Selfish buggy users on buses

[SleepingStandingUp]

Aibu to think if you take your child in to a bus in a buggy, then take child out and go upstairs, that you collapse your buggy so someone else can get on, given an empty buggy counts in the only 2 rule??
First bus went past empty, second has an open buggy taking up the buggy (not wheelchair) space. She did after the driver had a word eventually collapse it so I could get on (my son was on a tube feed and o2 so I couldn't collapse ours) but grumbled and moaned.
It's like me dumping shopping bags all along the back row so no one else can sit there!!

Then someone else got on and had to collapse as we were now dull whilst some moaned from the back of the bus about how the driver shouldn't keep stopping and letting people on like this as though it's OK for me to leave 30 minutes early knowing I'll likely have to wait for a bus but God forbid anyone should be delayed 3 minutes whilst someone collapses their buggy.

And yes the wheelchair space was being used by a young girl in a wheelchair as is intended so no discussion on that.
And no it isn't sensible to collapse a pushchair besides a main road with a young child and bags of shopping when there is a chance you can get on and use the space that is there for buggies.

I just think it's utterly selfish to use a space you don't need just because you don't give a damn who else can't get on!

I couldn’t get on the bus a couple of months ago because somebody had their CAT in a buggy. Their fucking cat. I’m pretty sure said cat could have gone on the owner’s knees seeing as it was ok with sitting in a buggy.

This is all part and parcel of using public transport - if there isn't enough room for you then you wait for the next bus
Except there is space if people aren't selfish. If I spread my shopping all over the bus and that stopped an non buggy pusher from using the bus there would be outrage but if someone spreads their shopping or luggage out so a buggy pusher can't then that's fine because where could a buggy pusher possibly have to go that's as important as any one else on the bus

I have always wondered how people manage on buses with a double buggy and twins that are not yet walking? How do they carry them both out of the buggy and collapse it at the same time????

Also, if anyone who is physically capable of using a sling (and that's most people
I never could work out how peoole sling baby plus hand hold toddler plus nappy bag, hand bag and carry shopping home. And no I don't care how my Granny did it. Most of the people I know who sling also drive so they sling baby short distances, but shopping etc in car not go out for 4 hours on numerous buses and come back with tons of shopping

Surely it's easier to order shopping on the internet these days than try to take it on a bus even without kids?

Pinkgeorge sling one on back and one on front and give up on evil buggies? Hold both kids in one arm whilst collapsing and folding buggy single handed? I'm sure someone will be along to tell you they did it with triplets and in their parents day you had no choice, the quads just sat nicely on the floor of the bus stop whilst she collapsed it then all clung on to each other to be pulled into the bus

But Internet shopping is requires minimum 40 spend in a lot of places. So no splitting the shopping by cheapest shop, no fresh from the market or butchers, no buying ever few days depending on when money comes in etc

No but sometimes you do have to pay more for convenience. £40 isn't a lot for a family shop.

TedAndLola we don't have a medical buggy, we have a standard one.

Do you need a buggy for medical reasons or not?

I found it so stressful trying to navigate busses with DC1 that I gave up when DC2
came along and got a car. I feel bad not using public transport but it stresses me out too much. It's grand that some people can handle holding the baby and stuffing shopping into a bag and folding down the buggy while the whole bus tuts or worse at them but I couldn't. If we want more people to use public transport we need to make it more accessible.

I agree OP. Our buses only allow 1 buggy! I had to wait for 3 buses (each 30 min apart) last week as 2 had the buggy there, but child on the seat. My son was asleep so the drivers just drove past shaking their head. Gave me such stress we now go only on buses without a buggy!

I agree that if you have taken your baby out of the buggy and that it is easily collapsible then it should absolutely be folded. I don't however think that anyone should feel pressured to take their baby out of their buggy and sit with them on their lap. If they don't feel that this is safe or appropriate then that's their call. I have a baby on the way and can't imagine collapsing the pram which has a lay flat attachment that I would have to carry.

That is fine as long as you are prepared to wait for a bus with an empty space and get off if someone with a medical need for the space gets on.

sashkin My neighbour has a buggy for taking her cat(s) to the vet and has no car (neither do I) so she would be likely to have to take the bus with it. There is no chance she (or any other cat owner) would take the cat out of the buggy en route as it would almost certainly get loose and leg it. There are very few cat owners (I suspect) who would take their cat out in a buggy for any other reason or at any other time, so I'd cut the owner of the one you saw some slack.

