AIBU to wait on steps with my injured child outside flats?

‘I’ve bitten off more than I could chew today, noted and I’ll plan better next time.’

I think you have taken on board the comments made.

My first time leaving the house with a tandem buggy and two primary aged children was a rainy day walk in my local area. Near home. Short walk away. So if I couldn't cope well we just headed home. DH was back to work by this point.

My four children are more spaced out than this. When my youngest was a newborn (extended newborn phase as he was a preemie) my older children were 2yo, 7yo and 10yo. And no way would I have attempted a trip like that!!

You've learned something from what happened. Have more support or try a more quiet location next time.

This is what I was trying to say but more succinct. Even childminders, who are experts at this stuff, have ratios.

I know right. Sounds like my idea of hell with kids of those ages too. Op are you from London. I am. You don’t sit outside someone’s front door. I live in London and maybe similar to that setup. Highly irritating opening the door to find people on the steps. Would you camp outside the steps of someone’s front door of their house? This is what it’s like outside someone’s apartment. The man could have been less rude though. Next time you know though.

Sorry but if your child was sitting somewhere where her hand was not noticed and stepped on your child was not somewhere safe. His swearing wasn't right, but you should have moved your kids somewhere safe

Yikes. I wouldn't have picked central London as a first trip out with a 4 week old never mind with 3 other small ones! Kudos for even trying

I'm in the south and can assure you that I think most people would show more patience and care towards a hurt child and a somewhat overwhelmed Mum.

He sounds very rude but if he was French I think we all know that while usually charming, when a French person is not happy they are much more forthright about showing it than most English people would be. I think this is probably just a cultural difference and the fact that his friends apologised shows it wasn’t just you that found this unreasonable.

I hope your little one is ok! 💔 and you were still able to have a lovely day
reading things like this always make me grateful to be northern, I can’t imagine a place around here where that would be the response to an injured child waiting for some help

Op if your daughter was completely unable to walk surely you should have called for medical attention?

You used to clean the exact flats op was outside of with her injured child? That she's not posted a picture or address of? Seems somewhat unlikely

Presumably it was a private apartment block, so technically you were trespassing. It wasn’t just one injured person sat on the steps, it was 3 people and maybe a baby in a pram, maybe the other kids were running about making noise etc. It was convenient for you to sit there, but it wasn’t a public bench so you had no right to be there. The reaction to it may have been over-the-top…but possibly the residents have had previous problems with trespassers, such as homeless people sleeping/urinating on the steps or gangs of vandals spray painting etc.

As for calling out to people opening the door telling them to ‘watch out’, they are supposed to be there, you aren’t…so no wonder they took offence at being told to be careful.

Assuming there was somewhere nearby to sit on a wall or a bench, your 7 year old could have pushed a pram, your 3 year old could walk beside you and you could have carried your 5 year old. If you had to keep hold of your 3 year olds hand, your 5 year could have hopped with you holding their hand to ensure they don’t lose their balance. You weren’t comfortable with the offer of a lady carrying your 5 year old, but you could have asked her to walk with you and your kids to the nearest place to sit…she could have for example walked next to your 3 year old to ensure they don’t walk into the road. You were managing to walk alone with 4 kids without this injury, so with another adult to help supervise it should have been that difficult to move a few yards to a nearby wall/bench.

Unless someone is unconscious, having a heart attack, a possible spinal injury, or something else that is going to make it dangerous to move them while awaiting an ambulance…I personally would not tolerate them deciding to rest on my front doorstep for their convenience. The residents could be blind/disabled and reliant on having a clear entry/exit.

Hope your DD is feeling better OP. That sounded stressful. Next time could your friend meet you at the station? Navigating Central London on your own with 4 young children not an easy task.

OP it was brilliant of you to take 4 young kids out by yourself, and it sounds so stressful. The strangers that offered to help carry your DD sound kind, I'd focus on that instead of the mean one.

I think in calm hindsight moving along to the bench would have been the best idea, though I understand how the adrenaline and hyper vigilance would be running high after an accident.

I do think you were a bit unlucky to have so many people come out in a short space of time. I’d probably of accepted the help and carried the injured one piggy back style and asked them to push buggy.

I have four as well and tbh I was really restricted in my choice for days out when I was by myself as limited by loos and fencing. I bought memberships for a big adventure playground and we spent a lot of time there. For things like museums we’d divide the dc and two eldest would go with one parent as they got more out of it and toddlers would go to park with the other.

Not the point, I know, but IMO a trip to a central London museum with 3 young children plus a newborn, was a pretty bonkers idea anyway.

Of course he was rude. It's a shame the day was ruined for the other children though. I think you should have accepted the nice people's help though. It seems a bit like people can't win here, they offer to help and you say no, they say you are causing an obstruction and they are wrong. That one man was unnecessarily rude though, sadly these people exist everywhere.

I like to think I would do too. But that clearly wasn't a safe place to stop with an injured person. Someone exiting a door in a hurry expecting to walk straight down steps into the street could easily bump into or trip over OP and child even with the best will in the world.

Why would you carry a 5 year old to the station, along with struggling with a buggy? Surely if anyone sprained their ankle you would call a taxi?

I do find it very odd that a mother with four children would set out for a whole days outing without a single plaster. Kids fall over and have accidents all the time. Surely you'd at least have some water and enough tissues or wet wipes to clean up her knee. Plus some Calpol of course. What if it had happened nowhere near your friend?

YABU going to a busy part of London with all those children. Every young child should have someone to hold their hand and be solely responsible for them. This is probably why your daughter fell over.

Managing 4 young children, including a baby, in a busy area of central London on your own was always going to be tricky. How do you usually cope with them?

I hope your DD is ok.

If it’s just one young child, I fail to see that she could’ve been causing that much of a blockage unless she was right outside the door.

I don’t think the man “walked on” the child as much as he accidentally stepped on her hand because he wasn’t expecting a child to be sitting on the steps of the building he was leaving.

I feel sorry for the little girl but the OP could have either got the family to a more sensible place to sit or accepted the help that was offered when it was offered. Instead, it became a huge drama.