Hotel Shuttles--Help!

[cmyk]

The hotel where we have reservations to stay with our 14 month old has a hotel shuttle service to the Zoo, mall, etc. My question is: do you think it is safe to hold a baby in a shuttle bus (w/o a car seat)? The ride is less than 10 minutes, but my gut feeling is that DD needs to be in a seat. What have you done in this situation? What's the situation with taxis -- can you request one with a car seat?

Thanks,
Shelley

[kristine_elen]

Whenever we fly, we park our car in one of those lots where you take a shuttle bus to the airport (about a five minute ride). I always have my husband drop us off and pick us up and do the shuttle himself b/c I'm afraid we'll get in an accident when Jack is not in a car seat. However, I've seen lots of people take their babies on the shuttle bus (not to mention city buses), so maybe I'm being overly protective.

[Momof3Labs]

My experience is that shuttle vans have seat belts, so you can install a car seat, but shuttle buses generally do not, so there is no way to install a seat. And you need your own car seat for a taxi in most (if not all) places.

[jmofarrill]

I've wondered this myself. My church has a satalite parking lot with shuttle service, and I refuse to park there b/c of the carseat issue. I just don't feel like risking it. But what do people in metropolitan places with bus transportation do?

[emilyf]

Well, people have different comfort levels with this sort of thing, but I have taken ds in taxis while traveling w/out a seat. I would also be willing to ride in a shuttle bus with him. I would probably use a sling so that if the bus stopped short he would have something besides my arms holding him. The only other options that I can think of are renting a car, or using a car service-most have car seats available.
Emily \r\nmom of Charlie born 11/02