London Mums - no car

[florencesthoughts]

Hello

I live in new build flat London in a 'no car zone' as the area is trying to reduce pollution etc. The tube is 6min walk away and 10mins on it and you are in central London. My question is how are London mums without a car (or any mums without a car) finding things? I've never had a car living here but now thinking whether a car is essential or just convenient? I appreciate this is first world problems.

Thanks

It’s convenient for holidays or day trips - mainly because small children need such a lot of crap.

Definitely not essential in London though.

I’d say most of my mum friends don’t have cars. If they want to drive off on holiday or something they just rent a car, if they want to do a big Ikea run or something then zip cars or similar are great for short term rentals.

You can get rental cars with baby car seats fitted but they’re rarer plus you don’t really know how safe those are - best to buy your own car seat and just put it in to a rental car as needed.

Can delivery trucks and vans still enter? In London we can get deliveries from all the supermarkets, and since changing rooms are closed obviously ordering clothes online is just as easy anyway. But everyone needs to leave home and get some change of scene in their life too! When I had only one a bike seat for the baby was a godsend, but with two you need more planning, good busTube links, and a reasonably close playground ... right?

You’ll only need it for trips out of London - you’ll be fine otherwise.

Also: besides taxis (which do work out much cheaper than MOT- tax- insurance-parking-petrol, so do USE via apps) do you have Zipcar?

Yes to all the above- we've got 2 kids and no car and it's fine- DH doesn't drive but I use zipcar sometimes and occasionally rent for longer. We have 2 train stations very close on fast lines. We also cycle a lot.

It is very occasionally a bit annoying e.g. fancying going somewhere that is awkward by public transport but often by the time you factor in parking time and getting stuck in traffic the 'awkward' journey takes about the same time, or we just save it for when we have a car rented. IKEA works out loads easier to go on the bus and then use their delivery service which comes the same day. Added bonus I don't have to load it all in the car.

One thing I like is that it isn't 'dead' time- we do lots of reading on the train for example. I would actually find a car less convenient- all the parking, maintainence hassle. Loads more convenient to hop on the train. Also DC1 is very car sick and I'd rather not spend my weekends mopping up puke. The kids are excellent travellers- very confident on and off trains and tubes, not phased by busy stations. Will stand them in good stead later.

*fazed not phased

I've never passed my test let alone had a car!
When DD was small getting on and off the tube to get to street level was sometimes a PITA so we had to plan journeys carefully. Also if there are 2 buggies on the bus you have to wait for the next one (as well as trying to social distance).
Most of the time you'll find a kind volunteer to help.
London is very convenient though. Get your Big Shop delivered. Buy clothes and baby stuff online. Treat yourself to a takeaway once a week. Get a Baby carrier!
We only used to take Bubba into town if there was no babysitter or if we were on our way to visit family in the Midlands.

No car here. We don’t really miss it (we used to have one) I do have a cargo bike which makes life easier for shopping and kids etc.
For public transport take a carrier and a backpack

Thanks everyone soo helpful!

Yes delivery drivers can come in and already get our food shop delivered so will continue to do that. Good idea on renting a car for weekends away etc. I was toying with the idea of buying a cheap car then renting a space nearby, it's about £120 a month and still need to walk about 10mins to get to it but seems like waste of money.

Also noted on the baby carrier. Good tips!

You can also get some great buggies that are very lightweight and fold up small, so if you need to use the tube and there’s a long staircase you just fold them and carry with one hand (or on your shoulder, some have straps) while carrying the baby up. Search for lightweight buggies and you’ll see options.

You can get literally anything delivered in London.
Amazon Prime is a godsend, especially Prime Now - get things, even groceries delivered, within 2 hours!

Plus there are car sharing clubs all over. Most of them you have to return the car to the origin parking spot. But if you sign up for Zipcar Flex, and its available, you can drive from A to B and just drop the car off at B, without having to return it to A!

I hate driving in London, so basically don't. You can pay for a lot of taxi rides (and car hire when you really do need one) out of what you would have spent running a car.

And i've found that so many journeys are much more walkable than you might think.