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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Not to use tube escalators with pushchair

141 replies

LegoVsFoot · 27/04/2023 07:26

I was chatting with my friend who thinks it's unreasonable that I don't take my buggy up or down tube escalators. My stop has a massive one so I go to the next and walk.

I know some people do but I think it looks really dangerous especially when they're so steep. AIBU?

OP posts:
Needmorelego · 27/04/2023 11:38

@TrudyProud out of curiosity what is the average bags on buggy amount over there in the West 🤣
Down here 'Sarf of the River' it's like "weeks worth of supermarket shopping.... one buggy.....challenge accepted".

BallandBoe · 27/04/2023 11:42

Yerroblemom1923 · 27/04/2023 10:52

Why oh why don't you just get a sling?! It really is the obvious answer!

Well it depends on the circumstances, surely you can see that! If I'm out for a full day, with a 2 year old who needs to nap, and I have bags with me, plus I have a bad back...then I'm going to take the pram.

Zhougzhoug · 27/04/2023 11:45

Plenty of my friends were fine with it, but I never did either unless I was a) with one other person and b) sure there was a lift. I used the Ergobaby until he was booting me in the shins, and got a lot of overground/buses.

BallandBoe · 27/04/2023 11:45

misssunshine4040 · 27/04/2023 11:27

You are not allowed to use them.
Imagine if someone higher up tripped and fell? Or your buggy slipped?
Tube escalators are so high, fast moving with way to many people on the to be used safely with a buggy. Just use the lifts!!

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Except you ARE allowed to use them, and they ARE safe if you use them correctly.

It is far safer than holding your child in one arm and the folded pram with bags in the other.

wherediditgo80 · 27/04/2023 11:48

Absolutely would never use the buggy on the escalators, anywhere! Didnt that baby fall out of the pram on primark escalators last year?

Not to mention you will be breaking the number one rule of london travel - dont block the way!

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 27/04/2023 11:49

wherediditgo80 · 27/04/2023 11:48

Absolutely would never use the buggy on the escalators, anywhere! Didnt that baby fall out of the pram on primark escalators last year?

Not to mention you will be breaking the number one rule of london travel - dont block the way!

Baby wasn't strapped in then?

AthenaPoster · 27/04/2023 11:54

FlounderingFruitcake · 27/04/2023 11:23

Also those suggesting slings?! Fab idea for a newborn, especially as those bassinets they’re not strapped into + escalators seems like a terrible idea but do you use one for a toddler, even if you’re out all day? You must be stronger than me because my back is hurting just thinking about it!

I can understand why you'd think that. But actually if you carry your baby from quite small AND use a good sling, you just get used to the weight so it doesn't hurt. It's like weight training, you wouldn't start off trying to lift the heaviest weight, you gradually build up. I used to back carry when mine were bigger and they'd happily snooze away on my back and I could walk for miles very happily.

PosiePerkinPootleFlump · 27/04/2023 11:54

I always used to do this. There's definitely a knack, just like getting on and off trains, but it's fine.
I totally agree that a sling or carrier is also a good option... But for years I had one in single buggy, one on my back in a sling.

TrudyProud · 27/04/2023 11:57

@Needmorelego it would depend on if I'm using my yo-yo or cybex gazelle tbh.

With the cybex I have my handbag, my work laptop backpack, DD nursery bag , then potentially 3/4 food shop bags plus whatever internet shopping I've picked up at work . This fills the undercarriage then use carabiner clips for food shopping in a cloth bag.

With the yo-yo my backpack and handbag are body worn. 1/2 shopping bags in the under carriage. DD nursery bag and any other shopping bags hanging via the carabiner clip. No internet pick ups. With the yo-yo DD needs to be laiden with snacks to ensure she stays in it while traveling else my shopping pyramid (literally and figuratively) falls apart .

FeltedDogs · 27/04/2023 11:59

Escalators are the devil's work. Everyone knows they suck you in and trap you in their dark world. I wouldn't even go on one myself let alone take a buggy 😀

FlounderingFruitcake · 27/04/2023 12:02

AthenaPoster · 27/04/2023 11:54

I can understand why you'd think that. But actually if you carry your baby from quite small AND use a good sling, you just get used to the weight so it doesn't hurt. It's like weight training, you wouldn't start off trying to lift the heaviest weight, you gradually build up. I used to back carry when mine were bigger and they'd happily snooze away on my back and I could walk for miles very happily.

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Love this! Who needs the gym eh?!

