Tips on travelling with 6 month old on tube (rush hour commute)

[workingmom2000]

As we weren't able to get space with a local childminder/nursery, we are having to take ds on the tube to the nursery near work.

I just wanted some advice from those who have commuted with a small baby before on the tube. Should I take the baby in the sling? It seems that the buggy in rush hour may be v. difficult to manage. However,what do people do on days it rains?

All tips welcome pls ! many thanks.

Well you're going to have to do it with a buggy when your baby gets older but I'd do it with a sling when you can. And get waitlisted for a local place and take it up. I'm not generally hysterical about these things but I went to visit my friend at the Barbican a few weeks back and came home in rush hour. People couldn't see the buggy through the crush so just assumed there was a huge space and kept pushing forward. My DS got a bit scared and so did I.

Sorry, that's not terribly helpful but I think you should know what you're getting into. Being slightly more helpful, I would try and do everything early if you can. In my experience, if you're out the door at 5pm on the nose, it's not nearly as packed. Can you work 8.30-4.30 at all? That would make the whole thing a hell of a lot less stressful

Unfortunately, I cannot leave before 5.30. The mornings should be ok as i'll try to get to the nursery by 8am, missing the most of the peak morning rush.

Yes we're waitlisted at the local nursery, and in the top 10 now. So hoping for a spot in the next 3-4 months. So hopefully i'll try to manage with the sling for this time period.

I think it really depends where you get on. If you're at Canary Wharf (for example) and going to the other end of the Jubilee line, then you should be fine. I don't know how long it is until you go back to work but is there any way you can do a test run without the baby? Just to find out the quietest carriages (if you don't know). If you can get on and stand between the seats, then I'm sure someone will give you a seat if you have the baby in a sling. (weirdly people are much better about giving you a seat if you're wearing a baby outside the body than they are if you're wearing them on the inside!). It's the whole forcing yourself onto a crowded carriage which is crap and if you've got a buggy, you obviously can't move out of the way particularly.

Hopefully I'm painting a particularly grim picture and you'll have a much more pleasant experience