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backpack carriers on vacation in London ?
On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 17:13:29 -0800, "Anne Rogers"
wrote: check out http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/maps/ there are links to maps as to what stations are accessible, the only problem is, despite having a mark for "inaccessible", many stations are not marked either way, which I presume to be mean inaccessible, but it very much depends on the station, there are some, e.g. covent garden that use lifts for everyone, but have a small number of stairs, making them inaccessible for wheelchairs, but fine for buggies with 2 adults. Stations without any specific symbol on the map at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tube/downloads...ctober2006.pdf don't have any step-free access: the trouble is that there's no indication of whether there are five steps or 50. In practice I do see a fair number of people with buggies on the tube. If you take a backpack, be aware that the trains on some tube lines are very cramped and can get very crowded. Buses in London now all have provision for buggies, apart from two short 'heritage' routes using traditional Routemaster (open-patform) buses I don't know what you plan to do in London, but plan carefully for the kids, the kind of city break an adult might do in London is not fun for a toddler, but they are probably too young to enjoy any of the main children's attractions. A good point: I'd recommend the science museum as somewhere with good provision for children of all ages from toddlers upwards, with a range of child-friendly exhibits in the basement in particular. Also the Deep Blue café within the museum is a good child-friendly place to eat Martin |
#12
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backpack carriers on vacation in London ?
How about this - use whatever carrier you usually use for the infant,
and for the toddler, get a soft carrier (easy to stuff in a regular backpack) like an Ergo that you can wear front or back and an inexpensive umbrella stroller. That way you can put the bigger one in the stroller for long walks and such, but quickly pop her into the carrier and fold up the stroller if you're facing a long flight of steps or other difficult conditions. We were in London and other parts of the UK and Ireland about 10 years ago, and even though we didn't even have kids yet, I remember noticing how inaccessible many areas would have been for the disabled. (We had been living near and working in Berkeley CA for many years, which is probably the most accessible place in the US, which is why we noticed.)I did use public transport extensively while living int he Berkeley area, and a combination of sling and umbrella stroller was the best solution for me for walking to stations then boarding buses and trains then walking again for shopping, appointments, etc. A regular backpack for my baby gear and personal items kept my hands free. Karen wrote: Hi all, This might not be the right group to post this but I thought I would give it a shot. We're headed to London for a week with our 26 and 6 month olds. We will be using the tube/busses etc. a fair bit to tour around London. My initial thought was that a stroller would be cumbersome and we were thinking of using a front carrier for the infant and a backpack carrier for our 26 month old. Does anyone have experience moving around London with toddlers and an opinion on stroller (pushchair) versus backpacks? Also, any recommendations on backpack carriers that are compact. The one we have is fairly large (albiet sturdy) and might be a pain to fold away at restaurants etc. Thanks! Kevin |
#13
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backpack carriers on vacation in London ?
Thanks everyone for your responses!. I haven't used the backpack
carrier a whole lot. A couple of times at the zoo here in Cincinnati and at some outdoor venues in the US/Canada. Our 2 year old does get fedup of being in it for too long though and so taking a long an umbrella would probably be a good thing. Carrying a big backpack (books, laptop, etc) in college . was fine on subways and buses in Toronto - it might be OK with a 27lb 2yr old too.. My wife has a fairly firm (soft/padded) carrier she normaly uses for the 6 month old although in the last couple of days she has tried this new carrier that looks basically like a twin sheet that wraps around her, I guess it is known as a "wrap carrier". It's the most ugly thing I've seen but she's the one who's gonna be wearing it and she seems to like it better than the other carrier. *shrug* I liked the "framed" backpack carrier that I used for our 26 month old but it's got a fairly thick metal frame, sun canopy, buttons, zippers etc. It's fairly large, can't be compacted down to very much. So it definitely won't fit in a backpack. Irene - I will look into some of the soft carriers that you mentioned, they might work out better, especially to pack away - thanks. This is slightly off topic but we're going to be in India on vacation (Goa) for 2 weeks after London and are looking for front carriers for the 6 month old that would be light, thin etc, because of the heat. The carrier's we have (other than the wrap) are quite thick and padded and would probably be extremely hot to use. Something light, thin, well ventilated would probably work. Thanks! Kevin On Jan 24, 9:21 am, wrote: Hi all, This might not be the right group to post this but I thought I would give it a shot. We're headed to London for a week with our 26 and 6 month olds. We will be using the tube/busses etc. a fair bit to tour around London. My initial thought was that a stroller would be cumbersome and we were thinking of using a front carrier for the infant and a backpack carrier for our 26 month old. Does anyone have experience moving around London with toddlers and an opinion on stroller (pushchair) versus backpacks? Also, any recommendations on backpack carriers that are compact. The one we have is fairly large (albiet sturdy) and might be a pain to fold away at restaurants etc. Thanks! Kevin |
#14
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backpack carriers on vacation in London ?
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#15
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backpack carriers on vacation in London ?