Obels · 27/04/2023 12:04

Not to mention you will be breaking the number one rule of london travel - dont block the way!

People should still be able to pass a pram on an escalator, they aren't that wide! I've seen people wider than a pram.

Nachobowls · 27/04/2023 12:05

I’ve never done it, up to others to risk it but I never would. I use to use the bus even if it took much longer. Not a risk I was willing to take.

Needmorelego · 27/04/2023 12:07

@TrudyProud you forgot the scooter balanced on top 🤣🤣

BallandBoe · 27/04/2023 12:08

wherediditgo80 · 27/04/2023 11:48

Absolutely would never use the buggy on the escalators, anywhere! Didnt that baby fall out of the pram on primark escalators last year?

Not to mention you will be breaking the number one rule of london travel - dont block the way!

If a baby 'fell out of a pram,' then thats on the parent/carer of that baby!

Catsmere · 27/04/2023 12:36

WoodenFloorboards · 27/04/2023 07:51

The Victorians weren't great on disability accommodations. If TfL couldn't operate a station unless it had full level access then they'd just have to shut a bunch of central London stations with disastrous consequences.

The theory is that accessible transport is provided by the bus network (since c. 2000) and the tube network is being upgraded to full level access gradually.

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Yes, I guess so much of the network being old makes installing lifts difficult if not impossible. 😟

TrudyProud · 27/04/2023 14:59

Needmorelego · 27/04/2023 12:07

@TrudyProud you forgot the scooter balanced on top 🤣🤣

We aren't scooting just yet. I'll check in later this year 🤣

malmi · 27/04/2023 15:12

A quick Google will reveal incidents of people being injured on escalators, including people losing grip of pushchairs and them tumbling to the bottom with the baby then having to be rushed to hospital.

Most people will say it's worth it for the convenience. I don't think I'd do it, though.

Compare the response to how people act when they find out that someone left a child in a locked car for 10 minutes while they popped into a shop (extremely low risk) and it just shows how off our risk perception really is.

BungleandGeorge · 27/04/2023 15:26

i thought I’d seen signs up
in some tube stations to say no buggies on escalators recently. If there’s no lift there’s no alternative though- folding a buggy and carrying a child or toddler would be much more dangerous! A buggy strap is quite useful

3BSHKATS · 27/04/2023 15:38

One of the most terrifying moments in my life was when my new baby nearly fell out of her pram on an esculator, I still have flashbacks 24 years on.
Always use the lift.

DoraDont · 27/04/2023 15:43

Three weeks old and never looked back. Would have been a very dull maternity leave if I’d had to rely on there being space on the bus for my pram/pushchair.

Not sure why everyone on this thread seems so terrified of escalators.

Not to use tube escalators with pushchair
Greenlightning · 27/04/2023 16:00

It's fine, especially if you have a sensible size buggy. Just keep one hand on the banister and one hand on the buggy, bracing against the step. Use a rucksack so you don't have bags swinging off the handlebars (hang it back on the bars afterwards to save your back).

Currently I use a baby carrier plus bring a folded buggy when taking the tube - there are escalators plus steps at both ends of most journeys. That's for my one year old, I put her back in the buggy once we're out of the tube station. If it was just escalators with no steps I'd probably just use the buggy. Life's too short to be walking an extra stop or waiting for buses.

SideBob · 27/04/2023 16:08

Life's too short to be walking an extra stop or waiting for buses.

but we're taking quite literally the next block in London or around 5 minutes for a bus. It's not a case of life being to short. Life will be even shorter if you fall down an escalator 😂

(But your technique of gripping on sounds fair enough if it works for you. I'd consider doing the same if it was something ridiculous like 40 minutes added onto journey but I don't think it's worth it given the alternatives available in the city)

Greenlightning · 27/04/2023 16:12

Buses in my part of zone 1 are scheduled about every 12 min not 5, it's common for it to be more like 18 min in reality, then it turns up with 2 buggies on it already and you have to wait another 12+ mins.
Walking to a step-free station would take 25 min.

SideBob · 27/04/2023 16:16

Greenlightning · 27/04/2023 16:12

Buses in my part of zone 1 are scheduled about every 12 min not 5, it's common for it to be more like 18 min in reality, then it turns up with 2 buggies on it already and you have to wait another 12+ mins.
Walking to a step-free station would take 25 min.

Buses are more sparse where I live too but that's because it's suburbs down south

in areas with a tube they're generally more frequent, and where they're more busy they'll also send out more buses

Also, you don't need step free as that's for wheelchairs who need a level platform. You only need a lift