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Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers
Getting Baby to Daycare on Metro
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Anonymous
| OP here. To answer PP's question. My current choices are Green/Yellow line or bus. Both can be very crowded during morning rush. Not as bad in the evening. My wife and I will give it a try and see how it goes. If it is really miserable we can always buy a car (which we were planning on doing anyway, but we were hoping not to have to use it for daily commuting). |
Anonymous
|
Good luck, OP. You've gotten a lot of advice, but I will pass on some good advice I got when I had a younger child...
You can always change your mind and do something else. Don't forget to reevaluate from time to time, and make sure things are still working. |
Anonymous
| My DD is now 7 months old and we have been taking metro for almost four months. It works fine for us. We have four stops on the blue/orange line and I carry her in the Baby Bjorn. She amuses herself by staring at people on the train now, but when she was a bit younger, I will be honest, she freaked out a few times toward the end of the short trip and I had to stand and bounce her a bit. I will eventually need to transition her to a stroller, not because she is too heavy for the carrier, but because it will be hot and I don't want to arrive at work a sweaty, wrinkled mess. I'm not looking forward to having to deal with the stroller on the metro because of broken elevators and because the stroller will take up more room than just me and the Bjorn. |
Anonymous
| I've been taking metro with my 8 month old for 5 months, and during peak hours on the red line. It's very do-able. We started with the full size stroller and now use the umbrella stroller (but switched more because he was getting bigger than because we couldn't get the full size one on). The first week felt really daunting, but you quickly get used to it. Riding in the very first car helps because they use the newest cars in that slot and they tend to have more unobstructed floor space. Plus, the conductor usually sees you and makes sure you get on. My son seems to love the metro and I love that we can get some quality time together during the commute. Most people are really nice. There are some jerks, but you're going to find that with or without kids, on the roads, or on the metro. I posted about this when I first went back to work and felt so discouraged, but I worked it out and you can too. I love having my son close to my office too. |
Anonymous
| I wouldn't take a baby on metro. Too crowded, too germy, too stressful, and heck, too dangerous nowadays with Metro having accidents every month or two. |
Anonymous
|
the green/yellow is good because it seems a bit less crowded than red and orange in the morn.
op, i am die hard public transportation fan. i do not own a car. that said, i have struggled on the metro with a stroller during rush hour and had many, many frustrating experiences. if you can carry the child in a bjorn, then it will be easier. of course, you can't do that forever. i had to use a stroller due to a physical disability and actually ultimately opted to walk my child 1.5 miles each way through all four seasons including some pretty dreary weather and pitch blackness than to try to get a baby and stroller on a bus or the metro on regular basis. some folks who are physically stronger can hack it. i couldn't. the crowds, the carrying of bags/babies/strollers, the sometimes dangerous driving of the bus driver....it just wasn't doable for me. of course, metro can be a dream with a stroller when not rush hour. and with a slightly older child, the bus can be great too. but a daily commute with a baby is a commitment. |
Anonymous
|
It's totally doable. We've been doing it for 3 years -- on the red line with a switch at metro center. We leave before 8am and pickup at 430pm so that we avoid the real crowds and my husband and I alternate drop-off and pick-up, so we each do it once a day. It isn't always fun or easy, but it is part of our routine and my DD just sees it as part of her daily life. My biggest fear is that she will stop wanting to be in the stroller and then it will be even more difficult, as we will have to carry her through the crowds.
We have used our car a few times, but between the cost of parking and the fact that often it takes longer to get home via car than Metro keeps us on public transportation. |
Anonymous
i also do not like to see people violating the no-eating rule on metro. but when it's a kid getting a snack (and not some smelly cheeseburger or greasy fries), i don't have a problem with it. i'd rather see a happy kid licking a lollipop than a crying, miserable child. you have to do what it takes to keep your kid from terrorizing an entire trainload of commuters. |
Anonymous
| As a Metro-riding, daycare-using mom, I'm surprised by the poster who thinks Metro is a germ-fest (that's daycare, isn't it?) that is more dangerous than driving. |
Anonymous
I'm not the mom you're responding too. But, I also think it is a cesspool. Just all the sneezing and coughing and hands everywhere. At least in day care it is the same few kids and they wash their hands a lot. Metro has thousands of people who do god knows what with re: to washing hands. Plus, you see people cutting their nails and stuff on it. Gross. |
Anonymous
Wow, does this count for babies with their bottles? If you feel that strongly you can hold my screaming baby when she is hungry for her evening bottle. Not all of us have the option to use cars to get around. |
Anonymous
| I've been taking my one year old to and from day care downtown for 6 months. We use the Green line and have only not been able to get on a train once or twice in 6 months. DS likes the train and people are usually nice. Occasionally elevators are out and it's a bit of a hassle to use the escalators instead, but generally we've had a positive experience. I do think that the line you're on matters; in my experience the Green line is a bit less crazy than the others. |
Anonymous
| Our commute to daycare takes twice as long on Metro as in the car about 40 minutes on train, 20 in the car. But, both kids prefer the metro to the car. |