After 2.5 years I see many pregnant women or women with small babies taking the train and S -Bahn and they seem to be fine.
We are not planning to buy a car only because of pregnancy, thus we will have to arrange a way to go to the hospital for the future birth.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Is it possible to call a taxi or an Uber when the time comes?
Thank you all in advance for your answers. I wish you all the best
In my town (15,000), if you call to for a taxi to go to the hospital they enquire if it is an emergency and if so they will rush one to you, say 5 mins.
You could also call an ambulance, at least in my town, it's expensive, but a once off cost.
Also, how about your neighbours, perhaps there is someone who could help....
We actually hardly have any time to go anywhere, both work from home and use uber/taxi/transfer companies when needed. It is significantly more cost effective. We have used public transportation less than 10 times. Trains are easier to get into. Problem with trams you usually can get only in each second which is only ok if you are not in any rush.
Until the baby is 1 year old you can take the baby seat with you, many can be attached to a stroller. This usually works well with uber (as opposed to taxis and transfer agencies uber usually does not offer a baby/small child seat). A bit of a challenge are very cold days as it is easier to have the baby warm in a proper stroller than in a car seat.
It is faster if you have things installed in your own car.
A major downside of your own car is having to park it somewhere which is time consuming and also a cost. Uber can take you everywhere you need pretty much.
It is easier to have the entertainment and other conditions for the kid in your own car. If the child has fallen asleep you can wait a bit longer in your car, you don't rush.
So when does it make more sense to have own car imo:
- baby more than a year old
- multiple children
- travelling a lot and long distances
Welcome to the forum
Whether or not you need a car depends entirely on you.
Some people use a bike and a bike trailer (which converts into a pram)
I carried my kids for years in some type of BabyBjörn or Tragetuch. This doesn't work if you like to have your nails done every week.
Some need a car. Thats just life.
Take it easy on yourselves with this new lifestyle, there will be a lot of compromise . And if you need to get a car, get a car.
Why not consider being a member of Mobility- which gives you access to a car when you need one, without all the costs and responsibility, parking, etc.
https://www.mobility.ch/en/private-c...tal-car-zurich
and congratulations
I made the wise choice of getting a car and I do not regret it. Yes, it is an added cost, but the flexibility you have is really important. Who knows what time of the day your wife will be in pain and you may need to go to the hospital, even for some basic checks (we visited the hospital at 22:00 on a Sunday and it was a false alarm). Now, after almost a year, I cannot imagine having to go wo the train station with the stroller and wait for the train and go to Zurich. We only did it once to go to the airport, it was a nightmare. We also noticed that the car helped a lot with grocery shopping. With the baby, you will be visiting the super market very often to get fresh fruit, vegetables, milk, diapers, etc. Some of these are bulky and heavy, we go to the super market three times a week, something that never happened before.
All in all, totally worth it. You don't need to get a very fancy car, just a basic one that has enough space for the stroller. You don't even need to buy a car if things are tight, you can just lease one for 3 years and reduce the upfront costs.
The other thing is whether you travel much for holidays etc. as there's a lot of stuff potentially to take (baby beds, etc.).
Otherwise, there's no need for a car and once the baby is a bit bigger, he can sit in a bike seat and it is much easier to get around by bike.
And since having the baby and even moving further out to Volki, we still dont have a car, and we are out and about all the time. Even in town more than friends that are closer. But we do now much more frequently hire cars as depending what you are doing it may be easier. Still hiring cars is not anywhere near frequent enough for us to consider buying one
You will need the maxi cosi car seat though. Even without a car, probably once the baby is born you may want to splash out on an Uber to get your wife and child home. So think about buying one of those. Loads on Facebook market place at a good price
My youngest had her first international motorcycle trip at 5 months!
Tom
We did use a mobility car to leave the hospital after birth since it was a very cold winter and our child was premature. Otherwise, we continue to live quite happily in Zurich without owning a car.