# Infant on a school bus?



## LuminosaJane (May 10, 2007)

Hi Mamas,

I'm expecting my first in mid-November and I will resume coaching my swim team some time in early December. I ride the school bus to the meets with the team and I will want to take the baby with me to the meets. What is the best way to do this? I've not seen seat belts in any of the buses we've been on before. FWIW, we have a Britax Boulevard carseat and I plan to wear the baby in a sling or Moby.

If it's totally impossible, then I will have my husband take off work and follow us to the meets with the babe in the car, but obviously it would be a lot easier to just ride the bus without the entourage in tow behind.

On another note, what are the recommendations for riding other forms of public transport with an infant?

Thanks!


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## Twinklefae (Dec 13, 2006)

As far as I know, buses use a different kind of passenger safety system. The seats work as compartments and keep the passengers from flying around. Also, buses driven by professionals get into accidents much less often, and those accidents tend to be minor/ with few fatalities or major injuries.

There are no recommendations for LO's on public buses. You just carry them on.

HTH!


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## doopamama (Sep 23, 2008)

I would suggest calling the bus company to ask because I remember seeing seatbelts on some schoolbuses when I rode the bus to school. I also remember our band director specifically asking for a bus with lots of undercarriage for instruments... perhaps you could specifically ask that they send a bus with a seatbelt you could use for your Champ.

I take my LO on the city bus all the time w/o a carseat. I just wear her in a sling or wrap to restrict how out of hand she can get!


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## nalo (Oct 25, 2005)

I think the safest thing to do on a city bus is to wear the baby close to you with a secure wrap or other carrier. I assume this would also be the safest method for a school bus. I agree that I would feel very uneasy about simply wearing my baby on a bus but who knows, maybe there will be one available with a seat belt??? Worth asking about at least.


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## BeckC (Nov 27, 2006)

I would check to see about a seatbelt. I've seen school buses with seatbelts behind the driver. And I'm not sure about a newborn recline, but I've seen pictures of a Marathon installed on a school bus.


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## angela&avery (May 30, 2002)

i think sometimes the very front seat has one? I have seen bus driver's lo's in car seats in the very front seat behind the driver...

also, it may be possible for them to install one.


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## gabysmom617 (Nov 26, 2005)

I'm not sure where you are. I considered driving a school bus some time back, my munchkin was 2yo at the time, and he would have been allowed to go with me. But I'm in VA, and both cities I considered driving in offered to show me how to put his carseat in and strap the buckles around it properly. I'm not sure if that helps you where you are, but here, I think even if there are not visible seat belts to go around a car seat in the school buses, they do have ways of installing the carseats. (I never got to around to getting my CDL's







: , so I never figure out exactly how they do it. )


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## galincognito (Nov 23, 2007)

some of the newer buses have a LATCH (i think) system on them (likely in the first bench) but the older buses do not. school buses are designed as compartments, as another poster said, which provide safety by keeping the passengers contained therefore no seatbelts are required. it is possible to put a carseat on a bus; check with the mechanic/maintenance person and see what can be arranged.
ps. dh drives school bus for a local school division and takes our 15 month dd with him twice a day. she thinks it's great and the kids love having a baby on the bus!


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## Freefromitall (Sep 15, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LuminosaJane* 
Hi Mamas,

On another note, what are the recommendations for riding other forms of public transport with an infant?

Thanks!

When we rode the public bus, I always just wore them, partly b/c there is no place to buckle them in, and on our buses you had to take them out of the carry seats and strollers. Too dangerous if those things aren't strapped down!
So, if you're going to do it(and I don't see how a school bus would be more dangerous than a city bus, fwiw) I would just wear the baby.


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## triscuitsmom (Jan 11, 2007)

My Dad was a school bus driver and had to take my younger sister with him on his route. There was one seat with a seatbelt (right at the front on the opposite side of the driver) and my sisters carseat was installed there and she rode like that until she moved into a booster and then she just rode the bus like the rest of the kids.

HTH


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## LuminosaJane (May 10, 2007)

Thanks, mamas!

We don't actually have our own bus--the AD just reserves one from the bus company each week. I will look into the possibility of requesting a seat-belted bus, though. That might work.


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## Tizzy (Mar 16, 2007)

Definitely talk to the bus company to see if they can send one with a seat belt.
I'm a school bus driver and I take my kids with me. I have seat belts put in, they are not CSA approved but they are anchored to the frame of the bus which makes them very safe. For FF'ing carseat, I use a ratchet strap as well as the seat belt.
If you cannot get a seat belt, I would suggest using ratchet straps as they would be better than nothing at all IMO.


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Little grey mare* 
Definitely talk to the bus company to see if they can send one with a seat belt.
I'm a school bus driver and I take my kids with me. I have seat belts put in, they are not CSA approved but they are anchored to the frame of the bus which makes them very safe. For FF'ing carseat, I use a ratchet strap as well as the seat belt.
If you cannot get a seat belt, I would suggest using ratchet straps as they would be better than nothing at all IMO.

Oh goodness that makes me very nervous. Luckily buses don't get into accidents very often.


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## Tizzy (Mar 16, 2007)

Yes, luckily they do tend to have exceptional low accident rates. Even just having the rest of the children loose in the bus worries me, despite all the reasoning behind it.

As for the PP, I just remembered. You can probably NOT use the seatbelts provided because they are not approved. I had to sign a waiver as a bus driver and no other child can use the seat belts that are in the busses.
They do have special restraints that can be put in that are approved, but they are for special needs children and made specifically to be a restraint, not a safety device.


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## JamieB (Apr 1, 2008)

I have a friend that drives a school bus with her DD on it. Her bus doesn't have seatbelts, the carseat is strapped in with something (not sure what) that is bolted to the floor. The department of transportation pulled her over and told her that her DD is not safe because of the way the bus seat is designed. Apparently bus seats that don't have seat belts are meant to collapse in a high impact collision. Because the kid sitting there will fly forward anyway. But the carseat won't be able to move forward and will be crushed. Does this sound really weird and fishy to anyone else?


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

No, it doesn't sound fishy to me at all because it's really not safe.


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## SunKessed (Feb 20, 2009)

Most "seatbelts" on buses aren't actual seatbelts. They are containment devises to keep kids in their seats. At least - that's how they are for the school buses in my city. They only have them on the little kid buses and they are only meant to help kids remember to sit in their seats.

Riding a bus driven by a professional drive is ~100 times safer than driving a car - WRT fatalities.

I took the bus all the time when my baby was an infant. I just wore her in a wrap or sling.


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## StoriesInTheSoil (May 8, 2008)

http://www.safeguardseat.com/bus/products_seat.htm

Here are some options. Probably not super cost-effective though...


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