s/o Standing room only--baby strollers

[SPuck]

The times I road public transportation I always appreciated it when parents had there kids in strollers. It kept them confined (versus the times I have seen children swinging around on the poles) and for adults with multiple children it gave them something easier to hold onto.

[kareng57]

The times I road public transportation I always appreciated it when parents had there kids in strollers. It kept them confined (versus the times I have seen children swinging around on the poles) and for adults with multiple children it gave them something easier to hold onto.

Agreed.  Of course it depends on the rules of the particular transit system.  Here, there's a section of vertical seats that can folded up, or not (there's also a section of non-folding vertical seats on the other side of the bus).  Both are priority-seating for the elderly/disabled, or for stroller-space.  If someone with a stroller approaches, the people in the folding-seat area are expected to vacate the seat to make room for the stroller; usually the stroller-parent has to stand, unless it's a very light load.  The elevated-trains here usually do have enough room to accomodate strollers as well as a seated parent - except during very busy times.

I'm aware that some transit systems require folded-strollers-only and I would certainly never assert that anyone ought to flout these rules.  But I personally would not want to be trying to stand, hold on to a toddler as well as a folded stroller all at the same time......

[Sharnita]

You know, it is strange though.  I remember when my sisters were little most people used smaller strollers than you see today.  A lot of people used umprella strollers.  I am sure parents had to take their kids on busses and trains then but they somehow managed with smaller scale equipment.

[Ms Aspasia]

Agree with johelenc1.  Rush hour is awkward and most people are doing the best they can. 

I wouldn't support a proposal to ban large prams. Small strollers are not practical when you're using a pram in place of a car: over long distances, carrying shopping, and needing rain cover. 

[Arrynne]

I've seen quite a few comments about strollers on NYC subways.  Our stroller is a necessity because my little guy can't walk due to CP, but he's still small enough to use the stroller so we stick to it. Most subway stations aren't wheelchair, and therefore stroller, accessible. It was an adventure carrying Michael, and his stroller, medical gear, and diaper bag up and down stairways in the subway stations to get around

[redsfan]

My LO is 19 months.  One of the biggest advantages to the stroller is that she is strapped in.  Right now, she is in a phase that she thinks she must explore everything.  As soon as we get outside, her favorite word is "running" while, you guessed it, running.  If I put her in the stroller, she will generally be content to sit there.  If I get her out, she won't go back in.  To fold and unfold even our umbrella stroller takes 2 hands, and in that time she could be 20 feet away (a scary thing in a subway station).   For me, it is a necessity to have our stroller. 

[Louie_LI]

We moved from the area before having a child, but I did always wonder how parents managed kids and strollers and car seats in urban areas.  So if you take your kids in a cab, do you need to supply the car seat?  And what about booster seats?  In Texas I think you've got to have the child in a booster seat until they're 8 or something.  How does the work if you are putting a 5 year old in a cab?

Buses and trains seem easier by comparison even with the stroller drama.

I can't speak for everywhere, but in many places taxis are exempt from the car seat rules. This is the case in NYC, Washington DC and Paris, to name a few.

[PurpleFrog]

Lucky I'm in the UK, and buses here have 2-3 wheelchair/pushchair spaces. I can't drive so am entirely reliant on public transport. Banning strollers would seriously limit my ability to get around as I have a 3 year old who would struggle to walk the distances required when the 10 month old is in the pram. (I appreciate that it was a lifestyle choice to have two so close and it is not anyone else's problem). Taxi's would not be an option as a short 5 min journey costs more than 3 times as much as a return bus journey.

 Twice a week I know I'll be travelling at rush hour so take Tadpole in a chest carrier. At other times or when I have to travel with both boys I will use a pushchair, it does fold however if there is space I will keep it set up, in the event of sharp breaking or Ana accident I would be unable to hold a baby safely in my lap and stop a three year old flying out of the seat.

However I will always seat Froglet on my lap at busier times, so an extra seat is available, when on my own, or if I have Tadploe in the carrier I will always give up my seat. I have on several occasions gotten off a stop early and walked a little further when another stroller or wheelchair user needs to get on at the earlier stop, to make the space for them (its outside a school, park and a leasure center, so is a popular stop for strollers & wheelchairs)gra I've also found that when I've had to fold the pushchair, someone normally grabs the baby or bags or stroller to help, I don't expect it but do appreciate it.

I hope that by being polite and considerate to others I build good bus karma for those time when I am unfortunatly an inconvenience.

