Anyone have a baby/toddler but no car?

[Marcos56]

I don't drive and just wondered if anyone's in this situation, and if they manage ok?

I honestly don't know anybody in this situation, but I think you manage otherwise because you have to.

Me. It’s miserable, pass your test first.

Thanks for your reply, how did you get your baby about?

And ‘managing because you have to’ isn’t really managing, it’s being stuck at home or having to walk for miles in the rain with the buggy. Or crossing your fingers and hoping the bus has space for it before missing a doctor’s appointment.

I never drove and DH worked shifts so we were often without any kind of car. Depends where you live really. We live in a smallish market town, it was fine, we just walked everywhere. Made sure I had money stashed in the house for an emergency taxi if needed.

I managed with two till my eldest was 6 - live in a village with good public transport. BUT, life is so much easier and better being able to drive - the kids would miss out on so much stuff now if I didnt

We do live in a city, though, and our child is now much older but as a toddler we didn't have car, it was by choice we still don't have one

We have a 2yr old and have never had a car. I can drive but we also don't hire cars because she gets incredibly travel sick. Theres only been a handful of occasions in 2yrs where i wished we had a car and that was mostly going to visit family on eg. Christmas day or Boxing day etc.

Do you live in an area with good public transport? If you do, then its completely doable. We live in London. But if you live somewhere rural or with poor public transport, i can imagine its a very different story.

Thanks for your replies. Yes I can understand it's very difficult if There's a lack of public transport. I live in Manchester city centre so I have a lot of transport options which is good. I also live in a flat!

Walk, buggy, sling, bus, bike

Basically, live in a city and you'll be fine

We have a 6 year old and a 4 year old and have never owned a car.

We rent one occasionally but like 3 times a year.

It's fine, it's just life, but we do live in London so transport is pretty good.

I think you get used to what your norm is.

I find driving my children very stressful because I can't do anything about them crying if pulling over isn't feasible. I don't know how people do it but then I get people saying to me that they don't understand how I can travel with my kids on public transport which seems so straightforward to me

Get a sling and a decent buggy.

You'll be fine!

Thank you, yes I'm sure it will be fine :) I like living in a city and I don't like this mentality that it's only for young single people.

I've managed to be a parent for 18 years and never even had a driving licence. Everything I needed is accessible by foot or public transport.

How do you go about your day normally? What difference would adding a baby mean?

We didn't have a car from the 0-2 age and it was absolutely fine. Never really wished for one and never saw it as a massive issue.

Already did online food shops before, live in a central location so lots to do within a short walking distance

Maybe for you but not for lots of people. My car needs didn't chance after I had a baby.

Thank you, I think we will be fine :)
I'm not sure if they allow you to take a baby out of hospital without a car seat?

We didn't have a car until our baby was five years old. Managed fine.
We lived in London though where having a car is actually a hindrance! We only got a car because we moved to a more remote area when baby was older.

As you're in the centre of Manchester you'll be fine.

The only thing I'll add is we didn't have an actual car but I did have my licence, so we occasionally hired a car for a treat to go to eg the Yorkshire Dales or wherever.

Try and get motivated to pass your test then at least you can get a road trip now and then!

When I lived in the city centre I didn’t have a car. Sling makes baby really portable use a rucksack as a change bag. Pram with decent storage underneath so you can chuck the shopping under. I walked loads rain cover and a decent coat when it was wet. There was shops/ Gp/ stuff to do not too far away though. It’d be shit if you lived somewhere with poor transport links.

Its trickier as they get older as 2yo walking speed is slow so getting anywhere takes ages and without the pram/ buggy you end up carrying loads of stuff around.

I've never driven and have two kids. I do live in a city though. It's been absolutely fine - we've always had car seats that are easy to move between cars so we can use taxis when needed. We walk and use public transport.

We do now have a car but use it far far less than most of our friends as we are so used to not being reliant on it. It's mainly for long journeys and ferrying DC to a particular activity that is a faff with public transport. Otherwise the biggest benefit is not having to store the car seats in the house.

That brings back memories!
My poor exhausted husband had to go back to our house to pick up the car seat just so we could go home in a taxi!

I hope you can afford a LOT of taxis for a little while :)

You'll be fine though don't worry.

I can imagine it would be doable with a baby, but I think I would personally find it very hard with a toddler, just because it is nice to get out and about. One of my friends doesn’t drive though and they seem fine.

I’d echo what a PP said if you have a licence join the a city css as r club and you can hire a car for a couple of hours to a couple of days. Handy for visiting family and IKEA trips.

And the hospital policy is a bit of an annoyance: they can’t actually prevent you from leaving with your baby in a pram or similar! But most babies do go home in car seats.