To trhinkl that it is madness to allow buggies on buses?

[mrsruffallo]

I think wherever possible (i.e older babies onwards) buggies should be folded up. I am so tired of these oversized contraptions being pushed through the aisles, banging passengers thighs and shoulders as the squeeze talong a narrow aisle. I have had my ankles knocked todday and somehow had to squeeze against another passenger along the crowded aisle to make room for yet another buggy.
Theworst thing I have witnesses was a wheeelchair user being denied access onto the bus because there was already a buggy in the wheelchair space. The buggy owner didn't offer to fold up and got off a few stops later.

Those of yopu who are pointing out that the thread title doesn't reflect the OP are quite right of course. I realise they are saying differnt things now!
Written in a rnty rage after bloddy huge buggy inconvenienced everyone on the bus yet again!

onefaatcat- how do people ge theirbuggies on buses where you ,live then?

yes lets also make sure all the old dears fold up those blasted huge shoppping trolleys that they then put in the buggy spaces
YABU. People do fold up buggies but its not that easy to hold a LO, and fold a buggy and manage the same on the way off aswell. Maybe if the drivers were allowed to help it would be different, but surprise surprise the drivers arent allowed to help hold a baby OR fold up a buggy :(

Maybe it would be more considerate if regular bus users invested in easy folding lightweight buggies then? They are very affordable.
As whoneeedssleep states, it is inconsiderate to travel on a bus with a buggy that you cannot fold up.

Agree with Where the WildThingsAre, very sensible post.

I'm aghast that a wheelchair user wasn't allowed on a bus because of buggies. I'll also say confidently that that was highly unusual. I have been asked to move my buggy, and if I couldn't move it, to get off, to accommodate a wheelchair user. They have right of access and that's the way it should be.

Mrsruffalo, when DD was little, my buggy (a bugaboo) folded into two pieces, each weighing several kilos. Was I supposed to hold DD, these two pieces, mummy bag and my shopping just in case? DD was incapable of sitting on a seat, cos, you know, she was a baby.

I guess I could have had her on my lap, but what would i have done with all the shopping and bits of buggy? Maybe put the bits of buggy, shopping and then DD on my lap in a sort of wobbling tower formation?

Or may be I should have stood, holding on with one arm so I didn't fall over, and with my other arm held the two bits of buggy, shopping and mummy bag - but sadly I'm not as strong as Arnie. PS, no luggage places on our buses.

I'd love to know what I should have done, can you advise me please?
Mum can't help me on this because she had a solid one piece pram that didn't fit on a bus and so she drove everywhere.

The buses only have space at the front of the bus where the seats fold back (for wheelchairs ) where you would be able to put your buggy without folding. The isle then proceeds between the regular seats and is narrow, even if you manage to push your buggy down it there would be nowhere to go, you would be left in the isle and nobody would be able to get off or up! If the buggy/wheelchair space is occupied you would HAVE to fold it.

"Look, your mothers would be able to give you hints on how to do it- they managed to use public transport without wheeling a buggy on"

HAHAHA!!

my mother has never been on a bus in her life!!

Oh yes, as soon as I could I moved to a fold up. But you can't use fold ups with babies under 6 months, as I'm sure you know...

Lucky her. the majority have I am sure.

problem i with those small light weight buggies is they are not suitbale below a certain age and even then, they arent very comfty for LOs. Why should mums be made to choose their buggy so that it suits other bus users rather than them and their LO

OP do you fold your buggy on the bus all the time?

This may depend on the age of yo momma your mother.

My mother always walked or took the bus pre-children, and by the time she conceived me, she'd seen a lot of women struggling to fold pushchairs, "bus drivers zooming off, because they assumed it would take you ages to fold", and tried out pushing relatives' Silver Crosses.

She learnt from others' bad experiences. She therefore used a carrier until I was three months old, and then went to Mothercare, and bought the easiest to fold pushchair she could find in the store. (Probably a McClaren.) Years later, she still swells up with indignation at how many of them "were useless bulky things. If I hadn't known already what I needed!"

