Buggies must be folded by law, if a wheelchair user wishes to board

[BerniceBroadside]

I know this can be a hot topic so thought I'd share that stagecoach have new signs on their buses stating that buggies must be folded by law if a wheelchair user wishes to board. Let's hope it's actually enforced.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

Surely it's just politeness all round. There are going to be high/low priority buggy users all round. It's just a decent thing to do to collapse if it's a new baby or it's a double buggy getting on or someone's clearly more stressed than you are

[AnythingNotEverything]

I am a regular bus user with a big pram. DD is 8 weeks old and I don't want to wear a sling. Should I not attempt to go on a bus?

I always buy an all day ticket and would happily get off and wait for the next bus if required. I avoid travelling at school pickup time as that's when the bus often has lots of prams and buggies on it.

DS is 13. I remember the good old days of handing your non walking child to a stranger so you could fold up your pram.

I think the key thing is for drivers to enforce this, as it's standard policy. A sign should help, but let's not start bashing parents for daring to use the bus!

[AmberLeaf]

but let's not start bashing parents for daring to use the bus!

No one is doing that.

We are just saying, be prepared to fold your buggy if need be. Also to have the sense to buy a buggy that isn't too big to fold if you intend to use the bus.

[peppinagiro]

God I'm glad I just use a sling. The relief I feel when I can just hop on and plonk myself in a seat, while 5 women with buggies argue over the 2 spaces available.

[Trigglesx]

It makes me feel a bit shit saying this but...

You should feel a bit shit actually. It's right up there with "I don't mean to be rude but..."

"Slinging shit with a smile" is still "slinging shit" you know.

[AnythingNotEverything]

The phrase "idiots who get on buses with massive tanks" felt a little parent bashing tbh!

This isn't about prams. It's about rude individuals. In the last few weeks I've had to ask able bodied passengers to move out of the space allocated for wheelchair users (and pushchairs). You think they'd spot they were in the way!

[NoComet]

Folding my dear old mountain buggy was bigger, more awkward and covered in sharp corners folded.
Way better to leave it up and nose it up the aisle.

[NoComet]

Use a sling, great advice unless you have a baby who screams blue murder at being put in a sling.

[elliejjtiny]

I feel like I'm an expert on these threads because when I'm out with my 4 children we have a wheelchair and a big buggy with us. I also used to have a SN buggy for DS2. Not a maclaren major, a massive tank like thing that took DH both hands and a lot of swearing to fold it up to get it in the car. I couldn't have folded it to get on the bus but the bus drivers wouldn't treat it as a wheelchair and nor would the school when they said no buggies were allowed in the school building. Round here there are signs saying that wheelchair users take priority over buses but they aren't enforced. I hate that.

However people have buggies that aren't easily foldable aren't all idiots. If I just had DS3 in the buggy and my handbag I could fold it fine. One hand holding DS3 in a vice like grip (he is a bolter) and one hand to fold the buggy. But when I've got DS4 as well... DS4 is disabled and at 6 months has hardly any head control. He also gets cold really easily and sometimes overheats so I've got the footmuff on the buggy and extra blankets in the basket. I have to empty the basket of blankets, changing bag, prescription formula etc. Then get DS3 and DS4 out. By this point I've run out of hands unless I've got the older 2 with me. If I've got the older 2 with me I can put DS2 on the bus seat and strap DS3 in the wheelchair. I can tell DS1 to sit next to DS2 and plonk DS4 in his lap, while saying mind his head every 30 seconds. Then I have 2 hands free to take DS4's seat off, fold the buggy, gather up all our stuff and put the whole lot in the luggage rack. I have a phil and teds buggy. I have a mild disability myself (dyspraxia) and when I was pregnant with DS2 we did a lot of research to find the most suitable buggy for me to manage on buses and walking. There are lighter double buggies that are easier to fold but they are side by side or longer and I can't push them, not in a straight line anyway!

Obviously I don't do this, I just wait for a bus we can all get on without folding the buggy (often means it takes us ages to get anywhere, school run takes DH 10-15 mins in the car but takes me about 2 hours on the bus). But threads which patronize parents with big buggies annoy me. Because some of us have reasons for having a big buggy, we didn't buy ours because we wanted pretty accessories.

[nouvellevag]

I had a massive pushchair because when DD was born we lived down an unmade road full of ruts and potholes, so needed something with decent suspension, and because the ease of pushing it was kinder to my SPD-raddled pelvis. Then when she was six months old we unexpectedly moved to a city. I felt like a right twat wheeling The Beast onto buses until I'd saved for an umbrella-fold buggy, but what else could I do? I did my best to keep out of people's way.

Should also say that folding it up and carrying it, baby and bags would have been blooming difficult until the SPD finally went away completely. I'd never have minded getting off the bus for a wheelchair user, if I could have another ticket for the next one. Not everyone buys monster pushchairs or fails to fold them up out of thoughtlessness.

I really hope I can use a sling next time.

[hazeyjane]

Hedgehog80, I bought a sticker like this had it laminated and attached it to the buggy before ds was issuedwith his sn buggy. This was after having to fold a couple of times for a baby in a pram, and having to miss an appointment as ds was hysterical at having to be woken up to get him out and fold.

[sashh]

For my troubles the idiot told his girlfriend that if I was a bloke he would have smacked me in the mouth.

I hope you told him that that would not only be assault but also a hate crime.

[Athrodiaeth]

Who holds the baby while I fold the pram?

Where do I put the folded buggy?

Who holds the baby while I put it all back together again?

Also, it's bigger folded than it is upright, so even fewer wheelchairs could get on.

[Edenviolet]

Going to order one of those stickers thankyou

[Trigglesx]

Gobby Have a . I am right there with you on that.

[Trigglesx]

Who holds the baby while I fold the pram?
Where do I put the folded buggy?
Who holds the baby while I put it all back together again?
Also, it's bigger folded than it is upright, so even fewer wheelchairs could get on.

FFS If people are supposedly mature adults having babies, you'd think they could work these things out for themselves.

This isn't rocket science people. And if the buggy is so damn big, get a smaller one that's better to use on the bus.

Boggles the mind, it does. Seriously.

[GobbySadcase]

Sorry. These pweshus mummies put my blood pressure through the roof.

I managed fine when mine were babies. It's as they got bigger and STILL needed changing facilities and wheels to get about it got hard.

And these smug ARSEHOLES just don't have a clue and call us entitled?

[Dawndonnaagain]

Athro

1. You do what we older mums did - you hand the baby to somebody sitting nearby. Nobody is going to run off with your baby on a crowded bus.
   2)When folded and standing up, I suspect your buggy isn't taking up as much room as it does when down with baby residing in it.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

I've handed the baby to the driver before :o

And I always help if someone needs it.

[AmberLeaf]

Athrodiaeth

What do you think people did before accessible buses?

YOU hold the baby, because you buy a buggy that can be folded one handed.

Buggy in luggage rack or hold it in front of your knees where you sit.

Your buggy may be big, but there are lots of umbrella style ones that you can buy, many that are suitable from birth.

People don't bother to choose a buggy with any of the above in mind, because they feel like they don't need to now that accessible buses exist.

[autumnsmum]

I've handed dd2 to strangers while I've folded her buggy and it was fine

[Trigglesx]

Some days I swear I just want to point out to some of these mummies "oh Look!!! Someone else had a baby too! You're NOT the only one on the planet!!"