Is it possible to commute on DART and bring baby too?!

Rosiegirl

Hi all, I'd really appreciate people's advice on this....My little boy is almost 10 months old and I'm due back to work in 2 weeks. Creche etc is all sorted. However, I'm close (I think) to being offered another role, which I'd love to accept. The new job is in town (IFSC), whereas I'm currently working in D.15 and driving. The problem is that if I accept this role, I think it would mean bringing my baby on the DART every day (Howth Junction to Connolly) and then dropping him off at a creche close by....I'd be collecting him then in the evening and doing the same to get home again. Would anyone have any experience of this ? Is it crazy trying to manage the commute etc. with my little fella, and would I be better off trying to find a local creche ? We have just moved to the area and so I dont know of any childcare options ther yet. Any thoughts/experience welcome!

RentDayBlues

I'm at home at the moment but I did go back to work after number 1. My husband generally dropped her to crèche and I picked up, occasionally I did both, especially towards the end of my second pregnancy. We lived a 5 minute drive from the crèche without traffic, maybe 10-15 of traffic was really bad. 5 minutes in the car with a screaming, tired toddler every evening was awful, she hated it and I did too!

I cannot imagine trying to do it on a train. And you'll also have to deal with crowding, and other commuters who may not want to deal with a cranky baby on their commute. If it were me I'd look for somewhere close to home. And this is from someone who had a very easy going baby, so her meltdowns weren't too bad, but still difficult after a full day at work

Rosiegirl

Wow! That definitely gives me something to think about....I'm naively thinking he might love the excitement of the train journey ?! But yes, you are correct that other commuters might not appreciate the disruption......I could look at the option of bringing my car but I feel the traffic on that route (coast road into town) would be utterly chronic :-0

artvandulet

What time would you be getting dart at? Will make all the difference as it can be full by howth j during peak times and then crowded a few stops later. With a buggy that's hardly ideal. There is a creche 2mins walk from kilbarrack dart. Was called Grasshopper but not sure what it's called now.

Rosiegirl

Well, I'd probably try and get it early 7.30ish and then coming home 4.30ish....which are probably pretty busy times.....I really need to try and get to know the area better and see if there are local childcare options that might work......eek, starting to think this might not be as easy as I thought :-(

Millem

Are the darts not soooo jammers in the morning? Would there be space for a buggy? Or what if the lift is out of order?


On a completely unrelated note read your contract....if company topped you up on maternity leave and you leave straight away you may have to pay them back :eek:

moving_home

Might work with sling instead of buggy? He might enjoy cuddling up to mammy after a day away.

freyners

Rosiegirl wrote: »

Well, I'd probably try and get it early 7.30ish and then coming home 4.30ish....which are probably pretty busy times.....I really need to try and get to know the area better and see if there are local childcare options that might work......eek, starting to think this might not be as easy as I thought :-(

Hi Rosiegirl, I know feck all about small children and the hassle they bring but I regularly commute from Clongriffin on the dart so fairly familiar with howth junction stop and the trains there

If you get a dart on or around half 7 you will find a seat/standing area for the buggy most mornings, getting back round 4 30 shouldn't be too bad crowding wise but ive never experienced it outside of the occasional friday that early in the afternoon. From 5 onwards it can be wedged. A good point made just above is what happens with the lifts. No matter what side of the station you enter/exit from you will have to to negotiate 2/3 flights of stairs either in the morning (getting a southbound train from the donaghmede side) or evening (exiting the train station from the howth side) which will be very awkward with the buggy if they ever go out of order

There is always 1/2 who regularly bring small children, probably a bit older than yours, and it can be hard on them if the child is fussy. They also tend to use a extremely basic buggy so it folds up quick.Its worth having a shot but be prepared with a back up option should your child not take to the journey.

Maybe give it a test journey in the next week and see how it goes?

John Mason

There is no way in hell I would be putting myself through the stress of getting on a commuter train with a baby. It is hard enough to get out in the morning.

I battled with the crèche close to work or close to home. Close to home is much better I think for this reason.

Say you have a funeral or a doctors appointment or perhaps are just sick but you cant look after the baby, you would still have to go on the train to drop the baby to crèche. if it is near home, you can drop and be back home in a few minutes.

I know a few people in my crèche, drop their kids in the morning and then go home to get ready for work.

also sometimes trains breakdown, I have been stuck on a few darts for 40/50 mins without moving.

lazygal

Op I'd think long and hard about bringing a child in a dart every day especially at peak times. It's crowded and people won't make space for a buggy. Not to mention that most times I've tried to use the lift at Connolly and Howth Junction they've been out of order. Not fun when you're on your own with a child and buggy.

LegacyUser

Hi OP,

I'm not a parent so can't advise on how difficult it can be to get a buggy in or out of stations particularly where a lift may or may not be functioning but I can advise on dart crowding.

I get a dart from Raheny to southside most days. There is a dart which arrives in Raheny at 7:27 which generally has only 4 carriages and gets jam packed but there is then a dart at 7:43 (which I imagine departs Howth Junction at about 7:38?) which tends to be a longer dart with more carriages and I always get a seat, even at Raheny and in my opinion it would be easy to get a seat for you and space for the buggy. That dart also pulls in at platform 5 which is the one that goes straight to the ticket gates.

Coming home then, allowing for time for you to collect the baby from creche there are three darts which run fairly close to each other, I get on southside so easy to get a seat but sometimes i wait until the next dart if first one is full as they tend to be 4 mins apart and a lot quieter. These arrive at connolly at 4:54, 5:02 and 5:11. By the time the dart gets to connolly there may not be much seats left but there tends to be a good amount of standing room so fitting a buggy in shouldn't be a problem.

I hope this information helps some way in your decision making!! Fingers crossed for your new job!

Julo12

We live beside howth junction and have our first in crèche in Raheny. We usually get dart to crèche in the morning but as others have said the lifts are awful - out of order every 2nd day. Guys working there don't give a rats and wouldn't help me even when heavily pregnant. Our child can walk now so we don't bother with buggy anymore but when 2nd one starts we'll be back to the nightmare of carrying child plus buggy up a lot of stairs. If I was doing the morning I usually walked if it wasn't raining (20 mins). In the evening I walked or came home for car first as darts were much worse in the evenings and child was extra crabby!
There are crèches closer in the area (one by Donaghmede shopping centre-little rainbows) but we liked this one in Raheny.
You need an annual ticket tho for hopping on and off dart or it'll get expensive!
I thought about a crèche close to work as it would've been less stressful rushing out of work in the evenings but was glad we went for closer to home as it meant we could both share drop offs and collections and on 2nd maternity leave I wouldn't want to be still going into town. I think the shorter journey is less stressful on my child too.
Just some thoughts.. Nothing is without it's problems and either option can work for you.

Moonbeam

Rosiegirl wrote: »

Hi all, I'd really appreciate people's advice on this....My little boy is almost 10 months old and I'm due back to work in 2 weeks. Creche etc is all sorted. However, I'm close (I think) to being offered another role, which I'd love to accept. The new job is in town (IFSC), whereas I'm currently working in D.15 and driving. The problem is that if I accept this role, I think it would mean bringing my baby on the DART every day (Howth Junction to Connolly) and then dropping him off at a creche close by....I'd be collecting him then in the evening and doing the same to get home again. Would anyone have any experience of this ? Is it crazy trying to manage the commute etc. with my little fella, and would I be better off trying to find a local creche ? We have just moved to the area and so I dont know of any childcare options ther yet. Any thoughts/experience welcome!

I worked in the IFSC and lived in Balbriggan and she commuted with me every day .I was much happier with her being near me .