to expect otger coach passengers to move so I can sit with my baby?

[froken]

wI recently got a coach from Heathrow to my home town.

I was travelling with my ds who is 8 months old, national express recommend that you bring a age appropriate car seat when traveling with a baby, they book you 2 seats under 1 booking.(it's very kind of them to give an infant an entire seat) we were one of the last to get on the coach and by tge time we arrived there were no seats together. There were lots of people sitting alone in a double seat.

None of tge passengers sitting alone in a double seat would move, I ended up threatening to leave the very grumpy teething out of routine baby next to a lady.

Eventually someone moved but I had to organise where he would sit and tge lady he was going to sit next to wasn't at all pleased that he was going to sit next to each other.

Aibu ( and an entitled mum) to think that people should move seats so a parent can sit next to their small child?

[SilverStreak7]

Perhaps you should have left earlier or checked the route from your Home to the coach out in advance allowing yourself any problems that could arise ?

And all the cunts language. .. Very classy . .. And the outraged explanation marks like "it is a BABY!!" Yes, a Baby, not a piece of glass !

Some people on long journeys do like to sit by windows, .. and if that leaves one space next to them then sobeit . .They paid for tickets too .

[animaniac]

YANBU! How can people expect you to sit apart from your 8 month old baby?!

[beitou]

I have quite bad IBS, I fart like a broken steam engine. I would have moved for you then sat next to the most sour faced git on the bus and ate my pickled eggs, within 10 minutes I would have had a seat to myself again.

[Antidote]

beitou you can sit next to me so the op and her baby can sit together.I have no sense of smell.

Oh and yanbu op.

[LiegeAndLief]

Similar thing happened to me on a coach from Heathrow, only I was one of the childless ones (those were the days!). No double seats left but lots of single ones. I was sat in a window seat with empty aisle seat, as was the lady opposite me. Flustered looking mother gets on with toddler. She got all the way to the back of the coach looking for seats, no one offered to move. So she sat next to me and tried to put the toddler next to the woman across from me. Woman tutted and sighed. I offered to swap with the toddler so they could sit together. Mother pathetically grateful.

As I sat next to the woman she said "thank god you swapped, I was worried I was going to have to sit next to that child for the next five hours!" But not so worried you were prepared to have a little human compassion and give up your fucking window seat, were you?!

I was only about 20 at the time, it had a big impression on me. I think it was the first time I properly witnessed a grown adult being so self absorbed.

[Suzieismyname]

Yanbu. At all!

[5madthings]

Yanbu.

I had a five hour train journey recently, on my own with five children, I had bought tickets for all five children including the two year old and reserved seats. I had to ask people to move out if our seats and someone said casnt your toddler sit on your knee, as they didn't wasn't to move!

Err nope I have paid for and reserved the seat, even if it is for a toddler, my two year old is tall and no way was I having her on my lap for five hours!

[SilverStreak7]

The other passengers have also reserved seats and if they got there in enough time to bag a window seat for themselves good for them ! Can imagine some of you Mothers when your DDs or DSs start school .. Everybody else will be wrong . .

[candycoatedwaterdrops]

YANBU - there were free seats!

[Lj8893]

silverstreak so where was the OP meant to put her baby?!

[CatAmongThePigeons]

Silverstreak. There were NO reserved seats.

[pigletmania]

My god yanbu at all, the feckung lady should have moved so that you coud be ext to your baby. Seves her right for having a grumpy baby next to her, wat if you needed to feed your baby, or soothe him. Some people an be so selfish

[CatAmongThePigeons]

Silverstreak. There were NO reserved seats.

[diddl]

So you had your baby in a car seat?

And they passengers thought what-that you should have that on your knee?

Or baby on your knee & that on the floor?

Seems odd that they don't reserve the seats in that case tbh.

[pigletmania]

Silver steak we are talking about a little baby not a school child . There were free seats, all it would take was for someone from te double to sit next to someone else so that op could be near her BABY!!!

[hettienne]

I've never been on a coach with reserved seats, and we travel by National Express fairly frequently.

[beitou]

Antidote. You are most welcome to sit next to me but it isn't just the rich farty bottom aroma that scares people away. As well as the odour la bottom comes the sound, a sort of wet rasping slithering sound that makes people think I have filled my knickers when in fact all I have done is balloon and stain them a bit.

[StanleyLambchop]

Ah but she can't ask the driver for help because according to the thread yesterday about buggies on the tube, employees of travel companies can't help or they might get injured and / or be sued if they do and that's not what they are there for. I am 100% on the side of people just being a bit damn nicer and more helpful to each other but there are some interesting inconsistencies on MN

Sorry , I had not seen that thread. I was genuinely asking because the whole time the OP was trying to get the seating problems sorted, the driver must have been just sitting there waiting? He cannot drive off with a passenger standing- if the OP had just stood there and done nothing proactive then the bus would get later & later leaving- and then presumably there would be consequences for everyone, driver included. I did not realise that mentioning this counted as a MN inconsistency.

[WandaDoff]

Last time I went on a coach, it was with 6 mth old DD, for my Dad's 70th birthday. The overnight one from Glasgow.

I was the last to arrive as DP forgot to get petrol & we had to stop & queue for that, so I only made it by the skin of my teeth.

I got on with the baby seat & the driver asked very politely who would mind moving for the lady with a baby. No one, apparently.

So he called them a bunch of ignorant cunts & made the people in front seats move.

On my return journey the next week it was the same driver & he let me get on first. I wrote a nice letter to National Express telling them what great service I got.

[InSpaceNooneCanHearYouScream]

Of course YANBU. I think the people at fault are National Express- they should have sorted it for you. I would've stomped up to the front and shouted 'where are we supposed to fucking sit then!!?'

[WorraLiberty]

YANBU

If someone threatened to plonk their baby next to me on a coach journey, I'd be out of my seat like a bloody rocket

[thebody]

well a part of me would have fantasised about putting my baby at the front and me sitting at the back to get some sleep but in RL of course you should sit by him.
g
5mad, totally agree. we had this on a holiday excursion. booked seats for 2 toddlers and holiday rep had overbooked and asked us to take them on our laps!!

she didn't appreciate the 'do one' as we had paid, they were big toddlers and it was a fekin hot drive.

[JamieandtheMagicTorch]

The comparison with the thread yesterday is, as Joey would say "moo". In that instance, helping would be manhandling a buggy down a stairs. In this instance helping would be asking other passengers to show a bit of common courtesy/sense

[BlackeyedSusan]

if I ws travelling solo, I would not have moved for you, but I would have cooed and smiled and generally enjoyed babysitting for you...

(sorry op)

[Turniptwirl]

Can't believe people wouldn't move! Yes, you should have been early but what happens if you're getting on at heathrow and the bus is almost full when it gets there coz it started at Victoria? Happened every time when I went to Scotland. No allocated seats on any coach I've d we been on and I've done a fair few different trips on national express and eirebus.