Children having their own seat on a packed train.

[user1493559472]

I am on a packed train. A child who is about 3 years old is sat in their own seat and not on the parents lap, would you ask to sit down and the child sits on parents lap? People were standing.
Thank you

I think a three year old is a tricky age where they are possibly slightly too big for a lap

A fit and non disabled child over the age of four should stand for an "older" post 60 year old person in my opinion. It doesn't do them any harm and hopefully will make them more empathetic in relation to others who might need the seat more.

well you obviously think that you i,portent enough to ignore the conditions of carriage on the train and let your under 5 take a seat from a paying passenger

I would imagine the number of parents paying for a seat they could have for free for an under-five is vanishingly small.

It
used to be normal that children stood or sat on laps when adults needed a seat because ( on the whole of course ) they are better able to stand or sit on laps than adults , they have less responsibility in life , and it teaches them that they are still children who should listen and respect adults ( unless the adults are dickish )

Why did they ask a 12 year old, and not another adult?

Depends on how they do it. I wasn't impressed when someone practically barked at my son to stand up so he could sit down and even more so when I explained it isn't possible due to his disability and earned an eye roll in response.

Your post does not answer the question I was addressing. Here's what I was responding to in case you missed it: "Your choice to have children. Why should others stand just so you don't have to be inconvenienced?"

Being considerate or not is a personal decision. It has nothing to do with the poster stating that their convenience trumps that of the child and parent.

If we are going down the route of people who have paid more tax getting preference for seats on trains….

I don't have a child under 5, so nice assumption.
HTH

I’m pretty sure the person just thought they, as an adult, had more right to the seat than my DC, as a child. Without them explaining themselves, who knows?

My DC felt too embarrassed to explain that she had a reason for needing to sit down, so stood even though it caused her some discomfort to do so. I have now taught her she doesn’t need to give up her seat in these circumstances without a reason being offered. Seems fair to me.

You may imagine that but parents want to reserve seat for their children on long journeys and they also get a discount on the adult fair with a railcard.

The point is that railway conditions of carriage CLEARLY states that an under 5 can travel free but not take a seat if a fare paying passenger needs it. I'm really not so sure why people can't understand that. Its pretty simple

I agree with you op my mum would always get me to move for an adult. However on MN this isn’t the case. I would get my kids to move as sitting on my lap is fine and it would mean another person could sit down.

Most caring adults won't force a child out of their seat.

Well u aye have done at some point or may in the future, who knows. But it's seems if you did have a young kid then you would still have the entitled attitude

IF they are not fair-paying, or the child or the mother doesn’t have a disability. Both pieces of information other customers are not entitled to. Plus railways need to provide safe carriage for all their customers and if they are not able to sit on a lap (because more than one child) then standing is not a safe alternative.

Does this mean someone who has a pension and is also availing of free travel should also stand? What if they've lived their life on benefits? Does it matter what height they are? Because really this comes down to size - children are smaller and less vocal about their rights so people expect them to be more accommodating. It doesn't make it right or ethical though.

If you have an issue with certain passengers availing of free travel then take it up with the transport service. Although given that it's in everyone's interest that we all use public transport more frequently its also in your best interests that free travel provision is continued and its not made less accessible for people.

A child on a train hasn't skipped a ticket or jumped a barrier to get there. They are entitled to use the service for free so it doesn't mean you are more entitled to their seat just because you paid.

I think we pretty much know the answer to that one !!

5 year olds are less able to safely stand so the fee-paying passenger doesn’t need the seat unless they have a disability or something.

I had this on a bus once with dd2, I just stood up myself as that was safer to give the person a seat. And she was too big to sit on my lap. This was years ago fwiw.

It’s interesting because everyone is expected to give seats to old people on busses when they aren’t paying. Some old bit of small print in the train conditions frankly means zilch.

As a mum, I would let my kids sit down and I would stand next to them. Trying to get a 3 year old to sit on your lap is a nightmare, they'll end up kicking the person next to them as they are too big and wriggly.
But a busy train, it's even more important a toddler has a seat - it's horrible being squished between people standing... especially if you only reach their knees!

Um, I think the adults demanding a child's seat are the entitled ones. HTH

Sorry, I didn’t realise that your child needed to sit. That changes things completely. If she needs to sit, she needs to sit and you were absolutely right to tell her so, so I apologise for my earlier post. Like I said, I’d only get up if I was able to. So, yes, totally fair.

Feel free.when you are next in waitrose and bought something, feel free to let someone else's kid take what you've paid for. After all what's the difference of

If they are definitely 3 yes they should be on a lap but they could be 5 with their own ticket, my dc both looked 2-3 at age 5 (getting school uniform that fitted was challenging!)

That she can't sit on her mother's lap and probably that she's paid for the ticket!