To find London utterly flaming unmanageable

[MoreBushThanMoss]

With a pushchair!!!

Lived here 8 years. Currently live in Maida Vale. Used to be a Hackney living, media working, up all night sort of girl (before DP and DS) - and prided myself on never feeling flustered or frustrated in the city.

Just met friend for lunch in London Bridge.

Fuck me if I ever want to leave cosy comfy baby friendly Maida Vale again!!!

Nowhere is accessible, tube almost unmanageable without DP to help with buggy and people are RUDE. (okay some - few- are helpful)

also nowhere has baby changing!!!

There are lots of babies in London - surely not just my DS... So why is it so impossible?!

I really feel incensed for people who have mobility issues now.

Rant over. Going back to Maida Vale to eat fudge and read mumsnet.

(Having a baby changes you.)

[WheresTheEvidence]

I know you said babyzen one of lightest buggies available but what you need is something easy to fold/lightweight and compact.

[ElizaSchuyler]

Never taken a baby to London but I remember 15 years ago having a similarly awful day in Chester with 3 week old dd.

You just have to get used to different types of restaurants etc & knowing the location of every McDonalds!

Also this time of year will be manic with crowds.

[Riversiderunner]

I've got 3 DC and think London is the best place in the world for children!

They go everywhere free on public transport, there's so much to see and do, and they have friends of every race and religion. Plus the doctors are world class.

Hate the baby stage tho' so don't envy you that. But I bet you won't feel this way in a few years' time!

[Artandco]

Oh for baby changing, if I wasn't going into a cafe, I usually found a park or grassy square garden and changed dss nappy in a quiet Corner on grass or bench. There's public garden squares or parks everywhere in London. And a park bench with changing mat or the grass is usually far cleaner than public toilets.

[LaPampa]

It is frustrating but you get used to it. I actually find buses more infuriating as where I am in north London there is often already 2 on, and I have to get a bus to the station. Once on the tube network escalators are great if you have big wheels and I have never not found someone offering to help me. Department stores museums art galleries and hotels are your friend with accessible loos & at railway stations you don't have to pay to access the baby change - the Tate is near London Bridge for instance.

I think probably tourist combination plus 14 weeks being far enough out from birth that you feel you should be on top of life again but in reality it is just compounded exhaustion is probably the issue not TFL... You will get used to it & it will seem manageable again xx

[Lazyafternoon]

I'd definitely recommend the app with about 10 tube maps - including one that shows step free access and one that shows which stations have toilets and babychanging.
I don't think I could've done trips across London on my own with DS in a buggy at that age so hats off to you!
A carrier (I also love the Boba as someone up thread mentioned!) certainly makes things easier to manage steps. And a buggy that can fold and carry one handed, to get up and down stairs when lift broken etc. However then you have the challenge of fitting everything you need (nappies, changes of clothes, wipes, bottles/snacks/ your purse, water etc) into a rucksack that is still light enough when got a baby on your front and buggy in your hand and trying to climb up a flight of stairs taller than you've climbed since before pregnancy!!! Yep it's a mission!
As for baby change I don't think particularly necessary. I found easier to find a quiet bit of floor in a corner of a station and kneel down with mat.

[HerculesMulligan]

Covent Garden is mainly lifts but then a short run of steps to the Piccadilly Line platforms. As previous posters have said, accessibility is appallingly patchy.

[GimmeeMoore]

I never got used to the limited by baby stage,I just adapted. But hell yes it's annoyingly to lack spontaneity where you go,and worse still you recall it all pre-baby. When it passes you'll be able to go other places..like soft play

[MoreBushThanMoss]

chardonnay - I'm taking the piss out of myself. I used to sneer at this area as horrendously mummyish and grown up. Oh how the (high from Thursday to Monday and) mighty have fallen.

Thanks everyone. Think was more upset about how upset I was getting, than the actual circs. Before I had the baby, nothing fazed me. Now "normal" stuff like going for lunch, or getting a tube have become enormous missions, I just feel a bit ... Slowed down. And it's frustrating. Sure I'll get used to it.

