!

Buon viaggio.

Not sure how long your trip is...but most of ours are 2 weeks. If the ONLY time I was going to be in a car during a two week trip was one taxi ride then I'd leave the car seat at home.

Now I've never flown internation w/ a very small child so maybe the flight is a bigger reason for the car seat. But for our 3 hour flights around the US we always laid the baby on the seat and they did great.

...oops...never flown INTERNATIONAL.

...wishing for a way to edit past posts

Maybe you could hire a car service that would include a car seat? I understand about not having enough hands. But from what I've read here about Naples traffic, it's the last place I'd want a baby to be without a car seat.

I second WillTravel's advice. We've lugged car seats through airports and it is a nightmare -- but I would hate to let inconvenience get in the way off safety. If you could find a car service with a car seat you'd bit perfect. Good luck!

A baby/child seat for children under 12 is mandatory in ALL EU countries, so also in Italy. If you are booking a taxi in advance ask if they have a suitable seat available - they often do, otherwise you will have to take your own I'm afraid. As tomassocroccante
suggested there are strollers that will take a car seat - if you don't have one maybe you could borrow or hire one, just to make life a little easier.

< A baby/child seat for children under 12 is mandatory in ALL EU countries >

Any idea of how you get an 11 year old in a child seat? I think you mean that it is mandatory for all children under the age of 12 to be in the back seat.

Mea culpa -- you are correct, hetismij.

< All children under 135cm (4ft 5in) tall, unless they have passed their 12th birthday, must use a child seat appropriate for their weight.

Most children reach 135cm around the age of nine. >

I use a baby bjorn infant carrier (the rucksack thingy that goes on your front) for taxis while abroad. We have never found the need to have a car seat on the plane and unless you are paying for an extra seat for the baby you will have no use for it.

I put the baby in the baby bjorn and put the seatbelt around myself (not around the baby). I'm sure it's not as safe as a car seat but the baby is not loose in the taxi and it seems like a good compromise to me.

A front carrier won't help with the physics of a car crash. If you are thrown forward, the baby will be crushed.

Thank you for the delightful mental picture. Perhaps wearing the device backwards will solve the problem.

I'm with the travelers who say to either hire a car that comes with a seat, or call ahead to see if taxi can be sent with one.

Not too long ago, a car traveling on the interstate in Dallas was involved in an accident. The front-seat passenger, a mother holding her infant child in her arms, was thrown forward and the baby's head was crushed against the dashboard, and he did not survive. (everyone else in the crash walked away with minor injuries)

I'm sorry if it is graphic...but if that's what it takes for you to reconsider the safety of your beautiful baby's life...then so be it.

Paula

The poster Huitres had some very good tips for traveling with a small child by public transport in Italy, including south of Rome.

I have travelled with a car seat that snaps into a stroller. I agree that with a baby that young you will need the car seat on the plane. Don't count on getting a basinette.

If you don't have a car seat that snaps into a stroller, I would borrow one. If you must bring one that does not snap, I have many times balanced a car seat on the back of the handles of my stroller by slinging the straps of the seat over the handles, or snapping the belt of the carseat through the bar. Balance is key, but you CAN do it.

Of course if none of those are options I agree to hire a car service with a car seat.

By the way, if you are worried about the law, here in England taxis are exempt from the carseat rules.

To those who were wondering, with older children the law means a booster seat, not a full-on car seat.

Thanks to all for replies.
In the plane I do not need a car seat as I already reserved a seat with a bassinet for the transatlantic segment. Anyway, my baby will not sleep in a car seat, she does not like it and starts to cry very soone after she is placed there, unless it's in a car that moves on a very bumpy road. So the only use for the car seat will be on a taxi from the airport to the port and back. My car seat can be attached to the stroller I have, but as I said, it does not help as my baby does not want to seat in it and I will have to carry the car seat not in the stroller, where my baby will be. Other option is I will go with or the stroller and the seat in it, baby on me in an infant carrier and somehow the rest of the luggage (I have not decided yet whether to take a wheeled duffel bag or a hike backpack).
As there is a law, it seems that I will have to take the car seat with me.

A lot of the car services have car seats available upon request and it will not cost all that much. Seems would be worth every penny and not sure why OP is resisting this obvious solution. Good luck with whatever you decide

I do understand why the OP is resisting this solution! She is travelling on her own and it's tough enough to manage a baby a buggy and your bags, never mind trying to manage a car seat too.

She is taking a taxi, not renting a car, and I have never encountered a taxi firm that would provide a baby car seat.

There's safe and there is practical. It's a choice for each parent but presumably she is just trying to find a compromise so that if possible she does not have to make life very difficult for herself just for the sake of a half hour car journey.

I wouldn't criticise her for trying to avoid bringing the car seat all that way. Personally I am not able to manage a car seat when travelling on my own so I have to find alternatives.