Baby car seats and travel to Africa - Parents, please advise?

Question

In August, my son and I will be traveling to Ghana. He will be 19 months old, around 25 pounds, I'm guessing.

We will have a car in Ghana. My questions are,

1. Is it likely that I'll be able to find a carseat THERE that I can use, or should I bring my own; and

2. Can I use a toddler booster seat, or do I have to stay with the infant carseat he's using here? A booster seat is easier since it doesn't have to be "installed." I don't know if the cars there have "Latch" systems or not... I rather doubt it...

If anyone has any experience or advice in this area, I'd love to hear it.

Answer 1

I found this and maybe it will help and have a safe trip..........

Thank you all for a most interesting site. I am from South Africa and have been following this website for a few days. I have got to confess a few things:

I have just searched the south african web; there appears to be no such thing as a CRS technician in my country. This horrifies and apalls me when I think that in the month of December we had over 1200 road deaths (and we are patting ourselves on the back because this is down from 2006).

FYI, the majority of people in south africa do not place their children in car seats, and I stand to be corrected on this, but I believe that a car seat is not even a legal requirement for a child!

It is perfectly commonplace to see children riding on the laps of an adult in the front seat (neither wears a seatbelt) or standing between the two front seats having a conversation with the front occupants.

It is unheard of to have a technician assess or assist with car seat placement, and in fact, those who do use car seats tend to put the child FF as soon as he/she is 9kg (18lbs)

I am putting this out to you because I am really hoping that someone may actually have information to the contrary of what I have stated, otherwise it is incredibly concerning

Answer 2

I know that most car rental companies offer a child saftey seat at an additional charge.  Although you don't say if you are renting the car.

I would take your booster seat just in case there isnt one available for you to use when you get there.  I tried to look up car seat laws for Ghana, and really couldn't find much.  

Sorry, I wish I could of helped more.

Answer 3

I'm not a parent, but I did live in west Africa for two years as a peace corps volunteer, and I would recommend bringing the carseat with you.  

Also, do some research into what types of cars will be available to you in Ghana, and make sure you get a car seat that will be compatible.  In Senegal where I lived most of the cars were old Renaults and Peugeots (sp?).  

While Accra is well developed, I think even better than Dakar, Don't expect to be able to find a carseat...espescially if you are new in town, and don't know your way around.  Another problem you might encounter is car seats that are up to the standars you would like...So while you may find them, they could be poorly made, I don't expect you would want to risk it.

My rule for West Africa is, if you absolutely need it, bring it with you...you can probably find it there, but it will take time.