train travel with baby

[arolf]

I'm planning to go from london to glasgow soon with my DS who will then be 5 months old. Any idea if I need do anything special regarding booking my ticket so I can take him with me? will probably use Virgin trains. thanks

Will there be any changes?

I did a shorter journey when DS was 12 wks and to be honest no help was forthcoming from the station staff/ onboard staff.

Do you need to take buggy or can you borrow one when you are there? What about car seat?

Travel as light as possible.

I can recommend getting a family railcard. It means you pay for an adult and child fare - but these are discounted, so probably not much different from the adult fare anyway. However, the advantage is you have paid for and can reserve in advance 2 seats. So if the train is crowded you still have enough room to manoeuvre. When I travelled with DD as a baby she was able to sleep on the extra seat, so I could read my book!

Also the more you use the railcard the more you save.

Buggies are a real pain on intercity trains though, so I would definately take a sling. If you have lots of baggage then it is worth asking for help, or at least sweet-talking the conductor so that they know you will be getting on/off with baggage/pram/baby and may need some help.

Yes, I agree try not to take a pushchair as there isn't often a lot of room to put them on long distance trains. We always took a sling instead. Book the extra seat if you can, just to have the extra space. Don't ake too much luggage. Make sure you take plenty to read too, as the train noise does tend to make them go fast asleep for hours and then you're stuck! I've always found the train a nice way to travel with a baby/todder.

thanks - there will be a couple of changes as I live outside London. I think the sling is probably a good idea, except that baby is ridiculously heavy already I'll look into the railcard too - thank you!

I travel by train often.

Agree re railcard...it is cheaper to get 2 tickets with it then a full price adult without plus you get 2 seats.

Never had a problem with taking a lightweigjt buggy though did use a sling when they were babies...depends on how much baggage you will need to carry also though. I have always been helped at the station by staff or other passengers if ive needed it, and help has been offered plenty of times when i havent. Sling on front plus rucksack on back i have found to be best ifyou can travel that light.

If you go into a station when you book your ticket (rather than online) there are some seats on virgin trains that are adjacent to a large luggage rack area so i have been able to park my buggy whilst baby asleep. On other journeys ds has happily slept on the seat beside me with his legs across mine IYSWIM. If anything the motion of the train seemed to make him sleep longer. Or you could book seats near to disable area then buggy fits there if noone in a wheelchair is using tit...though obviously they have priority.

I used to take a dummy too even though mine didnt usually use one.

Take a magazine for you and enjoy your journey with a baby....tis a different kettle of fish with two toddlers to entertain i can tell you!!!!