Taxis - Latch system

[JillyChill]

Does anybody know if the taxis in the caribbean have the latch system for car seats. Particularly St Kitts and St Martin. We are going to be traveling to beaches there, and I WILL be bring my daughters carseat. I know I can use the regular seatbelt, but am more comfortable with the latch system. Does anybody have any experience with this? Thanks!!

[CarnivalGirl3]

It would depend on the car...

 

I know this doesn't help you, but we're skipping the taxis and walking only.

I'm not carrying her carseat on the ship, storing it and carrying it off the ship. I wouldn't trust it to the porters.

 

(We're driving to port, not flying. Part of the reason is dragging the carseat around.)

 

I will say, good for you! I've NEVER seen anyone with a carseat on a cruise. and we've kids with us/in the bus/taxi.

[JillyChill]

We are flying in, so we have to take our carseat onto the ship with us. And I figure if I have it, I might as well use it. There aren't any beaches within walking distance and that is what we want to do. I just don't feel comfortable bringing her into a taxi without her carseat. I don't mind lugging it around knowing that she will be safe!

[dsrdsrdsr]

The taxi we had in St Martin was new and no different from any new car in the USA or UK. It certainly had seatbelts, but I wouldn't know about latch points.

[Mom2B&Z]

LATCH is a fairly recent addition to vehicles, so of the vehicle is less than 10 years old it would have it...in Canada. (Forgive me, I'm a Canadian car seat tech, so my data will be Canadian.). If the vehicle is older, or if the country does not require LATCH, it won't be there. We chose to walk in Sint Maartin, but I did see lots of seatbelts and a few top tethers as I peered into vehicles ;)

I always travel with a seat that has a built in lock off, so I'm not limited to vehicles that have LATCH for a quick install. Britax seats have them, as does the TruFit. I'm sure you have others in the US, we don't here :). Otherwise you are into a locking clip installation, which is usually a 2 person job and one I wouldn't attempt in the Caribbean, even though I'm quite comfortable doing them at car seat clinics. If you're not familiar with using lock offs, try it a few times at home. It can easily and quickly be done by one person if you can take time to figure it out without being under pressure.

[JillyChill]

B&Zs Mom - I have a britax, and I know we have a way to install with a regular carseat, I have just never used it before, I must practice before I leave I suppose! :)

[Mom2B&Z]

B&Zs Mom - I have a britax, and I know we have a way to install with a regular carseat, I have just never used it before, I must practice before I leave I suppose! :)

 

You're all set then! If you look in the manual, you will see instructions for installing with LATCH, locking seatbelt and the built in locking clips. They are colour coded, one set if for rf, the other for ff (blue and red, but I don't remember off the top of my head which one is which!). If you have any trouble with your practice sessions, let me know. I'm sure I can guide you through it over the Internet :)

ETA: I'm a Canadian car seat tech, but the US and Canadian models are very similar overall and identical when it comes to installing with the built in lock off.

[Julienatul]

I haven't seen any latch systems just standard seat belts in most of the taxi's we have been in. I just hook the seats through the belt system.