My Daughter thinks I am gibbing!!

I remember my best friend and I doing this when we were 11/12 years old. We used to take her mother's boss' 2 kids out to the park and also a neighbour's young son and daughter . The little girl had downs syndrome and used to love going out with us.

To be honest, I would never have allowed 2 such young kids take my youngsters out, let alone a toddler with learning disabilities.. How times change eh?

Yes, we all did that. " Please can we walk your baby? " was the constant request . The baby was out into one of those lovely coach built prams and we would walk around until the baby started to cry, or we had enough! Quite a common thing in the 1960's , at least where I am from.

My mum's friend had a daughter aged 10 who used to knock twice a day and take my baby brother out for a walk in the pram. It was the done thing in the 60s. Also all babies went out in the garden in the pram with a cat net over it for flies or cats as did my own 3 kids. Prams were always seem outside shops so were pushchair and nobody bothered about it.

My sister is 9 years younger than me. Soon after she was born I took her down to local shop in pram.........and went home without her! Completely forgot. All was well.

Yes, I was doing this by age ten. I was delighted when a neighbour asked me, aged eleven, if I'd like to take her baby out when he was a few weeks old. That child and I had a very good relationship. I took him out until he was about three. Babies were regularly left outside of homes and shops in their pram. Mothers couldn't see them - anything could have happened! I left my first out in the back garden downstairs. Can hardly believe it now!

It does seem extraordinary doesn’t it but I remember it. The trick was to get to push the best looking prom! . Those with long fringed canopies were the most sought after. I really can’t remember the babies. And then when I was eleven as a St Johns ambulance cadet I worked at a local nursery ( beautiful mansion on Wimbledon Common) where every weekend for a couple of years I would do 8 hour days (the aim was to get 200 hours for a badge) and my favourite was with the babies. Five babies one nurse and me. Brilliant. We were just expected to be sensible and we were.

From around age 9 I would call every day at a neighbours and take her baby out for a walk. He must have been about 8 months as he was sitting up and strapped in. When I got bored of walking I'd take him to my house and my mum and gran would take him out of the pram and we'd play with him for ages. Then we'd strap him back in his pram and I'd take him home. His mother never asked where I'd been all that time. This was in the early sixties.

Absolutely remember that and being paid to babysit in the evening from about 13.

Sparkly1000 what a lovely childhood memory it did make me laugh to picture you and your tortoise hurtling down the hill ??

Yes, when I used to visit my friend in the 1970s, there were a couple of 10/11 year olds who used to come and beg to take the children out in the pram. I never thought anything of it and was happy to see them pushing the prams
but now the very idea makes me go hot and cold.

I remember taking the neighbours new born grand daughter out in her buggy when I was about 9, I was allowed to walk around the block with her( quite a large block!) this was mid 70’s.
My mother also relates leaving me outside in the back garden in my pram in all weathers (not heavy rain?) wrapped up or not as the weather dictated; to be fair our garden was pretty much enclosed and backed on to a field so I guess she felt safer?
My late MIL apparently left my DH outside Woolworths in one of the small Devon towns when he was a month old, bused home to their village, unloaded the shopping and then remembered him! A neighbour drove her back quickly and he was still there sleeping peacefully in his Silver Cross pram!

Kids don`t know they are born nowadays,, where did we go wrong!

DD still puts her baby outside to sleep in the pram, she sleeps so much longer that way and the garden is totally enclosed. Her friend was horrified “In case the foxes got in the pram”. Have we reared a generation who are scared of everything? Mind I would never have let children push mine away in the 70s and80s.?

Mi e were born in 92/93. I left their playpen in the garden, it disappeared, luckily they weren't in it. After that I sat watching them in the garden even as they got much older.

....and talking about freedom to roam...we were never in the house as kids...bag of jam sandwiches ...bottle of pop or water if mum was strapped for cash...and out we went. Usually to Ruislip Lido , where we’d sneak in over a fence and spend the day swimming , then home in time for our tea. All this done walking and as I lived in South Oxhey just outside Watford , what a stretch of the legs that was. Great, great days!

Yes I did the same early 70s. We would walk them for ages and noone worried. Hiw times have changed.

I remember doing this in the 60’s...but only with my much older sisters babies ...well ...the first two boys anyway...after that I discovered boys!

I remember when I was about four, going with an older girl from our street, she was pushing someone's baby and we took it for a walk. About three miles, I think...

We went to a park, where I had a swing and a paddle in the pool, while Ruth cuddled the baby. Then we took it home and I went home for tea.

I thought it was a lovely day out.

We used to do this. We also left them outside the front door on the pavement while we did the housework. Then they would be left outside shops while we went shopping.

Not only did no-one steal our babies, they did not steal the shopping stored under the prom or hanging from the handles. Happy days.

Even when our own children were little, we gave then a lot more freedom, we lived in a terrace, with a service road at the back, and all the little ones played out there in all weathers, sometimes one of them would come in crying over something , they just be given a cuddle and sent back out!

Oran????
Pram!!!

I know that I was taken out in my Oran by a girl called Lois who was 10 and lived round the corner. She was in my Dad’s class at school.
As I got older I was allowed to walk round to her house to visit her parents who were like 3rd grandparents to me.

I didn't like babies nor have a cat, but I did have a tortoise and a scooter with a broad wooden running board.
Using my trusty leather Brownie belt I would secure Toby to the running running board and go flying down the hill on our street and out of earshot of mother yelling "Bring that
Bl--dy tortoise back".
I think Toby rather enjoyed it. His little legs akimbo and scaly neck stretched out full length rather like the 'Spirit of Ecstasy' on the bonnet of a Roller.
Such happy days.

I remember pushing our neighbour's baby (Caroline, who would now be nearly 60 ) to the park behind our house. She was the 4th child so I expect her Mum was happy for a 10 year old to take over and give her 30 minutes peace!
I put all my children out in the back garden in the big Silver Cross pram. It was good for them to be outside and had the added benefit of distancing me from the wailing . Do you remember the cat net which attached to the hood! Not sure if it deterred any cats but I only used it for the first DD then abandoned it.
When DD3 was born in Scotland, people used to tuck a coin under her pram mattress and also on one occasion, a lump of coal (suitably wrapped in plastic I may add!). This was all new to me...

Day6

Yes I remember , we would be all outside together , including babies on big sisters hips, or enormous prams, they were pulled around with grubby little fingers, or put down somewhere and ignored till they got fed up and cried

But I can’t ever remember any harm coming to any of them