A lot of friends with young kids who visit Cairo, are aghast that taxis aren't equipped for Car Seats, even if they do bring their own seats along.
In countries like the US, you need an infant car seat even to bring a new baby home from the hospital.
A lot of expats in Egypt bring appropriate car seats with them from their home countries. There are some shops in Cairo which stock car seats but they aren't as well stocked as parents would like. Also the prices in Cairo are quite prohibitive (as I heard from a friend here, who just delivered her first baby - Mabrook!)
Most people in Cairo as I mentioned before, bring in their car seats from abroad, borrow it from a friend whose kid has outgrown their car seat, (infant car seats aren't appropriate for toddlers), or order them online and pay the shipping charges.
For those who have grown up with car seats, it may seem a huge safety hazard to take a child for a drive (especially in chaotic Cairo traffic) without belting them down into a car seat, but in Cairo as in India and many other countries, children are considered to be perfectly safe in their parents arms. If anything were to befall them it is either "inshallah" (God's will) or "karma" (fate).
Given the high incidence of accidents in Cairo, common sense would recommend a car seat, preferably one that could be strapped into a Universal Stroller so it has a two in one use.
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4 comments:
It always freaked me out in Delhi to see a man driving his motorcycle with his son wedged in between himself adn his wife. The wife would be sitting sidesaddle in her sari, clutching her infant.
In contrast, simply sitting in the backseat of a cab seems positively safe!
hehehe.
U r lucky that u saw just one kid. Often you will find them traveling that way with 2 or 3 kids on the bike. 2 wedged between the adults and one sitting on the engine.
I've traveled that way too, as a kid on my uncles enfield motorcycles (need for speed developed at a very young age - LOL) & I survived :) as did all the other kids in the family.
And all of preferred a bike ride over a car ride any day.
Not to say that it is safe, but it was fun. :)
Choosing a correct car seat can often be very confusing.
Where can u find car seats for a 16 month old in Cairo?? My cousin in law is looking for one (she lives in cairo) but I have no idea what to tell her since I live in the USA and have never been to egypt before.
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