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Original poster

Prams in school

33 replies

Podmog · 15/12/2004 07:55

Message withdrawn

OP posts:
kinderbobsleigh · 15/12/2004 07:58

I think taking a pram into a school hall is entirely reasonable if there is a baby in it.

Carla · 15/12/2004 07:59

Good grief! Why is taking a pram into school a fire risk? DDs school does not have an issue with this.

pixiefish · 15/12/2004 08:42

OMG- like you say what if you had been in a wheelchair- would they have expected you to walk in- have they not heard of the new disability act 2004? They should be able to provide access to children in wheelchairs- we've altered a lot of our school to provide disabled access

Tommy · 15/12/2004 08:43

I wonder what the Disability Act would say? Presumably babies who can't walk yet are "disabled" and so therefore should be accorded the same rights as disabled adults?! Have no idea but someone might know.

coppertop · 15/12/2004 09:46

I've never had a problem taking ds2's pushchair into school. The school likes to encourage the whole family to participate in school events so small children are made to feel welcome.

The only exception to this is that they don't like pushchairs to be brought into the classroom in the mornings when the children are dropped off. Even then they make exceptions and generally trust parents to be sensible about it.

TheHollyAndTheTwiglett · 15/12/2004 09:49

never been an issue .. can take DD's buggy anywhere it can fit in the school .. including into classrooms

H&S gone mad perhaps?

annh · 15/12/2004 11:26

Ds's school asked us not to take prams and pushchairs into the hall for his nativity as all entrances and exits were going to be used by the children - and tbh, they were. There were a couple of processions down the middle aisle, children exiting by side doors etc. Also the hall was very full so in the event of an emergency, prams would have caused an obstruction. But in a half-empty hall, I would think they could at least have checked whether there was a reason you needed to have the pram with you - sounds like a jobsworth decision to me.

Caligulights · 15/12/2004 11:43

Yep, Jobsworths. I stopped taking my dd to the babyclinic because we were expected to leave prams and buggies outside. Well I live in a very poor area where if you turn around, things get stolen, and if you'd just been shopping and had heavy things to carry, you were supposed to carry baby and stuff for about a five minute walk to the room. I got so peeved about the fact that a clinic used by mothers was designed to be as inconvenient for mothers as possible, that I just could not be bothered to go anymore (mind you, second time mum, so much more confident than first time round!) The lack of logic about wheelchairs was also infuriating - while of course I support the right of disabled people to have access to buildings, I'd like mothers to have the same legal right of access.

coppertop · 15/12/2004 11:46

No prams allowed in a baby clinic??? Are they mad???

Caligulights · 15/12/2004 12:05

I know, it used to make me fume!

ZCMUM · 15/12/2004 12:13

MY DS SCHOOL DIDNT EVEN ALLOW PRE SCHOOL KIDS AT THE NATIVITY, NEVER MIND PRAMS!!! V.UNFAIR AS COULD NOT GET BABYSITTER SO DP WENT, I HAD TO STAY AT HOME

lockets · 15/12/2004 12:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Caligulights · 15/12/2004 12:57

ZCMum, call me a troublemaker, but I'd probably be tempted to organise a boycott in the face of such an unreasonable ban. How very outrageous. How very contemptuous of parents. And how unfair to those children who do have little siblings and whose parents can't get or can't afford babysitters. That's just not on.

MarsselectionboxLady · 15/12/2004 13:20

My local clinic doesn't allow prams either. But I ignore it all as I have my get out clause...twins! I refuse to carry them, their bag, open doors etc just to get them checked out. I think that it's ridiculous.

Our school is fine about things like that and let parents use their own discretion. There's hardly ever an issue. In fact I tend to be the one in the hall with the buggy.

KristmasBear · 15/12/2004 13:27

My DD's school has a no prams ban in the hall - fire risk they say - I see there point entirely BUT they could allow parents to have a separate corner to park their prams out of the way of fire exits. I think the rule comes from the local authority rather than the school BTW. My pram cost over £300 as do many, wouldn't risk leaving outside ANYWHERE!!

Same here re the baby clinic at the docs surgery - two concrete steps outside then double doors close together IYKWIM - couldn't get the pram in so didn't go and told the HV exactly why when she asked why DS was rarely weighed.

janeyjinglebops · 15/12/2004 13:28

I had to leave pram outside when I went to see dd nativity last week and so did everyone else, but it was pretty full.

Trouble was DS kept trying to get on stage as he wasn't strapped in and restrained. So caused quite a bit of disruption. There is no way I could hold him from 40 mins. He is very big and lively!

Caligulights · 15/12/2004 13:30

Can somebody explain to me why prams are a greater fire risk than wheelchairs? I'm sure they must be, because in most places where prams and buggies are banned, wheelchairs are allowed, but I wonder why? Does anybody know?

janeyjinglebops · 15/12/2004 13:36

It seemed to me that they were not allowed in so all the parents could squeeze down the aisle and side of seating to do their video! Even blocking the view of audience at the back (I was one of these). Must say some people were very rude in their desparation to watch their child. The woman sat in front of me stood through the whole performance. Meaning I had to and the people behind me had to stand and so on... Perhaps that is another thread...

The people standing on the side wouldn't even move so I could retreive ds from getting on the stage.

paolosgirl · 15/12/2004 13:40

Sounds just like dd's school. Due to the size of the gym hall, and the large no. of kids they have, you are allowed one ticket only - if you want more, you have to apply specially, and are only granted extra tickets if numbers allow. I can imagine the furore if someone tried to bring a pram in! Actually, it might be quite fun to see the head exploding with rage!!

Carla · 15/12/2004 13:53

Please don't take this the wrong way, but there's a sign on our local buses which really used to get my goat up. It reads 'Wheelchair uses have a priority over buggies for this space'. Why, I used to think as I was sitting their with dds screaming their heads off in their double buggy. That means that theoretically it's OK to have two babies out in the cold and rain, but not a wheelchair user. It never happened, but I just couldn't get my head round that one.

feastofstevenmom · 15/12/2004 13:56

carla - that's fine from my POV as with a baby with you - (theoretically at times it has to be said, and much more difficult with two!) - you do have more choices than a disabled child/adult which involve no buggy/buggy being folded up and put into luggage rack

feastofstevenmom · 15/12/2004 13:57

oh dear my post didn't make sense did it - meant that in my book it was fine for people in wheelchairs to get priority with buggy/wheelchair spaces, since you do have more alternatives travelling with a baby/toddler than someone in a wheelchair

Carla · 15/12/2004 13:59

'spose it's just me then but if I'd have had to fold up a double buggy with a 14mo and a newborn with all the ensuing stuff underneath I just don't think I'd have gone out

feastofstevenmom · 15/12/2004 14:01

oh it's not just you Carla - I either take a sling or (more usually) just wait for buggy friendly buses - can't cope by myself with one baby and collapsing a pram, never mind two!

Carla · 15/12/2004 14:04

That was the buggy friendly bus!