Don't want husband to take DD on bus

[Bluepolkadots42]

My DH is off work today and I asked him what he was going to do today with our DD (2yo). He said they were going to walk into town and then get the bus back because DD loves the bus (which is true- she does). I questioned whether it was a good idea to take her on a bus in the current climate- especially as she can't wear a mask.

DH is now angry and says I've ruined their plans and if it had been my own idea I wouldn't have had an issue with it. For background- I have taken DD on buses at start of this year- pre Covid- as an 'activity'. however I haven't taken her on any kind of public transport since, because we are lucky enough to own a car and even since lockdown has eased I haven't felt it safe or fair to add more people onto a bus or train who don't actually need to be on there and are just going on a joy ride.

AIBU to say I don't think a bus ride is an appropriate fun activity for our toddler right now?

“We haven't caught Covid.”

To be fair, Waxonwaxoff, you don’t know that. Lots of people are asymptomatic but can still spread to others.

of course if you don’t have private transport you need to use the bus/train to get about. I think atm though the issue is whether it’s wise to do so purely for entertainment.

It is a shame, both of ours loved the bus when they were little but we all need to be realistic until this situation is better.

@Fandanglethat

YANBU. It's an unnecessary journey, you DH and DD will be unnecessary bodies on the bus, taking up social distancing space for other people.

It isn't specifically about the risk to your DD and DH but also the increase in risk it causes to other people.

Yup- exactly what I tried to explain to DH in terms of my reasons for not being happy with his plan.

@Itsarattrap

“We haven't caught Covid.”

To be fair, Waxonwaxoff, you don’t know that. Lots of people are asymptomatic but can still spread to others.

of course if you don’t have private transport you need to use the bus/train to get about. I think atm though the issue is whether it’s wise to do so purely for entertainment.

It is a shame, both of ours loved the bus when they were little but we all need to be realistic until this situation is better.

Yes- in grand scheme of things, considering how much some have sacrificed and people losing loved ones etc in the most awful circumstances, not able to say goodbye- my toddler getting to live her best life by sitting on the top deck of a bus is really not a priority (in my mind anyway!!) right now.

Sorry I missed that you had a car! You are definitely not being unreasonable then, I was assuming you normally walk, (which let’s face it, is a nightmare with a 2 year old!)

@Itsarattrap of course, I don't know for sure but I need to use public transport so there's no point me worrying about it.

Why can’t your child wear a mask?
I know she’s two and doesn’t have to....but why can’t she? It would be like anything else, just teach her not to touch it, distract her?

Oh and I wouldn’t go on the bus either these days.

@FelicityPike

Why can’t your child wear a mask? I know she’s two and doesn’t have to....but why can’t she? It would be like anything else, just teach her not to touch it, distract her?

They're not recommended for children her age. The smallest size face coverings I've seen being sold in shops is for 3 years and up. Just found this in terms of why they don't recommend for under 3s:

'Face masks should NOT be won by children under 3. In this age group, face coverings are a suffocation and safety risk. They pose a risk to airways and breathing.
Dr Philippa Kaye, expert family GP
That’s because babies and small children have much smaller airways, which would have to work very hard to take up oxygen through a face mask.

There’s also the risk of your baby or toddler trying to remove the mask, and the mask and its ties then becoming entangled and potentially causing a choking injury.

And that’s not all, explains Dr Philippa Kaye:

Bear in mind, too, that under-3s would touch their faces and the masks all the time, making wearing a face covering much less effective
Dr Philippa Kaye, expert family GP'

www.madeformums.com/news/does-my-baby-or-child-need-a-face-mask/#:~:text=For%20children%20in%20England%20between,face%20mask%20in%20primary%20school.

I wouldn't be worried from a safety point of view for my DD but I agree with your point about it being sensible (and I think just polite) to limit unnecessary public transport journeys so that there is more space available for those who need to be on there. Taking an unnecessary journey just reduces the capacity for those who need to be there to stay 2m apart.

The people who casually state that “but the figures have gone down/I haven’t caught it so I’m ok/we have to get back to normal,” are the ones who are ultimately responsible when the figures go up..

The reason why the figures have dropped is because people have been told to stay away from each other/public transport etc because it seems that many don’t have the common sense to decide to do so anyway.

Yes we do need to get back to some semblance of normality, but there are still precautions that people should be taking so that we don’t end up back in a lockdown situation.

A, a bus trip for fun is just unnecessary at this point. There will be time for that another day..

B, a number of people who contract COVID are a-symptomatic, so actually just because you haven’t had symptoms doesn’t mean that you haven’t had it, and the closer you get to people the more people you could be spreading it.

And C, you don’t know that you don’t have an underlying health condition. There have been quite a lot of cases where it’s been presumed that e.g. a young healthy person died of COVID and it since emerged they had an underlying health condition they didn’t know about. I didn’t know I had an underlying heart condition until I caught the flu almost four years ago, and now I need a heart transplant...

People take the attitude that “it won’t happen to me.” Until it does.

OP yanbu in the slightest.

The bus here had 2 people on board yesterday, the other one was the driver!

The bus here had 2 people on board yesterday, the other one was the driver!

Surely that's because people are only using public transport when necessary.. If everyone starts taking their 2 year old on bus trips for fun it'll be rammed again.