who was unreasonable , wheelchair uses , other mum with pushchair or me.

[mummywithsmiles]

Took daughter on bus today she is 14 weeks old and on oxygen ,the oxygen cannister is in the basket under pushchair.

when i got on there was already one pushchair.. I parked next to her.

2 stops later a man with a wheel chair got on.

bus driver asked if i could put pushchair down which i explained why i couldn't. Anyway other mum with toddler in pushchair refused to move and put hers down. I was then asked to get off the bus as wheelchairs have piority. I refused as the other women claimed she was on the bus first. In the end i got of the bus , she put hers down and wheelchair user got his place.

or needed to get home because the oxygen tank needed changing

This. Other mum was unreasonable, but not sure who would get priority over the space if there wasn't room for you and wheelchair user iyswim. If the above was the case, I would be inclined to think you should get priority.

If the bus driver made you get off the bus, do you need to pay again for the next bus? I'm only asking out of curiosity. Due to your dd being on oxygen, you shouldn't have had to collapse your buggy or get off.

I think if I was you I'd phone up the bus company and complain.

The other buggy user folded her buggy. So she was NBU
It seems unreasonable to make an oxygen dependent pushchair user get off the bus IMHO. Even for a wheelchair user. I suppose it depends on how far you had to go and when the next bus was due. It all sounds very unpleasant for you both.
Bus drivers have a difficult call to make I suppose. I would have thought the would be space for one wheelchair and one pushchair if carefully positioned.

I think in this case the wheelchair user should have waited. Your buggy is in effect a wheelchair, iyswim, with all the paraphernalia you have to carry with DD.

Certainly if there are two wheelchair users in that situation it's first come, first served, so I think that's what should have happened here.

Unfortunately though, because people do moan and argue about folding their buggies, people now automatically assume someone pushing a pram can fold and therefore should... Of course 99% of the time that's correct, but not on this occasion.

I wonder if it's worth speaking to your bus company? Could they give you a letter which states 'please give this buggy the same priority as a wheelchair'?

I would put a complaint in.

I hope you have put in for DLA and carers allowance for your baby. It may mean you have extra money to get a taxi to save you struggling on buses.

We had a similar issue last week on a bus, with a man in a cast in a wheelchair and ds and I with a sn buggy (which can't be folded), I was panicking when waiting, because, due to another thread on here, I had checked the policy on local buses wrt wheelchairs and buggies, and it stated that wheelchairs have priority over sn buggies (I have emailed to query this, and hey haven't replied). Fortunately the bus driver was lovely, and managed to squeeze us both on, with ds and I up against the door.

In your situation I would have said that the other mum should have got off, but tricky that you and wheelchair user couldn't both fit. I think that as you were already in the space and your baby would be classed as disabled then you should have priority - but if the bus company has the same policy as ours then he would have priority.

Sauvignon I felt so sorry for them, she was saying she didn't get to take her mum out often as she works in the week, most of their day was taken up with trying to catch a bloody bus!

They were lovely, said no you don't have to fold for us, you have 3 little ones but no way could I have gotten on the bus and left them sitting there.

www.gov.uk/disability-living-allowance-children/overview

I don't understand why people are saying the other mother was unreasonable. She folded her pushchair, and there still wouldn't have been space for you and the wheelchair if she had got off.

No one was unreasonable. It was just an unfortunate situation.

As a wheelchair user, if you'd explained about the oxygen I'd happily have waited. The space is for disabled people who need it: you were there first, you had priority.

Other mum was still a twat

You should have had priority. I can't believe a man with a broken leg (assuming that's all he had) allowed a disabled baby to get off for him!
Tricky call for the driver to make on the spot, I suppose, but I would still write to the bus company for clarification so that, in future, you can stand your ground confidently.

I honestly think its now time they banned pushchairs

What a massive, ridiculous, sweeping overstatement. You would ban all pushchairs because a few people using them behave like twats?

After I had my DD I went back to work when she was 5 months old. My workplace was a bus journey away and DD was too heavy for a sling. Oh, and guess where her nursery was - at my workplace.

I have three children and can't drive so have used public transport with pushchairs for the past 12 years and I have never once behaved like an arse on public transport during that time. I've always been very considerate. I've also rarely come across a wheelchair user wanting to use the bus but would make way for them without a doubt.

But you're saying that if you had your way I would never have been allowed to use the bus. How would I then have got to work? Got my DD to nursery? How would other people at my DC's school have got their older kids there if they had a pushchair?

Like I said, ridiculous and sweeping.

In this case I think you should have stayed on the bus, your DD may not be in a wheelchair but she has a need for the space.

You should have stayed where you were. Your dd has a disability. Other mother was an idiot and acting illegally.

Priority- you, wheelchair user, other mother.

It is ridiculous to ban pushchairs.
How are people who have children and don't drive supposed to get about?
FFS!

I am just at this.

A person with a broken leg let a 3 month old baby on oxygen (who needed a feed) get off the bus?!

OP if you use buses frequently and your baby is going to need the medical equipment for a while, I would contact the bus company for clarification.

Just because your baby isn't in a wheelchair doesn't mean that she isn't disabled.

Just as a side note is it possible to get a more travel friendly oxygen/equipment set up?

One that would enable you to be able to use a smaller stroller and a back pack or something? Tht way you might be able to wedge it in somewhere as opposed to being forced to leave the bus?

Not that you shouldn't be able to carry on as you are, of course you should without question but i ask because I know sometimes older/cheaper equipment that nhs provide can be bulkier or heavier etc than new stuff that's available (obviously technology improves all the time) and it may help make it a bit easier if your unfortunate enough to have this issue again.

Twinkle to be fair to the man, he may have had no idea about the OP's situation.

Candy i explained she was oxygen didn't go in to why etc . The pushchair is already small. I will ring the bus company 2moro . The whole experience was awful the women called my baby the wired baby.

You should have taken priority over the wheelchair user as she was technically disabled and you were there first.
The other mother was irrelevant as she did fit on at same time as you but you (if I have read this right) and wheelchair user couldn't fit on together if she did get off.

@ wired baby :(

Oh and I agree with twinkle that is shocking that a man with a broken leg did that to a little baby on oxygen get off the bus for him.
I would make a big stinking complaint to the bus company!

Looks like you should have stayed on. The other mum doesn't come in to it. The bus driver chucked on person with a disability off the bus to favour another.