Your experiences of 'Baby on Board' badges

[Cherryblossom200]

Hi everyone,

I'm interested in hearing your experiences of wearing a baby on board badge? I've got a badge but haven't worn it yet, I'm just over 20 weeks now and have a rather large bump now so I don't feel comfortable being squished on the tube at rush hour. I've resisted wearing the badge up until now because I don't like drawing attention to myself but I think it's time I put my badge on now!

I'm finding that when people see my bump who are sitting in the designated seats for pregnant/elderly people they tend to ignore me but other people always offer their seat

Cherry x

when i first read the title i thought you meant the baby on board car stickers.

i ve never seen anyone wear a badge with baby on board on...

They are used on the London underground..I've seen lots of women wearing them. A guy on the tube this morning told me to get one so I thought it's about time I should get one!

Thought you meant car stickers as well. Never heard of actual badges - I wouldn't wear one myself, seems a bit princessy to me but then I don't use public transport so may be useful there.

V common on London public transport. Wore mine almost straight away because nausea and then later sitting down was all about my feet! I think people expect to see them and only offer a seat if you have one to avoid offence.

It does depend on people looking up and being able to see you though (at busy times) but for me someone always did.

ahh i live now where near London which is maybe why i haven't seen them.

if it seems to be popular to wear them and you feel people would be more considerate then i would wear it

Yeah this guy who said I should get one said his wife had one. Today I'm wearing a baggish jumper which skims over my tummy, you can still see my bump pretty easily but not as easily in other tighter clothes so it's not quite as noticable. So for occasions like this I think the badge would be ideal. I'm just a little embarrassed to wear it! Not sure why.

It's a Transport for London thing myhusband so if you're elsewhere you won't have seen them. I think they're great, it helps that awful "should I offer her a seat or am I going to mortally offend someone who's wearing an unflattering skirt?" moment. And it's handy for women with appalling morning sickness who don't have visible bumps.

OP it is possible that the people who are sitting in the designated disabled/pg/elderly seats aren't standing up for you because they're disabled. As long as you get a seat it doesn't really matter.

OneStepBeyond, if you had to take the piccadilly line everyday in rush hour believe me you would be grateful for a bump badge :) You get rammed in at times and it's actaully quite dangerous. Any other modes of transport then of course I wouldn't wear it. The baby on board badge was designed specifically for the London Underground, not to be worn elsewhere.

EvilRing, the people in the designated seats are most definitley not disabled! They are normally young guys in suits with fully working limbs! ;)

Ah it's a London thing. Apologies then - not princessy!!

I've never worn one (no kids yet) but use the tube every day and love them - clear and unambiguous with no chance of offending someone who just had a carb-y lunch

I offered a seat to a woman who looked pregnant and she wasn't, I was mortified it can happen so easily!

They're great. I wore one but during rush hour people sitting tend to stick their nose in books/phones and refuse to look up in case they see someone who might need a seat. I used to go up to the people in the designated seats and ask if I could sit down. Would try and choose someone in 20s-30s who looked fit and healthy. Appreciate you can't tell if there's a hidden disability but I never knowingly came across that. Most of the time once I asked politely they'd jump up. Wearing the badge was handy in Winter when big coats would hide even a biggish bump. Sort of gave me confidence to ask for a seat.

That's the thing, almost always the people sitting in the designated seats are young people who see pregnant women and ignore them which really annoys me. I would never expect an elderly of disabled person to stand up for me.

That's why I asked them to let me sit down. The only people that usually minded were women in their late twenties/early thirties. Followed by men in that same age bracket. Older women (late thirties upwards) usually offered, older men didn't mind and young people (teens and very early twenties) were usually very polite too.

During rush hour its pointless no one will lift there head to look until its their stop.

Well I'm about to finish work and going to put on my badge for the first time so will report back to see if I get a seat or if people ignore me. This may end up being my first and last time of wearing it!! x

Just ask! People are in their own world but they will get up for you if you ask them and most of the time are lovely about it. I've sometimes found it sparks a fit of mannerly and polite behaviour as an older person stood for me so someone stood for them and the train has ended up chatting and laughing about all being lovely and polite.

Go for it, my wife had a shirt with "Shush baby asleep" on it when pregnant which seemed to make people smile.

On the tube if I stand to let a woman sit, I wouldn't suggest it is because she is pregnant just in case she isn't ;)

I had a 'mind the bump' T-Shirt, in the last few weeks of my pregnancy I wanted it to say 'Keep Your Fucking Hands Off The Bump'

I started wearing mine after I could see people looking at the bump and then hesitating in case I wasn't pregnant. Not remotely princessey, people expect you to have them on the tube. Generally people stand when they see them, but also have had to ask people if they're able to give up their seats.

here's mine! daily commute to the city of london from zone 4 and this def makes a difference. easier to spot / harder to ignore i think.

have worn it since about 9 weeks due to nausea at first and now at 28 weeks it's general knackeredness/ bit wobbly if the train lurches suddenly.

Piccadilly line / FCC for me and usually get offered a seat pretty promptly if it's not too packed for me to make it past the door area into the seating part of the train. IME it's mostly ladies that offer first.

Worst experience was the bloke who had been squeezed up behind me muttering 'smug bitch' when i was offered a seat during a particularly overcrowded journey. Too hormonal to come up with any kind of withering retort, i just felt really awkward!!

Cherry, I agree, i have heard apocryphal stories from so many guys at work who are afraid to offer a seat to a woman without a badge on just in case 'she's just a bit chubby' so hopefully this will help them all.

I agree with Lorelei. I have a badge, but I wouldn't expect anyone to actually notice- I know what it's like to be knackered/preoccupied/reading in London rush hour. I plan to ask if I need a seat- there's something that annoys me about the idea of a woman having to wait to be noticed. Also, there are do many conflicting 'rules' on the trains; you have to simultaneously notice pregnant ladies yet also not make eye contact.