moving to Singapore with a baby

yael_rh · Post by **yael_rh** » Sun, 25 Jul 2010 6:26 pm

Hi,

my husband and i are moving to SG this September with our 10months old baby.

im not even sure if this is the right forum but maybe you could answer my questions.

one thing im not sure of is how do i travel in a taxi with my baby? if i take the car seat i cant use the stroller..

the second thing i don't really know how to manage is when we get there we will be staying in a hotel for 2 weeks. how do i make his meals? i steam the food such as veg. and meat .. any advice on how to handle?

thank you.

SigSag · Post by **SigSag** » Sun, 25 Jul 2010 9:44 pm

hi, we recently came here with our baby and had the same questions. basically what you do is, you let the car seat back home and have you baby sit on your lap... i have not yet seen a taxi with a car seat, however there might be some out there. we do not use our own one, as we rarely want to carry it with us through the groceries

we did not go for a hotel but a Serviced Apartment in order to be more independent for cooking for the baby. this might be an option for you to consider?

yael_rh · Post by **yael_rh** » Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:39 am

thank you so much. i will look into it.

gravida · Post by **gravida** » Mon, 26 Jul 2010 9:00 am

There is a lot of prams which have a special base for the car seat. If you need to travel by cab, you take it with you instead of the usual carrier/cot/seat.

februus · Post by **februus** » Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:24 pm

The singapore police force site contains all the information you need on seatbelt/child seat requirements:

http://driving-in-singapore.spf.gov.sg/ ... t.htm#taxi

Basically child seats are not required for a taxi. You may want to use one for your own peace of mind though.

UnexpectedAdventurer · Post by **UnexpectedAdventurer** » Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:58 pm

I read about this on another form and I'm planning to order one.
http://www.joey-safe.com/

We hired a Sit N Stroll stroller when we first arrived but it was very clunky and I think it was uncomfortable for the baby. For peace of mind you might want to check out http://www.toyrentalclub.com/index.php. That's where we hired the Sit N Stroll.

yael_rh · Post by **yael_rh** » Mon, 26 Jul 2010 1:06 pm

Thank you. I do have an option using the stroller base with the car seat but he is too big for going around in car seat..(10m. old baby)
and if i do use one just for the ride i will not have where to put it when we get to our destination..
Thank you all for your advice.

beppi · Post by **beppi** » Mon, 26 Jul 2010 4:58 pm

We almost never used a stroller in Singapore (it's just impractical with all those steps, stairs and barriers - a baby carrier is much easier, except for the sweat buildup) and our one-year-old is too active to sit in a car seat for more than five minutes - since she started walking (at only eight months!!!) she's usually climbing all over the car.

Barnsley · Post by **Barnsley** » Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:44 am

beppi wrote:We almost never used a stroller in Singapore (it's just impractical with all those steps, stairs and barriers - a baby carrier is much easier, except for the sweat buildup) and our one-year-old is too active to sit in a car seat for more than five minutes - since she started walking (at only eight months!!!) she's usually climbing all over the car.

Isnt it extremely dangerous for your kid to be loose in the car??

Its a fineable offence in the UK and I think you get points on your license as well.

I thought they had the same rules here?

snowqueen · Post by **snowqueen** » Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:03 am

[/quote]

Isnt it extremely dangerous for your kid to be loose in the car??

Its a fineable offence in the UK and I think you get points on your license as well.

I thought they had the same rules here?[/quote]

When you get here you will realise how different it is and will probably have a near heart attack when you find out how expensive it is to have a car - you could almost buy a house for the same amount of money, hence why 99.9% (just a guess) of the people living here use taxis and have the child sat on their lap. I know I did.

The first infant seat I had was awful so I used a Baby Bjorn for cab journeys then when my son was 6 months old I invested in a Maxi Cosi infant seat and a quinny but when he outgrew that before 12 months then had to sit on my knee. After 2 years of being here we've now sucked up the cost of a car with a proper car seat but the deposit was a shocker for us so unless your hubby is on a nice expat package it should be a drop in the ocean.

I know people who don't have a car but refuse to get in a taxi so basically don't go anywhere unless its walking distance, which personally would have driven me to insanity by now.

It is what it is and you have to make the best of what you've got (financially) or do what the locals do and have the child on your lap.

By the way, I've seen those Joey Safe harnesses too, you may want to Google some reviews before parting with your cash.

Calmday · Post by **Calmday** » Thu, 12 Aug 2010 9:46 am

We moved here with our son who was 1year old at the time. This is what we use. http://www.amazon.com/Sunshine-Kids-Rad ... 125&sr=8-2
It has back pack straps and that bottom folds up. Sometimes its a pain in the butt to carry around but very worth it to us. I would not be able to live with myself if anything ever happened because I didn’t do everything possible to protect my child.

As a person who worked Fire/EMS for over ten years and has seen firsthand many times the consequences of not having your child in a car seat. I would NOT recommend setting your child on your lap or letting them run around in a moving car.

snowqueen · Post by **snowqueen** » Mon, 16 Aug 2010 7:06 am

Yup, can see me sweating my bum off carrying that around Orchard Road doing my shopping in and out the malls.

You'd have to get a double stroller, one seat for your baby and the other for the car seat.

Post by **x9200** » Mon, 16 Aug 2010 8:26 am

snowqueen wrote:Yup, can see me sweating my bum off carrying that around Orchard Road doing my shopping in and out the malls.

You'd have to get a double stroller, one seat for your baby and the other for the car seat.

No you would not

As mentioned above, there are modular strollers that offer a car seat that fits to the stroller. One example is Quinny with maxi cosi:

snowqueen · Post by **snowqueen** » Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:38 am

I used the Maxi Cosi Quinny combo till my boy was about 13 months old when I couldn't physically lift him off the stroller any more. We did go through a period of time where he sat on my knee during cab journeys but never mind the safety issue, he was wanting to climb all over the place and I had to keep letting him empty my purse or play with my phone to keep him quiet, luckily we have a car now so don't have this problem.

Other things I've found on the web though are:

Eddie Bauer Portable Car Seat
http://www.albeebaby.com/eddie-bauer-po ... 15byt.html

Ride Safer Travel Vest
http://www.travelswithbaby.com/gear/car ... atives.htm

Joey Safe Freedom Ride
http://www.joey-safe.com/

Calmday · Post by **Calmday** » Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:04 pm

Thanks for the links snowqueen.

SINGAPORE EXPATS FORUM
Singapore Expat Forum and Message Board for Expats in Singapore & Expatriates Relocating to Singapore

moving to Singapore with a baby

moving to Singapore with a baby

Who is online