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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think my Dad was being totally reckless when he took DS upstairs in our local department store via the....

308 replies

DollyDaisy · 20/12/2011 22:46

escalator? DS is 8 months old and was in his pram at the time!

I was furious as thought Dad was following me to the store's lift. But apparently it was quicker to take the direct route and he just wedged the bugaboo onto the escalator and up they went.

Mum was horrified too.....but the DH couldn't see the problem either. Or are all men in my family just totally clueless?

OP posts:
Thumbinnapuddingwitch · 21/12/2011 12:32

Magneto - depends more on what time of day/night it was posted, what phase the moon was in and which board it was posted on. All these things strongly affect the responses on a thread! And the membership is of course very fluid, so it if was a while ago, there could be a whole raft of new MNers giving their opinions which were different from older MNers' opinions. Xmas Smile

Shutupanddrive · 21/12/2011 12:42

magneto I remember that too, and can't believe the amount of people on here saying its no big deal!

TheScaryJessie · 21/12/2011 13:00

I don't live in Lahndun. You can put my answer down to my provincial domicile, if you like.

I always take the lift in department stores, as do all the other pushchair and pram pushers I ever see. I've never seen anyone taking a pushchair up them thar movin' stairs!

Despite this, it's still possible to use the lift, contrary to one poster's concern that lifts would be unusable, if all pushchair pushers tried to use them, earlier on in the thread! The lifts just go up. And down. And up and down. More often. It's not like buses, that are timetabled to come at pre-arranged times. With lifts, there are buttons, and you press the button to summon the lift. Crazy, eh? Perhaps it's different in London... I hear the buses are better, so maybe the lifts are worse in M&S. Makes sense, right?

More seriously, and less snarkily, I take the notices forbidding pushchairs as applying to everyone, not everyone-except-me, so I follow them. Besides, I suspect that if I took the escalator, it would be quicker for me, at the expense of holding everyone else up

Katy1368 · 21/12/2011 13:22

Let me weigh in with my small opinion here.. not a problem for me! Took DD on escalators all the time, I just learnt how to do it properly e.g. always keeping the front buggy wheels up so there was no chance of jamming, making sure she was strapped in (obvious no?) always leaving adequate space between me and the next person on. I must have done it hundreds if not thousands of times in the three years DD was in a buggy and not once did I have an accident. In fact I find it more dangerous for her now she has to stand on escalators with people pushing past even if though I have a tight grip on her hand.

I too am in London and it would really have limited my life not to be able to use the tube.

Ephiny · 21/12/2011 13:28

I see prams/pushchairs on escalators almost every day since moving to London. I thought it looked a bit precarious when I first saw it, but it seems to be the normal thing to do (there isn't always a lift) and there are no signs advising against it as far as I've noticed.

I would use the lift if possible though, seems like a more sensible alternative to me, if a bit slower.

Worst of all are the stations where there's no lift or escalator!

edam · 21/12/2011 13:41

There clearly is a risk here - a documented, real risk. Some people may choose to ignore it, because alternatives are inconvenient, or because they decide that they run other risks all the time, such as driving (which is probably the most dangerous thing any of us do on a daily basis - we choose to ignore how risky it is because it's ruddy useful).

Choosing to ignore the risk doesn't make the danger go away. We are all free to choose which risks we take seriously and which we ignore. That doesn't mean there is no risk.

People are generally shit at weighing up risks. Some get very, very worried about the risk of their child being snatched from a car in the petrol station (or the car being stolen or bursting into flames) and insist on taking the child with them - even though it's far more likely the child will be hit by a car crossing the forecourt (and the most dangerous aspect is the rest of your journey, in a moving vehicle).

You have to look at the likelihood of something happening and the severity of the consequences if it did go wrong. If something is unlikely and the consequences mild, it's a risk you may think is worth taking. If it's unlikely, but the consequences severe, you may think it is worth taking or choose to avoid. If it's likely and the consequences are severe, you'd be better off avoiding it - but some people may still choose to ignore.

People are free to run whatever risks they like - but it's no point denying that there is a risk. It's worth knowing how likely something is and what the possible consequences are.

NeuromanticisedVisionsofXmas · 21/12/2011 14:24

oh pur-lease with the "reduce risk wherever possible". You don't do that, none of us do. You put your kid in the car when not strictly necessary, you fly in planes, you cross the road, you let them on a high slide, you take them swimming, you do a million and one things that all have more risk than totally necessary. We all do. If I choose one of those things to be taking a baby on an escalator, what business is that of yours?

edam · 21/12/2011 14:35

As I said, "people are free to run whatever risks they like." What I object to is people claiming because they choose to X, X has no risk. It may well. You are free to choose to take that risk anyway.

edam · 21/12/2011 14:37

(I didn't say 'reduce risk wherever possible' btw - if you read that into my post, that's your imagination at work. I do think risks should be reduced where it is an external party that is responsible - there's a difference between me choosing to do whatever and a manufacturer selling faulty fridges that cause fires.)

