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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

that huge buggies should be banned from buses

188 replies

donkeyderby · 04/03/2010 00:37

I was on the bus yesterday, and a woman got on pushing her child in an oversized buggy that took up four fold-up seat spaces.

AIBU to think that if you travel regularly by bus, you should invest in a cheap umbrella-style pushchair that takes only one space up?

OP posts:
KERALA1 · 04/03/2010 15:46

No YANBU I totally agree. Makes practical sense for parents that regularly use public transport to get a small foldable buggy. For their own sakes and all the other travellers. You can get 2 Mclarens in the space taken up by 1 of these huge buggies and if its me left in the rain because someone has chosen to get a swanky red designer thing that hogs the whole buggy space its hard not to feel a little peeved.

I know of 5 London first time mums who bought bugaboos, quickly realised that taking those on public transport is tough so then bought and used McClarens. They basically wasted £600 apiece. Marvellous for the makers of Bugaboos but expensive mistakes for new parents.

LJBrownie · 04/03/2010 15:47

Totally agree that most of the time, there is no need for folding to enable able-bodied adults to sit - they could just walk a little further down the bus or shock-horror, upstairs and take a seat with ease.

I am genuinely not sure how MillyR managed her shopping, folded pushchair, toddler and baby. I am no pussy, really I'm not, and I think that's a pretty challenging undertaking! In fact, on buses near us I have had several tuts for allowing my 2 year old DD to stand holding my hand next to my umbrella fold buggy laden with baby and shopping because apparently she was in the way. Less tutting, more smiling/pleasantness/tolerance for everyone else would be much appreciated!!

sarah293 · 04/03/2010 15:50

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LJBrownie · 04/03/2010 16:00

Several issues with that apparently simple approach on my local London buses:

  1. Rarely room in luggage rack for any shopping and certainly not to stowe a whole pushchair
  1. Unlikely to be seats near front of bus for me and toddler+baby and able bodied adults usually quite happy to see 2 year old standing (understandable in that she is quite capable of it and I'm happy to hold her hand but more difficult while also standing holding baby)
  1. Bus drivers here never wait until you're seated before setting off, not even for people with obvious mobility issues - cue toddlers falling all over the place
  1. If driver does wait, whole bus tuts with irritation about the delay while I load all my stuff separately on board

So, overall, it'd be far quicker for me to manoeuvre my umbrella fold maclaren with baby and shopping into the space which'll fit at least 2 buggies (or a buggy and wheelchair) and keep holding my 2 year old's hand throughout (and in fact use up zero seats in the process). Not sure why anyone would have a problem with this - I just don't understand the ardent, pushchairs-must-be-folded-brigade. Of course, except where wheelchairs are involved.

ToccataAndFudge · 04/03/2010 16:06

Riven - what do you do if your 1yr old isn't walking yet .

You know all these "this is how you do it" posts are making me

it's all so subjective, it depends on so many things how "easy" (or not) it is, the particular children, the sort of bus it is, how arsey the bus driver is (I wouldn't DARE let any of my children go and find a seat in front of me on the local buses if they were under about 4/5yrs old as none of the local drivers seem to like to pull of nicely and I usually nearly get thrown......), how busy the buses are, etc etc etc.

sarah293 · 04/03/2010 16:20

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KERALA1 · 04/03/2010 16:29

I hand the baby to the nearest friendly looking person while I fold/deal with the myriad of bags/toddler etc. Due to free bus passes and times when I use the buses the buses here are usually rammed with elderly people who love getting involved .

What annoys me is vacant unencumbered twentysomethings who sit in the folding seats at the front when there are lots of other seats at the back for them.

JennyPenny22 · 04/03/2010 17:55

I would never hand my baby to a stranger! No matter how friendly or old they look!

NormalityBites · 04/03/2010 17:58

Yep my alternate means of getting around is a sling, and I've been using it from newborn onwards (3.5 years currently and still using it) Never had a pushchair so never taken one on pt

runnybottom · 04/03/2010 18:03

What do you think the middle aged woman/ little old man/ teenager would do with the baby in the 30 seconds they were holding it? On a bus, where they are surrounded by people and can't go anywhere?

FFS. Its not really an issue is it? Buggies go on where they fit, make sure you're not annoying anyone, clear out for wheelchairs/the elderly/additional needs passengers, fold if you need to...or fuck off the bus. Not really rocket science is it?

sarah293 · 04/03/2010 18:03

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ToccataAndFudge · 04/03/2010 18:04

Jenny - what do you think a stranger on the bus is going to do to your baby????

Normality - nice that you have a 3.5yr old small enough to comfortably carry in a sling .

DS1 HATED slings, DS2 didn't mind them (but I never needed to use one really with him as he was so chilled out and could just be put down, and walked pretty early), DS3 also hated slings. And DS3 isn't yet 3 and there's no way I'd be carrying him around a 3 1/2yrs old (even in a sling on my back) when he's already up to my waist in height

NormalityBites · 04/03/2010 18:09

My DD is 105cm and 44lbs I'm by no means a martyr, don't carry her for long these days but if she needs up, she can go up and it is comfortable and fun for both of us. Gets a little tiring after an hour or so but when she was under two I could carry her all day on my back without a problem if it was required.