How would you keep a cat in a buggy anyway?

You can buy cat buggies.

@Sockwomble I wouldn't dream of it unless I was travelling somewhere urgently (for example to the hospital).

You can get special pet buggies with mesh down the sides of the hood to stop them escaping. The buggies also aren't as deep as child ones. (I saw one on the bus once)

That makes more sense. I was imagining a cat in a normal buggy like when kids play baby with the cat.

Do you need a buggy for medical reasons or not?
Well currently I'd say no, but that's because our standard buggy carries his o2 l, his tube feed bag etc. But if I can't take my child on a bus in his buggy how exactly do I get him on with his feed potentially attached to him, his o2 cylinder, a spare o2 cylinder, his nappy bag and my hand bag as a bare minimum? You're marginalising parents like me who don't need a medical buggy but do need concessions. And our one hospital is two buses and an hours travel so no I can't just walk instead

Having a child with medical needs doesn’t always mean you need a medical buggy. You can get pushchairs and pranks kitted out or some, like mine, were capable of carrying everything without needing them adjusted. While they are small enough for a pushachair or pram there is no need to spend thousands or being given a special pushchair. I’d still class my daughter as medically needing the space even though it’s a standard umbrella fold pushchair. I wouldn’t get off if for example someone in a wheelchair came on. If when she gets bigger she still needs a pushchair I’ll buy a mclaren disabled buggy. Even if she didn’t have medical needs it’s much safer surely to keep her in the pram at a young age. You would probably have to move for a wheelchair given the priority rules.

We are actually waiting for a pushchair from wheelchair services but more to do with his height and the cumulative weight. Def worth speaking to your local council Quack if you do need something more robust later on

YANBU. An unoccupied pushchair should be folded. Although on our buses there isn't anyone to put anything of any size.

I have been in a similar situation. A double buggy got on first and went in the pushchair space. I went in the wheelchair/pushchair space. Half way through the journey a wheelchair wanted to get on.

The two women with the double buggy had left it up on the left hand side of the bus, but sat in the priority seat on the right hand side with the toddlers(both around 3 years old) on their laps. They tried to ignore the situation, but neither the passengers or the driver would let that happen.
The driver asked them to fold it as it was not being sat in, so that we could try and fit my pushchair by the side. (My 9 month old was still in it).

The mum refused because there was shopping underneath, claimed it did not fold then claimed she had to take the wheel off to fold it (this may be true).
When passengers asked why the children were not in it she tried saying that you don't leave them sat in. I explained that a child strapped in with the break on is the safest option.
I offered to get off the bus and wait for the next bus. In the end I got off, the wheelchair got on, and the driver told me to put the pushchair in the aisle, but get off and back on when needed. He was not supposed to do this, but as it was February he did not want a baby waiting in the cold for 30 mins for the next bus.
Everyone getting off the bus told me to stay put and got around me.
When the women needed to get off, one sarcastically said thank you . to me for moving the pushchair. I politely told her what I thought of her. I wished afterwards I had made her apologise before moving.

Although people on the bus had voiced their opinion of her whilst she was on the bus, as soon as she left they all became even more vocal about her.

Until I felt my daughter was ready to sit on the seat for the journey, she was safer strapped in her pushchair. I would therefore wait for the next bus instead of folding it down. At that time my pushchair when folded wouldn't have saved any space anyway.

As soon as I felt my daughter was able to sit on the seat safely, we bought a stroller. Not only would it fit in the baby space with another pushchair, I could fold it and carry it on if needed. DD only went upstairs if with dh, and I stayed downstairs with stroller folded. I have never seen anyone leaving an open pushchair while upstairs before.

RE the pushchair being used for a child with additional medical needs. I wouldn't have any issue treating it as a wheelchair. If older the child may been in a wheelchair, but due to age/size a pushchair is more appropriate. I think you are amazing to even consider
using the bus whilst carrying oxygen etc

If we are really serious about dealing with emissions we need buses that allow normal life to continue as smoothly as possible, so it sounds like more buggy spaces. I drove everywhere, easy for me and my double buggy but not great for the planet.

Op, write to bus company and ask them if they can clarify if they allow drivers to accept your buggy as a SN buggy while you’re waiting for one, you obviously need the space. I got a letter from my local bus company to show any driver who told me I had to get out of a wheelchair space after a run in with a driver when my DC was in a SN buggy and was asked to move or get off as other buggy user refused.