Thanks for being kind/ stern/ understanding as you were

[Artandco]

There is an app that tells you which stations have lifts. As above it's often easier to get off at a different one and walk. Many stations are so close for example Covent gardens is all lifts and only 3mon walk to Leicester Square which has no lifts

[DailyFail1]

I tend to use Westminster instead of London Bridge and walk there when I have pushchair kids. Alternatively if I'm with dsd we'll walk from Euston.

[EstelleRoberts]

YANBU, while pps are correct in that there are workarounds with buggies, the huge lack of lifts at so many tube stations is a disgrace in this day and age. Great swathes of central London are just not covered. I feel so sorry for people in wheelchairs who face these problems for life, not just a few years whilst their children are small. Fuck always having to go to the wrong station, or take twice as long on the bus, every time you want to go somewhere.

[JellyWitch]

I wouldn't dream of taking a buggy in. Sling all the way.

[GloriousHarpy]

I think you're suffering from a combination of envy of the childfree lifestyle and the extra crowds due to the time of year. I used to trek down from Finsbury Park to Borough Market on the tube with baby DS in his buggy (needed to fit the shopping in) regularly, and it was perfectly manageable.

[HighDataUsage]

Museums are your friend here, very baby/child friendly facilities/chanding rooms. Lots of space, cafes & some have picnic rooms like the nat hist, science where you can munch your own food.

[C8H10N4O2]

mellicauli There's always a way round it these days due to disability leg

This is simply not true. There was a programme of improving access to stations which was scrapped by Boris Johnson.

There are numerous inaccessible stations or stations for which the 'workaround' is to travel many stops in the wrong direction to find a station with an accessible lift (not all are) and most central stations are inaccessible at peak times. Then you get the bonus of arriving at a station to find the only access point is closed and being told to travel miles back in the opposite direction and pay for a taxi at ground level.

[Andcake]

Trick is buses and at 14 weeks old sling or carrier. I loved that stage pooling around like I used to... Miss it now ds is older / heavier and won't sit still

[ChardonnayKnickertonSmythe]

Sorry OP, I think I missed where you live.

Maida Vale, by any chance?

[GimmeeMoore]

Navigating any city with a wee baby,and buggy is a formidable challenge. Not just London. First time I went out in city I live with my new baby,I was exhausted, underestimated negotiation of stairs,crowds,busy cafes etc. To point that once I'd finally got a seat in packed Starbucks I sat and had a quiet sob. The unexpected newness of having to think of everything when you have a baby, e.g. Access, crowds, facilities. Missing my old life,ability to go wherever I wished,not seeing stairs as insurmountable

[toots111]

Canary Wharf is a really accessible place to shop/lunch in London and as long as you avoid travelling in rush hour and get yourself settled somewhere for lunch before the lunchtime rush, think it's a great place to meet friends for lunch with little ones. The new roof garden is lovely for a stroll. Then when they're older a visit to mud larks at the museum or a trip on the little boat over the river and there's a lovely little playground there. Also, for older kids, kids eat free at Toms kitchen :)

[stopfuckingshoutingatme]

It's a nightmare !

What helped me was

BF cover
Walking a lot - a lot !
Using a sling
Traveling light
Researching trips around places with baby change or a park (if all else fails )

Buggy + tube is almost impossible unless it's between 10am and 3pm

[JigglyTuff]

I think I bumped my pushchair up and down stairs about 3 times - the rest of the time people helped. You can balance a buggy on the escalators but a sling is easier if they're really little. It's not easy the first time but it is a massive adjustment. You'll get really adept in a few weeks :)

[lilyb84]

I've actually been surprised at how many baby changes there are once you know where to look - and ditto to lifts at stations etc. But some stations are a nightmare - Victoria is one. Yes, buggy on escalator is possible but it's a bit scary especially when busy. It does get easier and I'd also recommend a sling, although ds forced my hand on that as he's been refusing his buggy since he was 6 months old...

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasHorrid]

Sorry you found it rough.

I have to defend Londoners, whenever I've been to London with a buggy there's always some random person willing to help. I've never even had to ask.

Found it easier once the baby was over 6 months and I could put them in a hiking backpack.