Kenobi, which is why I stated that older babies should be folded, not all.

So what are parents of babies under 6 months supposed to do? Not take the bus because it might (God forbid) inconvenience you slightly?

you want us to fold babies now aswell??

I have a Maclaren, by the way, and can fold it if necessary: it's just loads easier not to (to the extent that if someone gets on with a wheelchair, unless it's pouring I just get off the bus).

I don't really get why it's a bad thing for people to have to suffer less inconvenience than their mothers did.

Squash 'em back in the uterus?

No, just make them bend forward touching their toes and sit in the designated luggage space!

*Kenobi" you are wrong, Mclaren make a fold up that you can use from birth as it reclines to flat, they also do a slightly cheaper one that can be used from 3 months as reclines not quite flat...there are optinos out there.

My Mum also thinks things are better these days - she used to walk most places because she couldn't get on a bus

What do you suggest with babies? You can't fold a pram!

Our bus drivers always let us on the back doors so we don't bash anyone with our mahoosive buggies (although 3 bugaboos will easily fit).

Wheelchairs are always given priority round my way

If I need to fold the maclaren I will but think DD is safer in it than on my lap so if there is space what is the harm? I only take the bug during the day when the buses are mainly empty anyway.

Can't really see why you're getting your knickers in a twist!

OK, soooo... you don't mean that NO buggies should be allowed on buses.
You don't even mean that younger children's buggies shouldn't be allowed on buses...

...You just mean that older children's buggies shouldn't be allowed on buses?

Bit of goal post moving there but at this rate I'll be saying YANBU

We sometimes rely on a buggy to be able to cope with teh Sn of teh older boys (ds4 also seems to have Sn if milder, and 2 siblings have ASD so...)

Then you get MAclaren Majors: how many bus users know about those I wonder?

Here though it's not such an issue as the buggy sapces are separate from wheelchair ones- but becuase they did thet they ditched the lugagge space to free up space and as such folding the buggy is fine but thre's nowhere to put it save your lap and that is a PITA with say a toddler and older child as well in a seat.

YABU. If anything is madness, it's designing buses without enough space for buggies.

Can I ask- if a bus is full of passengers, who have paid, and are sitting in the disabed seats and standing in the wheelchair space because that was the last space available, should those passengers then be made to leave the bus if it subsequently stops at a stop and there is a wheelchair user there who wants to get on. Actually, should the bus even stop for the passenger if it is already full to capacity, as I know buses don't actually stop for new passengers once full?

Surely wheelchair spaces are there so that wheelchair users have the same opportunity to use a bus as non-disabled passengers, not so they have a priority to use the bus over any other passengers. Of course we would all agree that if at all possible people should move, fold buggy's, stand up etc- but surely not terminate a journey they have paid for!

Maybe it would be more considerate if regular bus users invested in easy folding lightweight buggies then? They are very affordable.
As whoneeedssleep states, it is inconsiderate to travel on a bus with a buggy that you cannot fold up.

this is the buggy i have been using for DD for a year.
www.mumsnet.com/Reviews/pushchairs-from-birth/882-jane-energy

i bought it used, because that was what i could afford.

i believe this is billed as a "easy folding lightweight buggy".

my challenge to you, msruffalo -
take a one year old (can't safely sit on most bus seats; prone to wiggling and wanting to try out new legs), a moderately-sized nappy bag, and even ONE bag containing, say, milk and bread. get on a bus during peak hours. try folding the stroller while keeping your child safe and accomodating other passengers. see what is quicker and more considerate of other passengers, and get back to us.

i am a considerate bus rider. but i have a right (and a need) to use public transport. that trumps your moan over the temporary and slight inconvenience or discomfort of having to share public transport. sheesh.

TheControversialJessie

whoneedssleepanyway I didn't know that. I knew even less as a first time mum buying her first pram.

At least I knew enough not to guy one of those vast Phil & Ted's three-wheelers. But then it wouldn't have fit into our house let alone a bus!