In message , Jim Ottaway
writes wrote: Hi all, This might not be the right group to post this but I thought I would give it a shot. We're headed to London for a week with our 26 and 6 month olds. We will be using the tube/busses etc. a fair bit to tour around London. My initial thought was that a stroller would be cumbersome and we were thinking of using a front carrier for the infant and a backpack carrier for our 26 month old. Does anyone have experience moving around London with toddlers and an opinion on stroller (pushchair) versus backpacks? We live in London, and we use both a backpack and a buggy to get around with our 26 month-old son. On the whole, I prefer the backpack, which I find more comfortable and manoeuvrable. You mileage, so to speak, may vary: we typically use public transport at busy times going to and from work and nursery. Not done London really with littun's though having lived there I have some idea what it is like. But we have done other cities with buggies/backbacks. I think on balance I would go for backback in London. Though I'd put comfort over size, you'll be wearing it a lot. The one drawback of the backpack, at least of the one that we have, is that it doesn't seem to be designed so that a child can sleep in it. If we go out when our son is due to have a nap, we always take the buggy instead. Ours have never had problem sleeping in ours - a Bushbaby, even though it doesn't look that comfortable -- Chris French |
#16
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backpack carriers on vacation in London ?
On 27 Jan 2007, Chris French wrote:
In message , Jim Ottaway writes The one drawback of the backpack, at least of the one that we have, is that it doesn't seem to be designed so that a child can sleep in it. If we go out when our son is due to have a nap, we always take the buggy instead. Ours have never had problem sleeping in ours - a Bushbaby, even though it doesn't look that comfortable We have a Bushbaby too. One of the reasons we chose it was that it had a sort of cushion for the child to rest its head on to sleep. But our son just sort of lolls around; it does indeed look uncomfortable, and he never really sleeps much. Regards, -- Jim Ottaway |
#17
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backpack carriers on vacation in London ?
On Thu, 25 Jan 2007 11:25:30 +0000, Martin Rich
wrote: A good point: I'd recommend the science museum as somewhere with good provision for children of all ages from toddlers upwards, with a range of child-friendly exhibits in the basement in particular. Please forgive me following up my own post, but two other particularly child-friendly museums come to mind: the museum of childhood in Bethnal Green, and the Horniman near Dulwich, which has a really varied selection of exhibits and activities. Most of the structured activities start with slightly older children, but both do provide something for almost any age. We visited the Horniman last spring: the youngest child in the group was just two at the time and she thoroughly enjoyed herself. Martin |
#19
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backpack carriers on vacation in London ?
On Jan 25, 9:56 am, wrote:
Thanks everyone for your responses!. I haven't used the backpackcarriera whole lot. A couple of times at the zoo here in Cincinnati and at some outdoor venues in the US/Canada. Our 2 year old does get fedup of being in it for too long though and so taking a long an umbrella would probably be a good thing. Carrying a big backpack (books, laptop, etc) in college . was fine on subways and buses in Toronto - it might be OK with a 27lb 2yr old too.. My wife has a fairly firm (soft/padded)carriershe normaly uses for the 6 month old although in the last couple of days she has tried this newcarrierthat looks basically like a twin sheet that wraps around her, I guess it is known as a "wrapcarrier". It's the most ugly thing I've seen but she's the one who's gonna be wearing it and she seems to like it better than the othercarrier. *shrug* I liked the "framed" backpackcarrierthat I used for our 26 month old but it's got a fairly thick metal frame, sun canopy, buttons, zippers etc. It's fairly large, can't be compacted down to very much. So it definitely won't fit in a backpack. Irene - I will look into some of the soft carriers that you mentioned, they might work out better, especially to pack away - thanks. This is slightly off topic but we're going to be in India on vacation (Goa) for 2 weeks afterLondonand are looking for front carriers for the 6 month old that would be light, thin etc, because of the heat. Thecarrier'swe have (other than the wrap) are quite thick and padded and would probably be extremely hot to use. Something light, thin, well ventilated would probably work. Thanks! Kevin On Jan 24, 9:21 am, wrote: Hi all, This might not be the right group to post this but I thought I would give it a shot. We're headed toLondonfor a week with our 26 and 6 month olds. We will be using the tube/busses etc. a fair bit to tour aroundLondon. My initial thought was that a stroller would be cumbersome and we were thinking of using a frontcarrierfor the infant and a backpackcarrier for our 26 month old. Does anyone have experience moving aroundLondonwith toddlers and an opinion on stroller (pushchair) versus backpacks? Also, any recommendations on backpack carriers that are compact. The one we have is fairly large (albiet sturdy) and might be a pain to fold away at restaurants etc. Thanks! Kevin- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Hi all, Just thought I'd add some of our experiences to this thread. We just got back from our week in London followed by 2 weeks in India. The whole trip was awesome. On the topic of strollers and carriers etc: The tube stations are horribly equipped for stroller. Most and I mean almost all stations do not have any way of getting a stroller around without actually carrying up and down the stairs. Even those that did have an elevator it was so out of the way that it was quicker to just walk up the stairs, stroller and all. The buses weren't any better. We took about 6-8 buses in London and all but 2 had the ability to "lower" and let a stroller on. One of them, I motioned the driver to lower the bus and he just looked at me all puzzled. So I just picked up the stroller and stepped in. We had the same problem around some of the venues downtown. I'm not really sure how someone in a wheelchair would manage, even with help since it isn't as light as a stroller with a toddler in it. Other than the stroller issues, London was a blast! Lots of fun, lots to see. Even with two little kids it was awesome. Contrary to popular belief, the M25 is definitely not a parking lot, we rode on it about 5 times (couple at rush hour) and most times averaged speeds of about 70 mph. Driving on the wrong side of the road, shifting with the left hand was an experience too ;-) Kevin |
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