stroller for public transportation?
 

Hi,
I will be with my young daughter in Paris at the beginning of November. I plan on using public transportation. I heard from a coworker that trains are great but she didn't remember seeing elevators. Does anyone have any experience traveling with a 1 and 1/2 year old? how did you navigate all the gears while keeping the toddler at hand? Thanks.

I just did this very thing, only I complicated the issue by also bringing an almost-four year old along. What we used was a McLaren umbrella stroller (actually we had two, one for each kid, but we only used one for the older if we were going to be doing a lot of walking). You need a good brand like McLaren because it needs to be sturdy to handle the abuse and also McLaren's handle really well, so you can steer it one handed if you have to hold your child's hand while walking. You can also carry it one handed when it's folded and carry your child with the other arm, but you obviously wouldn't want to be doing that too much--only to get on the bus or whatever.

it's a pain in the neck trying to take a stroller on public transport- BUT it can be done. I usually avoid the elevators in stations as they can be rather isolated. Your choice for stairs is to either fold and carry the stroller and hold your child or "bump" the stroller up/down the stairs. Many times people will help you out and grab the bottom half of the stroller. When trying to leave a station hang back a bit to let the rush of people get past you before going up the stairs- it's safer for you and you won't hold up a few hundred people trying to exit a station.

Just be aware that there are a lot of stairs to climb in the Paris Metro stations.

Our son is 25lbs and we purchased a Kelty Kids backpack. He is above the crowd not looking knees allday. It also has a nice rain hood that kept him really dry.

Not only are the stairs in the Metro a problem but many sites are not the most stroller friendly. However, if you want the stroller option another tip is the Sit n Stroll which is the car seat which converts to a stroller. It is airline approved and cuts back on a piece of equipment. Have a great trip!