Sassybeast · 21/12/2011 15:43

London Underground escalator - mum with toddler in precariously balanced pushchair going up pushed aside by a couple of over zealous teenagers. She lost her balance and let go off the buggy which twisted sideways with toddlers fingers trapped in the moving stairs. Bloodbath. Never ever ever.
OP YANBU.

RainboweBrite · 21/12/2011 15:46

I never felt comfortable doing it with my DS in his buggy, but my DH often did it without any problems, so it's a hard one to call really.

stubborncow · 21/12/2011 16:58

Done it loads of times. I try to avoid it now I have a heavier buggy but it's not so difficult to do it.

yellowraincoat · 21/12/2011 17:11

Saw a woman take her buggy (it was a Bugaboo, I checked) up the escalator at Oxford Circus tube today and thought of you x

over30sdisco · 21/12/2011 17:21

I'd have never got around london with ds unless i used the escalator with him in his pram.

RomanChristingle · 21/12/2011 18:00

Of course people who do this/have done this regularly like to play down the potential risk as minute. You have to weigh risk against convenience. When you drive there is a (relatively low in comparison to journeys taken) risk of serious harm - but if your job/family are miles away most people feel the convenience outweighs the risk. Crossing the road carries a risk but the convenience of being able to get to the other side of the road outweighs that for most people. Ditto leaving the house.
Using an escalator because you can't be bothered waiting for a lift is very slightly more convenient but the potential consequence of harm would mean that I would take the slightly less convenient option. I am glad I don't have to use the tube with a pushchair where there are no lifts. If I did I would fold the pushchair and carry the child. And ask for assistance if I needed it.

RomanChristingle · 21/12/2011 18:05

Also to the poster who said that escalators would be safer if it was bad weather and the stairs were wet. I would disagree. The escalators would also be wet from peoples shoes making them even more hazardous.

sozzledchops · 21/12/2011 18:08

I'm sure you're not supposed to and many escalators have no buggy signs on them for this reason. I rarely did it but on one rare occasion the buggy got stuck somehow at the top and flipped right over with me coming behind and ending up sprawled on top of it. Luckily we were shaken but unhurt, took the lifts in future.

blizy · 21/12/2011 18:14

YANBU When I worked in a shopping centre, I saw someone drop the buggy and baby down the escaltor from the the top! Shock Luckily the baby was fine. I would never risk it.

sozzledchops · 21/12/2011 18:14

Also warning about crocs. Where I use to live crocs were worn everywhere and there were quite a few serious accidents with young children's crocs getting stuck in the escalator with horrible results.

hardboiledpossum · 21/12/2011 18:21

Would never ever do this and I live in London. I once saw a woman get her wheel stuck at the top and nearly come crashing down. If I have no choice but to take the escalator I take DS out and carry him whilst someone else takes the buggy

Bunbaker · 21/12/2011 18:25

I have seen notices in shopping malls banning taking prams and pushchairs from escalators.

Whatmeworry · 21/12/2011 18:44

People are free to run whatever risks they like - but it's no point denying that there is a risk. It's worth knowing how likely something is and what the possible consequences are.

I have been having a nose around to try and get the stats on child deaths from buggies escalators, and....I couldn't find any (which is a sign of the very low risk in itself) but I did find this most entertaining Mumsnet thread from 2008

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/parenting/570128-pushchairs-on-escalators/AllOnOnePage

Read it, its all there from the Bugaboo stealth boast in the OP on - there is truly nothing new under the sun :o

Incidentally all the child/escalator accident stories on Google are about unrestrained kids on escalators.

Whatmeworry · 21/12/2011 18:49

what's with all the sneering at others choices about how to protect their kids...very arrogant attitude IMO

plus

that was mainly aimed at WhatMeWorry, of course

Sorry Fanjo, anyone who can seriously argue that escalators are dangerous and cars are not because otherwise cars would

"have warnings on them with a big cross through them showing not to put children in."

.....is not worth taking seriously.

RomanChristingle · 21/12/2011 18:52

Not being able to find stats isn't an indicator something is safe.
The fact there are warnings on every escalator I've seen plus the many tales on here of people who have been personally involved in or witnessed accidents tells me that the risk isn't as low as some people would like to convince themselves.

Debs75 · 21/12/2011 19:09

I got my shoe stuck on an escalator once. No injuries, just a lot of hopping around trying to rescue foot before we got to bottom. And a lot of laughing at me. I won't do it with a pram/buggy just in case

Friend insists on doing it in a 'it's fine you know these warning signs are for idiots' way. she has that same tone when you won't put the dc's in their car without a car seat or when she is pouring beer down her 1 year olds neck.

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