To not move on the train?

[TheCatsMeow]

I was on a very busy packed train with my friend and DS. DS was in a sling, we had the buggy and I was feeding him. We were standing by the doors (no one offered us seats!) trying to feed a screaming baby, penned in by others standing. There was no where we could go.

People tried to push past us to get out the doors and nearly sent DS flying. I firmly asked if they could use one of the other doors and I literally couldn't go anywhere. Cue mutterings and dirty looks!

We couldn't collapse the pram there wasn't room to do and as no one had offered a seat we couldn't move anywhere! WIBU to ask them to use another door?

Btw I see loads of prams on trains and I've never seen one folded

no one folds a pushchair

Does that include you?

Seconding PrivatePike.

My friend was holding bags that didn't fit on the buggy we had no room to fold it. If people hadn't pushed on behind us we would have had.

Good grief, how many bags did you have? And if you had that many bags and couldn't fold the buggy and could see there were a lot of people trying to get on to an already crowded train, didn't it occur to you that it might be an idea to wait for the next one?

But gandalf the OP had a friend with her and her baby in a sling. Surely between them they could have sorted the buggy either on the platform or on the train, asking people to move temporarily whilst they did so?

goodnight if there isn't enough room for everyone to sit down its pretty packed by standards anywhere that isn't London

OP has clearly never taken busy trains in most parts of the country, and therefore is flummoxed by what to do when the train runs out of seats. Hopefully this thread has helped to educate her.

(Hint: it helps if people try to take up similar amounts of space in the carriage rather than cramming into one small section. Anyone preventing this happening, eg by blocking the aisle, is unreasonable.)

The sense of entitlement is really cringe worthy OP. Folding your pram before getting on the train would have been sensible..

Just posting so I don't lose the thread.

Nothing to say that hasn't already been said.

As you were.

I don't live in london.
You did expect special treatment, you want everyone to use a seperate door so you didn't have to move.
No the uk does not hate kids, it hates people being rude and entitled.

Baton Rouge, I used to take a light umbrella fold buggy when I was travelling anywhere, it was easy to field it plus the baby and my handbag. And in general if there was a problem I found other commuters were happy to help.

Um, OP, let me get this straight

you're saying that where you are, a packed train is one that has no seats, but does have space between seats, space in aisles etc? (To me, in London a packed train is literally a sardine can so no space to even see a mum struggling to feed a baby).

if that is correct, it is even more of a mystery why you, and the others in front of you who refused to step off the train, chose to stand in front of the doors.

your observation that no one folds buggies on trains is quite right - well, not "no one" but hardly anyone. I have been known to tell people to fold buggies if they are looking blankly at a wheelchair user, it's not on.

I haven't been brave enough to say "pack up that buggy to make space for 2 more people standing" I must admit.

And I still have no idea what, if anything, your friend was doing to help. I'm actually surprised no one shouted FFS Move! at the pair of you (and all the others blocking the doors) if the aisles were free.

I don't know how old you are, but in my day (!) it was quite normal that a London bus driver wouldn't even let you on unless you were carrying the baby in your arms and were prepared to put the buggy, folded down, in that section on the bus. So we've actually become much more friendly towards buggies, which are often so large I worry people are planning to send their toddlers to war, but that's another thread.

And are none of these commuters parents themselves?

goodnight if there isn't enough room for everyone to sit down its pretty packed by standards anywhere that isn't London

That nonsense tells me that OP has no experience of commuting to work by train, ever, which is presumably why she is able to dismiss commuters as "twats" getting in the way of her having a nice day out shopping with her baby.

YABU - travel outside of peak times if you need to take your buggy. If this was London you're really lucky that nobody physically pushed you off the train for blocking the doors.

My train this morning was crowded enough that I got a deathstare from the woman in front of me who was squashed back against my bump because she could feel the baby kick...

Oh dear, I'm starting to think that the OP really might be a self important something or other I can't say here, and really believes she was hard done by!

Amazing!

I just can't.

Op, you are being unreasonable. And incredibly selfish.

Either don't travel during rush hour if you can't possibly travel without a convoy, or travel during rush hour and suck it up.

Some people really do think that no one has ever given birth before, ever, and that the whole world should bend over in shock and awe to accommodate their precious miracle...

Where you are do you not get special cheap tickets for days out that preclude travelling at busy times?

Is this a good (i.e. bad) time to admit that travelling on the underground yesterday I had to lay hands on a man who was blocking the door?

The train was in a station, there was acres of room in front of him but he chose to stand with his back to the door, blocking it. I said "excuse me please" and put my hand on his back (in the way you would if you were squeezing past someone in a tight space) and he looked at me as if I'd kicked him up the arse. Which I didn't despite temptation.

OP..... JUST because nobody uses the luggage rack and 'n obody' where you live folds buggies, doesn't mean you can't start a new trend, or even, you know, THINK FOR YOURSELF

Why didn't you move into the aisle yourself? You know, speak up and say excuse me? Instead of behaving like you owned the train

Reading through this glad I use a sling although I do appreciate not everyone can.

I've never seen anyone use luggage racks here, no one folds a pushchair

So when you told us earlier that you were trying to fold your pushchair on the platform but ran out of time, was that perhaps a bit of a fib?

WE COULDNT MOVE THERE WAS NO ROOM I have said that so many times. I'm not in the mood for people being rude.

Bird no. I do try to fold it if it looks like it's going to be busy but haven't seen anyone else do that.

How was there no room, yet simultaneously room in the aisles?

How would moving into the aisle help because I'd then have been blocking the aisle!

As longstanding London commuter who has also in my time have had to cope with pushchairs on public transport, just to agree with the vast majority here.

Think about others, most of whom have little choice about when to travel to and from work.Avoid rush hours if it's just a shopping trip. Fold up pushchair before you get on. Don't crowd doors if there is room to stand in the corridors ( dangerous as well as selfish). Having a friend to help with push chair, etc should have made it easier to cope, not harder. Asking people to use another door just not on - or practicable.