anyone commute with their baby?

[unclefluffy]

Tomorrow I'm looking at a nursery on the campus where I will be studying. It will mean a 50-60 minute commute each way on public transport (either a bus or a bus and a train - the bus-only option involves slightly longer walks at either end). Does anyone else do this? Does it work?

DD will be 11 months when she starts nursery. It is also on my other half's way to work (sort of) so he can do pick-ups and drop-offs too - and he can come and pick us both up on days when I have to stay on campus until the nursery closes (6pm) so we won't often have to do the journey when we are at our most frazzled.

If anyone has any tips (or even dire warnings) I'd be most grateful!

hi, i don't drive so have to use public transport with my ds. If you can get away with it don't take a pushchair, carry your dd because if you have to drop your pushchair down it can be difficult with a baby a bag and a handbag and alot of people dont help you. keep your bus/trainfare in your coat pocket so you don't have to root around in your purse and have a ruck sack or a bag with lots of pockets on it. Put your handbag in the rucksack or larger bag with child's things in, on the top and take it out when you get to nursery. its easier than carrying two bags separately. have a bottle of juice which is easy to get to in one of the side pockets and a few small distraction toys, rattles, soft toys.

DLI - thank you! I guessed slinging would be easier than the pushchair and it's great to hear the confirmation. Thanks so much for the tips.

Hi there,

I commute for an hour each way with my DS through London on bus and train to take him to my work nursery. He was 11 months old when i started doing this too. I'm not going to pretend the first few weeks weren't tricky, mainly due to him being very tired from starting nursery, but i don't find it too much of a hassle now (2 months later). My tips would be...

• either do as DLI suggested or if you don't have one already, get a light weight buggy you can lift if needed by yourself (although i usually find people generally helpful with lifting the buggy)
• do a few test runs at rush hour to find the easiest/quickest route
• take a few snacks for her to eat particularly on the way home!
• if it's possible, try to pick up your DD as early as you can manage for the first few weeks, when they are tired it's more stressfull.

Hope it works out for you.

Don't rule out the buggy, you may be lucky and have buses that you'll never have to fold it on. I used to drop my ds at a business park nursery and the bus was fine, sometimes crowded but there was no competition for the pushchair space when I got on. You may be lucky too. Totally agree about distraction and food. Be prepared for everything and get used to hearing yourself read stories and so on out loud - I used to feel v. self conscious at first but actually it's better for the other passengers than hearing crying!

Thanks, guys! Actually I have decided against the nursery on campus. Didn't get a great feeling about it when I looked round - not very well organised, too many babies in bouncers/jumperoos, too much chaos, smelled too much of wee. Disappointing, but I've found a much better place near home. I'm sad that she'll have to wait for me to get back, but happy that she'll be in a good environment.