How to take a stroller in escalator (when no access to lifts)

When visiting malls, shopping complexes, stations, its common to take the escalator. However, it can be tricky as well as risky when you have to take a stroller with baby on the escalator. In fact, many escalators ban the use of any wheeled device on the escalator, such as strollers for precisely the same reason.

Despite escalator guidelines include using the lift if you have limited mobility, are carrying bulky items or using a pram, or are feeling unwell, parents are forced to take their pram on the escalators as the lifts at malls are getting smaller and crowded, and they have to wait forever to get inside the lifts.

Several parents admit to pushing the pram onto the escalator with their child still in it, despite knowing the risks involved, and there is a possibility that the pram may lose balance, it may topple over, the wheels can get stuck.

“Every time the lift door opens, you see these idiots (lunch crowds) inside with no kids or strollers, and not on wheelchairs. I see so many ‘normal and fit’ people … waiting for lifts. Very inconsiderate as moms are forced to take escalators because they have to wait too long for the lift,” says a mom in Singapore.

However, if you have to take the stroller on the escalator, make sure you do it the right way. Here’s how to do it safely.

How to take a baby in Escalator

Mother, baby in pram fall down escalator

No lift at station, mom forced to leave baby behind to pull her stroller down the stairs

UK resident had to leave her baby near the steps at a train station, while struggling to get her baby’s pushchair down a flight of steps, as there was no lift.

The mom said her 19-week-old baby was probably alone for around five minutes during her ordeal at the station.

“Normally there is a member of staff or passer-by around who helps. But this morning I was stranded. I had to carry the pram down and then run back up the steps for Noah. It was horrible leaving Noah alone but what else could I do? Obviously train stations are not safe places for children,” Sophie

Sophie posted photographs of her ordeal on social media and a message which read: “I am a mother of two and this is a daily struggle for me and many others! It’s not right. Even speaking to the station manager they told me to use a different one! And it’s not their job to assist me with getting up and down the stairs safely! The next station is too far to make my little boy walk every morning for school!

“It’s 2017! The buses never really had spaces for prams then either. Even now in Southport you are lucky to be able to get your pram/wheelchair on a bus at peak times.”

“We are working to make as many of our stations as possible accessible to people with mobility problems or with prams and pushchairs. Where possible, we would encourage those who have mobility issues to consider using either Ainsdale station or Birkdale, which have accessible platforms,” said a Merseytravel spokesperson.

Source: liverpoolecho