Baby Carseat in Germany

It is very easy to ask for a taxi with a car seat. Arriving at the airport, there will be a long line of taxis, one of them at least will have a car seat. It doesn't matter if people drive crazy or not, most accidents happen with-in 10 miles from home, so yeah, make sure you use a car seat.

Some people like having the car seat on the plane though, to put the baby in to sleep. Depends on if you will have an extra seat for your baby or not.

Does anyone know the German laws on carseats? [...] Is it worth flying the carseat there for 1-2 taxi rides?

Children under 12 years of age and under 150 cm hight need an ECE R44/03 approved seat for their weight class.

German taxis often (but not always) have one seat each of the weight classes I-III on board, if you need more or a class 0/0+ one you might have to ask them to send one so equipped.

For just one or two rides I would ask and wait for a taxi with a fitting seat.

How far is the airport from central Berlin?

Tegel ~8 km
Schönefeld ~23 km

That's great news about the taxis. Thanks!

Bronwyn,

I assume that you will be landing at Berlin-Tegel, but since you are taking a taxi from there to Potsdamer Platz, it may just a little more than 8 km.

From Berlin-Schonefeld the train Airport Express Schonefeld takes you to Hauptbahnhof, the central station, if you should need that.

In all my trips to Germany over the years, I have had to take a taxi a few times, a couple of them were in Berlin, one during my last trip this past summer, and I can definitely say that the taxi I took from Ostbahnhof to Kantstrasse in the Charlottenburg area was NOT an example of crazy driving...far from it!

Most definitely have a car seat, either your own or one provided by the taxi.

definitely bring your own car seat - you'll need it on the plane.

What seats have you booked on the flight? an extra one for the baby? seats in the front row with bassinet? If you 9 month old is not on the large side definitely order the bassinet when you make plane reservations i.e. asap.

Then I'd try to get taxis with car seats for your baby. At the airport there might be enough choice but if you phone for a taxi later on (or have your hotel do it) request specifically a taxi with a car seat for the size of your baby. A taxi just can't carry around all the car seats for the variety of baby/kids sieze.

If your child is larger and/or you bought a seat for her than bring your own car seat to use on the plane and later. If you don't buy a seat for the baby than lugging a car seat around might be quite a hassle and these days there are no guarantees that there will be an empty seats on the plane. Though you might get lucky since you'll be flying outside the tourist season.

U.S. car seats are not certified for use in Europe - the EU regulations on car seats are different than those in the U.S.

So while I'd agree that the baby's own car seat for the plane would be more comfortable for the plane ride, and while that car seat may be as safe as you feel it needs to be in Germany, to comply with the law, you'd want to use a taxi's car seat.

If you bring your own seat make sure it bears a ECE R44/03 or R44/04 certification mark.

Bronwyn -- Mark is right.

We have traveled with our infant / then toddler son several times.

Do NOT bring your own seat from home -- you do not need it.

You may have to wait 20-30 minutes, worst case, at the larger airports / train stations for a taxi with a car seat the right size for your child. Most of the time, you have to wait 2-3 minutes for a taxi farther back the line to come to the front.

Do not violate this law. Like many public safety laws in Europe, it is taken seriously. Fines can be large.

Also, if you decide to rent a car, I know that Avis in Berlin and Avis in Munich both rent car seats as well.

Thanks everyone! This is a load-off (literally and figuratively). Per the advice, we're going sans carseat and we were able to reserve the bassinet on both flights. I know we will ESPECIALLY appreciate that as I was sitting here trying to decide how we were going to sleep with a baby in our laps.

James, yes, military personnel is, as always, exempted from these rules per the SOFA.

Jim, fines are only indirectly the problem, because under German law the driver is the one responsible. And since a cab drivers livelihood depends on his or her clean rep sheet, it is not that unlikely that a driver will ask you to show the ECE compliance of your seat. Especially at an airport.