[TootsNYC]

We moved from the area before having a child, but I did always wonder how parents managed kids and strollers and car seats in urban areas.  So if you take your kids in a cab, do you need to supply the car seat?  And what about booster seats?  In Texas I think you've got to have the child in a booster seat until they're 8 or something.  How does the work if you are putting a 5 year old in a cab?

Buses and trains seem easier by comparison even with the stroller drama.

I can't speak for everywhere, but in many places taxis are exempt from the car seat rules. This is the case in NYC, Washington DC and Paris, to name a few.

Of course, just because the law is different for taxis doesn't make taxis SAFER without a car seat. In my personal opinion, it would be just the opposite. *I* am nervous riding in cabs, and I always wear my seat belt.

[TootsNYC]

You know, it is strange though.  I remember when my sisters were little most people used smaller strollers than you see today.  A lot of people used umprella strollers.  I am sure parents had to take their kids on busses and trains then but they somehow managed with smaller scale equipment.

In my experience of living in a TRANSIT city, where few people have cars, large strollers are not the stroller of choice. i don't see quite as many umbrella strollers as I used to, but people don't have those behemoths--or if they do, they don't take them on the subways. Parents who can afford a behemoth stroller can often afford a second, "subway" stroller.

[mechtilde]

You know, it is strange though.  I remember when my sisters were little most people used smaller strollers than you see today.  A lot of people used umprella strollers.  I am sure parents had to take their kids on busses and trains then but they somehow managed with smaller scale equipment.

That was the advice a good friend (who had had four children) gave me when we asked her about pushchairs. Get the smallest, cheapest, lightest pushchair you can. I don't know how people cope with those massive strollers. The only time I didn't use an umbrella stroller was either when they were too small for them, or when they had to go in a tandem- and you can get even more compact "double decker" type strollers these days.

[Sophia]

Continuing with crowded bus/subway etiquette, what about someone bringing a stroller on crowded public transport during rush hour?  I think they should be banned, along with bicycles, unless it can be collapsed and the child taken out and put on the person's lap....

I find the underlined part amusing.  Yes, bicycles are annoying.  But, aren't they more in keeping with the ultimate goal of public transport, which is to keep cars off the road? 

[AuntyEm]

As a bike rider myself, it would be great to have the space to bring my bike with me on the subway whenever I wanted but not so nice for the people that would be displaced if I was allowed to do that during rush hour.  On the buses here, they often have a bike rack outside under the front windshield which is super.

[Firecat]

The light rail trains here have four spaces for bikes in each car, so bicycles aren't a huge problem, unless the train is so packed that it's difficult to get the bike in and out of the train. But most people are willing to stand aside or step onto the platform briefly so a cyclist can get in or out.

My only requests for parents with strollers are: 1) Please refrain from using your stroller as a battering ram. 2) Please try to avoid giving your small child something to eat that will leave him/her/them with sticky hands right before boarding or during the ride. Little hands do like to reach for things, and I don't need to be trying to get chocolate stains out of my light brown pants. And if the train is crowded, it may not be possible for others to stand out of your child's reach. 3) If your child likes to wave things around, please try not to give them a hard toy to play with...some of us bruise easily  .

I get way more annoyed when the local baseball team has an afternoon game than I do by strollers. Lots of people take the train to the stadium, which is cool. What's not cool is when the game ends right about the time regular rush hour is beginning. That means that the trains are packed full of baseball fans, leaving the regular commuters standing there watching at least 2-3 trains go by. And the stadium is, of course, the first stop on the downtown end. I've been half an hour late getting home thanks to that.

[Tabby Uprising]

You know, it is strange though.  I remember when my sisters were little most people used smaller strollers than you see today.  A lot of people used umprella strollers.  I am sure parents had to take their kids on busses and trains then but they somehow managed with smaller scale equipment.

That was the advice a good friend (who had had four children) gave me when we asked her about pushchairs. Get the smallest, cheapest, lightest pushchair you can. I don't know how people cope with those massive strollers. The only time I didn't use an umbrella stroller was either when they were too small for them, or when they had to go in a tandem- and you can get even more compact "double decker" type strollers these days.

I tried an umbrella stroller first for my son.  They're very affordable and convenient.  Then I used it.

*shudder*

I could not walk with that thing.  I took my son around the block and by the time we got home I was ready to wallop it against the pavement like a rock star with a guitar.  I'm 5'8" and I felt completely hunched over and my big feet kept tripping on the wheel-bar.  I was walking around like a drunken Clydesdale with a bad back. On top of that, I tried to walk to the park over the mulch pathway and the stroller wouldn't budge. 

It just wasn't meant to be!