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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to expect my childminder to use DS's £400 pram for him!!!!!

161 replies

nearlythere · 07/04/2007 14:58

Well, i'm silently fuming! When one of my ds's starting with a childminder friend we bough a silver cross linear freeway for her to use so that we don't have to lug prams etc around all the time. He is her only charge as he is mildly disabled and she is fantastic with him, however, yesterday i nipped out of work to go to the bank and saw something that has wound me up!

The childminders daughter has come to visit for a few days with her 8-month old baby, so there's the start of the story!

I turned round in town and saw my SC pram (very distinctive as is a limited edition colour and i've not seen one the same) went over to say hello to DS and what did i see- the grandaughter sitting in my lovely pram, and my ds shovelled into a cheapo £15 beach type buggy- no padding, no canopy, doesn't lie back etc!

should i say something? am i being silly? Just really annoys me that the daughter is a real cheapskate- has the cheapest of cheap travel system from argos then swans off with my pram as soon as she gets the opportunity! I would understand if she had a small car and couldn't fit everything in, so asked in advance if she could borrrow it, but i know for a fact that her travel system is in the boot of her very large car!!!

OP posts:
maisym · 07/04/2007 21:36

you provide equipment for your kids at cm's - she should use it for your kid only - not her own family. Make this clear to her. Check for any damage done to your pram by her family use.

2cheekymonkeys · 07/04/2007 21:52

Mrs Apron, I agree about newborns in flimsy buggies. Comfort is everything when they're tiny.

MrsApron · 07/04/2007 22:15

oh bozza

I judge that too and find it wanting .

chocolateface · 07/04/2007 22:18

I saw someone with a jane 3 wheeler double buggy at the bottom of a London underground escalator. I imagine she's still there.

misdee · 07/04/2007 22:24

lol CF, probably.

powder28 · 08/04/2007 13:45

Have you ever seen a buggy fall down an escalator?
I was working in a department store and this woman had a baby in the pushchair and anoter little boy who was stood next to her. She lost her grip amd the buggy just went. They were all ok but I hate it when i see people doing it.

misdee · 08/04/2007 13:46

no i havent, but usually take dd out of the buggy on london underground, hence having an ultra lightweight one for days in london.

Londonmamma · 10/04/2007 14:08

I do find the phrase 'well presented in a quality pram' slightly scary....

kslatts · 10/04/2007 15:09

I would speak to the cm and ask why your ds wasn't in his own pram. Could it be that the other child fell asleep and your ds was awake so they swapped, if there was a reason for it I wouldn't really have a problem with it.

Is a cheapo buggy really that bad, I used one as it was so much easier to fold up to put in the boot of a car or get on a bus with.

lucyellensmum · 10/04/2007 15:37

i had a bugaboo for my dd because she must have the best of course (pram snobbery i guess) and daddy was blown away by the way it folded. But now she is 18m and getting too big for it so we use now have a maclaren quest (in green i hasten to add, don't do pink). Funny thing is, when in bugaboo dd always wanting to walk, quite happy to sit in maclaren so going to sell the BB. Just goes to show. On the subject of the post i would be HOPPING MAD if my child was in another buggy, not because its cheap but because its not hers and if someone else was in dds buggy, the cheapy or the BB then i would be spitting teeth. So its not pram snobbery, tell her its not on. I dont have those issues though, SAHM.

Trix11 · 10/04/2007 15:51

I would have said there and then "Why is your child in my pram and my child in this?" I would make it clear that I was unhappy about it and that I did not want it to happen again!

custy · 10/04/2007 15:52

£400 on a pram?

a

pram?

Trix11 · 10/04/2007 15:56

You can pay a lot more for a pram than £400.00

peanutbutterkid · 10/04/2007 15:56

If your CM only lives next door, I don't quite get why you bought a second pram - is it so much bother to lug your usual pram only a few feet to next door?

??

CM used to borrow our double buggy, suited us so she could use it as hers while minding DCs. If I left it with her all week, I wouldn't be surprised if she started using it like her own, though.

OrmIrian · 10/04/2007 15:57

Did you speak to her? I suppose DS has been at home since then. Dying to know what happened. All a big mystery to TBH as I don't think we ever had a 'travel system' cheap or otherwise. But do agree that CM was a bit off.

PinkChick · 10/04/2007 15:57

as a cm, i would be in the wrong putting my own child/antoehr child into a buggy you bought for me to use for your own, esp if he has a mild disability, you provide the best transport for HIM not anyone else who feels like using it!...
i would politely say to her that the buggy was bought for your ds for safety/health reason sand you were upset that he was put into a non supporting flimsy alternative and that although you think she is fab, you were disapointed to see the buggy you bought was being used by someone else when he was in the other thing.

OrmIrian · 10/04/2007 15:58

Have to say that I couldn't fit a silver cross pram in my house as well as my own buggy. Maybe she sees it as a PITA rather than just a privilege.

custy · 10/04/2007 16:00

what kind of justification is that?

you can pay a lot more than £400 for a pram!

chocolate1000 · 10/04/2007 16:02

I'd be fuming - if the CM has a pram supplied by the parents then that should be reserved for the mindees use only - -never mind what a toddler may fancy riding in. Whose running the CM business - the adult or the child??

A lot of CMs round my way seem to keep their own 'stock' of buggies, prams etc - maybe to solve this problem of children fancying playing swopsies.

Trix11 · 10/04/2007 16:05

Its no justification, I just know of people who have spent a lot more than £400.00 on a pram/pushchair. Just wish I could afford to

PinkChick · 10/04/2007 16:07

i have a very lovely expensive M&P buggy that i bought for dd but rarely used.
i didnt really want to use it when first started cm'ing, but one of mindee's mums either forgot thiers(knowing i would have to use it), or came with in such a astate i gave in(wheel actually hanging off then acting surprised), so now my mindees look nice and trendy in that or my fab double MAMU M&P which is also very nice..i hire the double from oy library, so never ask for each childs buggy now as id have no were to put em!

kiskidee · 10/04/2007 16:17

i would say something. i couldn't just sit back and stew.

OrmIrian · 10/04/2007 16:18

Yep. My CM used to use her own stuff all the time. She had several. Easier for everyone.

xoxo · 10/04/2007 16:32

£400????

really?

Gosh - that's a good weekend away, or several annual passes to Legoland. Or an awful oot of McLaren buggies.

I know what I'd prefer to spend my money on.

Serious question: do you want her to use it beacuse it cost £400. Or does it actually DO something that a 'normal' buggy does not do taht woudl justify you forcing to use a piece of equipment that she does not know how to work/may be terrified of getting dirty or breaking?

If the latter, fair enough.
If the former - then no, you're just being snobbish sbout a buggy. Let her use what she is comfortable with and keep teh posh buggy for your own use as then it will still be pristine and well kept.

Thelittlesoldiersmummy · 10/04/2007 16:54

I think the whole point is that she has spent £400 for her DS to have a nice Pram and then she sees the cm grand daughter in it and him in a crappy pram I think is a libity and i would have to say something!

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