Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
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:
QueeferSantaland · 20/12/2011 23:04

I wouldn't do it, as I'm scared of escalators. (They do eat children!)

But I do marvel at people who can.

I think you're just well jell that your dad can do it, and you are feeble of arm.

MenopausalHaze · 20/12/2011 23:05

I am struck by how many frantically worried people there are out there! How do you all get through your lives with this level of fretting about everything?

becstarsky · 20/12/2011 23:05

I fell down a Tube escalator when DS was in pram. Someone pushed past me, I was already off balance as the escalator was one of the very steep ones and I hadn't quite accounted for it. As I fell I wedged myself so that the pram didn't move - it went down one step, that's all. I have scars on my legs, one on my arm and one on my neck, but at the time I didn't even notice that I was hurt I was so hysterical at what might have happened. Am slightly hysterical just remembering it... So, YANBU but I am biased due to traumatic memories!

SnowFunIntended · 20/12/2011 23:05

The problem is if the escalator stops when you are half way up. I would struggle to get my pram up and off. I believe this is the main reason it is inadvisable.

Feminine · 20/12/2011 23:05

I used to pick the whole thing up, and take the stairs!

I must have been so strong?

Did the escalator with buggie thing too...no big deal.

Being sensible is the key, like anything really.

RomanChristingle · 20/12/2011 23:07

I was just pointing out that the vast majority of places have a lift for wheelchairs so why not use it.
The pushchair I saw hadn't got stuck in the tracks. The wheel had turned to the side so it jarred against the top of the escalator. It was a busy time and the escalator was packed. It was a good job someone hit the emergency button relatively quickly.

SnowFunIntended · 20/12/2011 23:07

Xp! Obviously not the main reason - that would be what happened to becstarsky. Poor you, sounds awful.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 20/12/2011 23:07

RomanChristingle - yes you can get a wheelchair on an escalator if you are in a mad rush to get the last train home and the tube is the quickest option to get to the station. Xmas Wink

seeker · 20/12/2011 23:07

I'm disappointed. I was expecting the human cannonball at the very least!

UnexpectedOrangeInMyStocking · 20/12/2011 23:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WorraLiberty · 20/12/2011 23:08

It's daft when there is a lift - often unavoidable when there isn't, though. As you can see from this thread, loads of people don't even realise it is dangerous.

If everyone used the lift with their buggies, there'd be a queue a mile long and no-one would get in them.

SnowFunIntended · 20/12/2011 23:08

I can lift mine too, Feminine, just not when it is full of shopping and stuff.

RomanChristingle · 20/12/2011 23:08

I get through my life quite easily. I don't take my pushchair on escalators so don't have to worry about it at all.

Crosshair · 20/12/2011 23:09

That sounds awful becstarsky. :(

yummumto3girls · 20/12/2011 23:09

I get where you are coming from OP it worries me too, the fact that the wheels would get stuck or that I wouldn't be strong enough to balance it. I do think it is dangerous especially if there is a lift. I visited London recently and was amazed out how unpram friendly the tube was. With 3 children, one in a buggy it was not an easy experience. I insisted on taking 2 year old out of buggy and carrying her whilst DH balanced pram (Piccadilly Circus and 2 long escalators). I appreciate that this may have been more dangerous than keeping her in it but it felt better to me, I totally understand why those of you who live in London and use the tube every day wouldn't do this though!

imaginethat · 20/12/2011 23:09

I thought you were going to say he ran up the down escalator or something, had to read and re-read to find the bit that was so shocking.

I do it all the time but I think it's frowned upon in some places incase the wheels get stuck at the top and you fall on them then there's a pile up.

SenseofEntitlement · 20/12/2011 23:10

DH gets quite annoyed when I object to this, as he used to take his friend in her wheelchair everywhere.

Original poster
DollyDaisy · 20/12/2011 23:10

Wow can't believe I got so many answers so quickly....thank you, quite clearly IWBU! Might give the escalators a go myself from now on!

Yes - a PFB
Yes - a weird thread
No - not a stealth boast about the Bugaboo....more to make the point that it was a chunky buggy and so not all the wheels would have been on the step. But also if everyone was 100% adamant that IWBVVVU, then I could pass myself off as a stealth-boasting PFB weirdo and slope off gracefully!

OP posts:
Methe · 20/12/2011 23:10

I do this all the time.

MyChildDoesntNeedSleepAtXmas · 20/12/2011 23:10

I had a bad experience once when the lady in front of us got the wheels of her buggy somehow stuck when she reached the bottom of the escalator.

She fell backwards onto DS (she sat on him...he was about 3 at the time). Everybody behind us started falling over too, until somebody had the presence of mind to hit the emergency stop button.

It was really scary because the people behind us could have also fallen onto us, crushing DS.

MsEltoeNWhine · 20/12/2011 23:10

The one I saw was at the bottom of one of those travelator things - flat escalators. They say not to take pushchairs down them but this woman did, at the bottom the front wheels STOPPED dead in the bit where it goes under the ground and because it kept moving it tipped forward and she fell over the top of it with the child inside.

I didn't wait around to see if they were okay to be honest but my friend who works in the shop said it wasn't good and they had to call an ambulance (she's a very sensible lady not prone to dramatics).

When I was out with friends who had pushchairs they always took the lift, I never did, I'd just take the stairs and meet them at the bottom - I'm scared of lifts!

So from my point of view YABU as I'd be much more scared in a lift and I do reckon accidents are rare.

MrsRhettButler · 20/12/2011 23:10

I go up but not down.

I'm actually surprised that most people are saying it's ok! I feel better now Grin

RomanChristingle · 20/12/2011 23:11

And there is another reason unexpected. People who put the brake on end up not being able to take it off quickly enough and you don't actually have very long to get off an escalator.
The warnings are on them for peoples safety not to make life difficult.

AmberLeaf · 20/12/2011 23:11

There is a reason why you are not meant to take buggies on an escalator.

Ive never done it with any of my 3, didnt hinder me in any way.

Also I saw the aftermath of a woman and a buggy falling all the way from the top of one in a shopping centre.

Im fairly laid back but im amazed at so many people here willing to take an identified risk with their babies. Confused

mrsjay · 20/12/2011 23:11

well your dad managed to bring you up without maiming you , I couldnt work the pram on the escalator but DH used to do it sometimes i think yab a little u ,

Swipe left for the next trending thread