ToccataAndFudge · 04/03/2010 18:10

actually no he's not up to my waist.......he's up to just under my ribs (the middle bit near the chest bone that's high) - he must have grown

ToccataAndFudge · 04/03/2010 18:14

DS3 was 97cm at his 2 1/2yr check in November.....I don't want to think about how tall he'll be a 3 1/2yrs (and besides it's irrelevant as he hated the sling as a baby and trying various types only fuelled his upset - cant'see him any more likely to want to go in one now even if I did't mind him kicking my knees as a I walk PMSL

Besides...........how do I get a weeks worth of shopping home if he's in a sling and not a pushchair

ToccataAndFudge · 04/03/2010 18:16

anyhow - I need a pushchair for our summer holidays - I couldn't put a child and a 75 litre rucksack on my back hehe

Shitemum · 04/03/2010 18:17

When I lived in Spain this was never a problem because the buses were very frequent, every 5 to 10 minutes.
There were small minibuses aqnd bigger single deckers.
If you had a pram you got on and off at the back. There was room for 2 prams. If the bus was full you just waited and another one was along in literally 5 minutes.

Instead of having to get the right change out you could buy a card with a magnetic band with 10 or more journeys on it which you simply pressed onto a machine next to the driver.

If you got off one bus you could get on another, of a different number, in less than 45 minutes and not have to pay again.

Compared to this the buses here are a total hassle.

AmazingBouncingFerret · 04/03/2010 18:23

I have a hooooge quinny type pram thing. Mothercare one, absolute bargain with my staff discount and a Godsend during all the snow imagine me having to trek through all that in a little fold up thing!
YABU.
My DD is 10 weeks old.
If there is space on the bus I'll use it.
If a wheelchair needs to get on, I'll get off and wait for the next bus.
If there are other smaller buggies that need to get on they can either wait for the next bus, they come every ten minutes. Either that or fold their buggies up, much easier for them to do that than for me to wrestle with mine.
If able bodied people get on they can stand, it wont kill them!
If an elderly or visably disabled person gets on I will offer my seat.

Chellesgirl · 04/03/2010 18:26

Oh my gosh...shall we all just sign a petition to the transport agency asking for 'parent buses'. A bus that is smaller than normal, has no steps - an extendable platform that stops the buggy wheels from falling inbetween bus and pavement enabling it to get stuck, has space for 20 pushchairs, seats with seatbelts for older children. A plan that goes...wheelchair space, seat, buggy space, seat, buggy space, seat, etc... etc...
This bus will run every half hour to different detinations (like the 37 - goes from one district to the next in a circle, saving the need for 2 buses)
It will use less fuel as will be smaller, will give bus companies more money in long run as more (non parent types) will be able to use the bus, instead of having to wait around for next one. It will be cleaned every day and night by someone doing community service so bus compant wouldnt have to pay for cleaning, environment will be better off as hopefully more parents will take the bus and not drive.

I think Ill appraoch johnson coaches and see what they say - or even the mobility bus services???

Rockbird · 04/03/2010 18:27

Yet again, wheelchairs/SN buggies etc apart, it's all me me me. The buggies can't have the space because you wanted it. That person shouldn't sit there because you wanted to sit there. Ah, the irony. I never ever use buses with DD, ever. But if I did, and I had DD and a load of shopping then I wouldn't fold it down so a perfectly able bodied person (yeah, hidden disabilities, I know..) can stand in the space. I wouldn't demand someone in the same position fold their buggy down so I could stand there. I'd go upstairs where there are always plenty of seats.

But I'm in London where people ironically seem more tolerant despite the reputation.

sungirltanhasanactualhairstyle · 04/03/2010 18:46

i have a giant quinny buzz. i almost never go on the bus - actually its been once with the pram since dd hatched. i did not fold. maybe the karam fairy got me though because going on the train with that thing is a farking nightmare.

i think its reasonable to ask parents to fold sown pushchairs if the child is old enough to sit on a seat.

also fwiw i hate seeing newborns in front facing, sit up buggies. im sure its bad for their backs and i know its bad for language/literacy development

LadyBiscuit · 04/03/2010 18:48

YANBU. When my baby was small I took him in a sling. When he was older, I used a tiny one. I have always had a huge pushchair but I wouldn't dream of taking it on the bus so the woman with the buggy at the next bus stop couldn't get on. How selfish!

RubyBuckleberry · 04/03/2010 18:55

YABU I get on buses all the time along with three or four other prams/buggies/wheelchairs. We all get on the bus together . Buggies move out of the way to give wheelchair priority in the actual space. Its pretty cosy - we're all crammed in, but then this is London where people are crammed in anyway and really really don't seem to mind. I have had no negative vibes and loads of help!

ToccataAndFudge · 04/03/2010 19:03

Lady - how lucky for you that

a) you had the option of having a small pushchair for buses, and your large pushchair for other use

b) that you never suddenly found you needed to catch a bus when out with your large pushchair.

staranise · 04/03/2010 19:08

Yawn. I was going to write a long post explaining the logistics of travelling on pt with, say, three children under 5 and assorted school bags/buggy boards/scooters etc

But luckily I remembered that life's too short