public transport - shopping on my own with lo in pram

[hallomutti]

soooo fed up. went out to get some last bits for xmas. i have no car and my husband is at work. try to get on tube - lots of stairs to get on platform - no lift, asked staff if they could help me with my pram. answer no we are not allowed to lift anything heavy. ok fair enough, but couldn't be asked to wait till someone finally would help me. so i thought i will take the bus. after waiting 5 min in the cold, getting on the bus only to be told off by the driver(a women!). prams are not allowed on the bus, only buggies and pushchairs.oh i love this child friendly world.merry xmas everyone

[otchayaniye]

have you considered using a wrap? I never bought a pram or buggy or stroller and won't need to as my daughter (just over 2) walks everywhere or naps in the Boba.

necessaries go in normal shoulderbag.

I also find it much easier to negotiate our train station steps (30) as I go out in central london almost ever day.

[otchayaniye]

and people don't huff at you, so it's altogether less stressful. I've even managed breastfeeding and walking and I'm not particularly lentil-shaped.

[DanceInTheDark]

Well if your pram is enormous i can see her point. And waiting 5 mins fo a bus is not long really is it?

You seem to have an expectation of everybody rushing to help you and your child.

A wrap/sling/carrier is much better for nipping to shops but i never managed it for long.

[Justalittlereindeer]

Another sling user here. Lasted about 3 months with thinking I HAD to take the pushchair, even though DD and I much preferred the sling.

Fast forward to now and I still sling DD and she's 17 months old next week!

It's so much easier on public transport.

Other than that, I'd certainly change your pram to a narrow buggy. We got the Maclaren
Techno XT, as it's narrow, has an umbrella fold, and reclines right back so it's suitable for newborn. But even with a good buggy, sling wins every time!

[FairyTaleOfNewYork]

how big is your [pram?

[FairyTaleOfNewYork]

yup and sling sling sling.

[RockinRobinBird]

Don't be absurd DanceintheDark. Since when is queueing for a bus and expecting to be let on "having an expectation of everyone rushing to help you and your child"? What a fucked up world some people live in.

[domesticslattern]

If you buy an enormopram then no it won't be easy to get around.

Any reason you didn't buy a buggy which can be used from birth? Unless you have particular issues carrying things, they can be simply carried up and down the stairs without needing any help at all. Ta da! Job done.

[NormalityBites]

The world is pretty child friendly. Just not pram friendly. So ditch the pram and you'll be fine. That's what everyone objects to, not you and your child.

[wonderstuff]

I am totally with you its a nightmare - my local bus service has recently started advertising that I'm on an accessable route - only half the buses (that only run every 30mins) have steps, you never know when an accessable one will turn up - I have to use the sling - with dd I used to have the sling ready and use a maclaren, can pop her in the sling and fold the maclaren one handed. Is a nightare, ds is 5mo and such a wriggler the sling gets very heavy.

Disabled people must be unable to use public transport

[FairyTaleOfNewYork]

btw, i have negoitated london underground with an enormopram as well. but had the sling in my back, put dd4 on my back, folded the big pramand carried it.

[NormalityBites]

Well it wouldn't exactly make it easier for a disabled person if all the space was taken up by non-folding prams, now would it?

There are loads of options to transport babies and children, the same cannot generally be said of disabled people who need a wheelchair.

[BertieBottlesOfMulledWine]

How old is your baby, anyway?

[Eglu]

Depends on the size of the pram really.

[wonderstuff]

My pram folds, its just v. heavy, the acessable buses have space for two buggies. Obviously wheelchair users should take priority. Unsurprisingly I've never seen a wheelchair user on a bus..

[NormalityBites]

I frequently see wheelchair users on the bus. And I frequently see people in wheelchairs or parents with buggies left at the side of the road as there is no further space and people won't move. I've seen women come to blows over a buggy space when they could both fit in if they just folded the damn things or didn't bring them in the first place. Pram rage!

Granted I get more than four buses daily so I may see more than my fair share.

[LadyBiscuit]

If you want to take public transport, get a public transport-friendly thing to carry your DC in. A Silver Cross pram, for example, isn't.

[panettoinydog]

I don't know what you;re playing at.

It's Christmas and you are going on buses with a pram. Are you crazy in teh bean?

If your baby's small enough, put it in a sling. If your baby's biggish, put it in an easily collapsible cheap buggy.

[Firawla]

I dunno what your bus driver was on about there is no such rule about "prams not allowed only buggies" loads of people have the pramette type ones which are a lie flat pram at first and then turns to a buggy, i used to have that myself with ds1 and was never told not allowed on a bus. That is bs, its not a real rule! I don't think you have done anything wrong expecting to get on a bus or tube with your baby and pram, its fairly normal and done by a lot of people. The replies here are a bit much, would it kill people to just offer a bit of sympathy rather than the "its own stupid fault, should have used a sling" type mentality - not everyone gets on with slings and baby carriers. Especially with shopping to carry too, I can see how slings are not always ideal.

OP hopefully you will get on better next time, dont let it put you off trying to get public transport by yourself with your buggy. Depending where u are and how many stations you're near etc you could try to plan the route for whatever's easiest, like I will sometimes walk to a station thats further cos they have a lift so works out easier, i know not everyone has one like that nearby but sometimes when you look @ tfl site and see if you can slightly adjust your route a bit you can find the easiest ones. Also just ask normal people not the station staff, or if you stand looking helpless for a couple of min usually people come and offer, or once you start bumping it down yourself if they see the struggling people might rush up and pick up the other end for you. It's not everyone that just walk past and let you struggle.

[Dunoon]

Central London when I had DD1 I got a basic stroller to use on the tube. Stuff shopping in basket and on handles and could use a rucksack too.

[Dunoon]

Oh and I am sure there is a website that tells you if a station has lifts.

[NormalityBites]

Buggies are prams are not ideal either thoug are they, hence the thread. Maybe there is no ideal and sometimes getting about with a baby/toddler is a bit of a PITA.

But you can't complain about people being a bit annoyed if you choose to take something many times the size and weight of a baby to transport said baby in when space is at a premium. Especially when there's no real need for it. I do not know if that is the case with the OP, but in general there is very rarely a need for a buggy or pram.

[PolkaDotRudolf]

I think it depends on the type of pram you tried to get on with.

There are usually only a couple of spaces for prams/buggies on the bus and when they are taken you have to fold the pram and take a seat - so maybe if you were trying to take an enormous silver cross type thing that would not fold well that would be different to if you were taking a pramette.

[RockinRobinBird]

So what the hell have people been doing for the last 30 odd years? My mother and her contemporaries managed to get on buses with their prams without being public enemy number one and I did in the 90's when I was nannying. Have buses got smaller or have other people got more resentful?