Dad on bus 'look at all these people sitting who won't let a child have a seat'

[Pipistrelle40]

Just that really, he got on with two boys aged about 10 and 8. People looked at each other and laughed. Old enough to stand surely.

I have read it. I do agree in the drip feeding thing though. I normally tsle drip feeding ad for gettongoing to say or thought was not relevant. But it's happend severel times on this thread. I'm not really sure how to take the posts now. But I also don't want to come across as being unkind to anyone who fin ds it hard to use transport ect

All of the them.

1. One child in pram
2. One 11YO autistic child severe learning disability
3. One teen 15YO autistic, anxiety, depression, balance & back problems.
4. Twins (niece & nephew) I have once a week and swap for teen & pram child.

I have never travelled with 5, don't think that one would be possible? Mostly with teen for appointments when 11YO is at school. 15YO has no school (huge gaps in education...that's another subject) I always have a pram.

Crashdoll

Yes my teen is entitled to a priority seat, but, unfortunately, other passengers seem to think priority seating is for the elderly? So trying to stand your ground causes more harm than anything to the child. You tend to choose your battles...

Yes, I dip fed...

Most bus drivers just shrug their shoulders? Some will ask a passenger to move, but they can't enforce the request. I've tried every which way, sometimes it's easier to all stand with the pram? At least then I can supervise all three.

I try to avoid travelling with both boys at the same time, this is not always possible.

misery have you thought about using a sling. If your buses run every hour and you miss one or have to let a wheel chair on you would be very late for school run

Badcat666, I have a Tabitha. She would always give up her seat. Fuck off with your stereotypes.

I do have one, used it a couple of times and pram baby hated it! I might give it another go? Maybe get her used to it around the house and then build up. I probably had it on wrong?

That would make bus journeys less stressful for all. Fingers crossed she takes to it this time.

TBH when I initially tried the sling, she was in a lot of discomfort which turned out to be a lactose intolerance. The bus ride in her pram was one of the few things that settled her...

Well no harm in giving it a go. Maybe google your sling make sure your wearing it right. I carry both of mine as I could not be arsed with the buggy rage every school run. And it means I can go up stairs if need be as well.

I've been using the bus daily for 2 years with my daughter in her pram. It's a double decker and set out as follows:

Buggy zone - 3 fold down seats.
Wheelchair zone - room for 1 wheelchair.
5 priority seats to be offered to those who need it.

The buggy zone is to be used by buggies in the first instance and the wheelchair kept free. If it becomes full you are permitted to use the wheelchair zone but you MUST be prepared to fold or leave the bus if a wheelchair user wishes to board.

There is no storage for folded buggies other than a shallow shelf.

In 2 years I've never encountered an issue, I've used the bus 4 times a day some days and during rush hour. The rules are clear and everyone follows them. There is absolutely no need for mums to feel they are a nuisance or shouldn't be allowed on the bus if they are in no ones way and courteous. We all have a place in the world. Please don't tar us all with the same self entitled brush.

Op yanbu, dad was a twat. In my say (80s) children that age were expected to offer their seats to adults, not the other way around. No wonder people were laughing at him!

So if like many a journey, an elderly passenger decides to sit on the outer edge of two priority seats or slap bang in the middle of the flip up/down seats which double as the pushchair bay...what would you suggest I do

You ask them to move along, or else get up and let you sit on the inside seat. If they won't, you get the bus driver to intervene.

By the way, you only need to use a question mark at the end of a sentence if you're actually asking a question.

If people are using a seat for shopping, then ask them politely but firmly to move it. I have done this many times on crowded buses and nobody has ever refused
One lady refused when I asked this, she told me the bags were too heavy and she wouldn't be able to lift them back up from the floor. I told her I would help and just moved the bags to the floor myself.
I was at least 6m pregnant with twins, so she couldn't have missed it, plus I had the baby on board badge.

If people are giving up seats because the child is too big to sit on the parent's lap that implies the parent has a seat? Let the parent stand and let their child sit if they feel that passionately about it.

I can't immediately see a reason why children of that age without any additional needs shouldn't be able to stand

Why are children a special case ? Will they crumble if they have to stand ? Are adults no less entitled to seat ? When I was growing up, I was actively encouraged to stand for adults, indeed, strongly would be more the word.

The biggest thing that irks me here is the pass-agging you get from modern parents - I was travelling on a train to Cambridge recently, and some (entitled) parents turned up with seconds to spare and walked up and down the entire (rush hour) train loudly exclaiming that "No, darling it DOESN'T look like someone will let a family sit together" as he glared at those naughty commuters who had bagged a table seat. I mean, why shouldn't 4 complete strangers stand up all the way to Cambridge just so 2 hysterical parents, Harry and Charlotte can sit together after a tiring day at the Science Museum ?

This thread makes such a refreshing change!

In the past MN seems to have come down in favour of letting children sit and that able bodied adults should jump up the moment a child gets on (children not being second-class citizens and all that).
So glad the tide appears to have turned.

Hahahaha twatt! If my 6 year old was tired and there were no seats I would tell him to sit on the floor!

You never know what has happened before a bus journey, the child could have walked miles (as mine often do) before jumping on a bus.
I remember being told my 4-year-old was too big for a buggy. He had walked 4 miles and was tired so the one-year-old went on dad's shoulders and he had a little sit. The eldest did the whole 8 mile haul.
You just never know.

Ugh. I don't know. I always try to get my 8yo a seat on the train/tube. Mostly because she's a lot smaller than adults and it's not nice to have your face pressed against an adult's bum/groin on a busy train. Is that wrong?

I would also add that depending on where you stand, the child might have nothing to hold on to as those rails on tubes are above head. Not sure about buses though.

I would always give up my seat for a child. I'm shocked that so many People wouldn't.

I have the opposite experience.. when travelling with DD1 who is just 9, people will regularly offer her/us a seat - I thank them but say she's fitter than most of us!

I was in NYC 9 weeks ago. On the boat back from Liberty Island a Mother and her two sons (I'm guessing 15/17 by their height/look) sat on a bench seat. I was 16 weeks pregnant. And whilst I wasn't huge, I'd started getting back pain. One of the boys got up to go and buy Chocolate. So I took the opportunity to sit down. The mother looked at me and said "you can't sit there, that's my Son's seat." I said " I'm 16 weeks pregnant, I need to sit down" (she was sat by the sign that said "please allow pregnant women and the disabled to sit" ) she scowled at me and said "Oh, I didn't realise, I thought you were just fat." The son was quite happy to stand.

I don't think anyone able bodied adult has more right to sit than a child..

Why @Zbag14? Most children are physically fitter than most adults. I certainly wouldn't ordinarily get up for a kid unless a) very small and b) if parent also has no seat.

Either they're small enough to sit on a knee or big enough to stand up, surely?