Pregnant Mom Kicked Off Bus Over Baby's Dirty Diaper

rockin'robin

rockin'robin

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A pregnant Seattle woman who was kicked off a city bus when her baby's dirty diaper was deemed to be a disturbance to other passengers is questioning why normal baby behavior would lead her to be removed from city transportation.

Any parent can tell you how stressful it is to travel with a baby, but Nichole Hakimian says the problem she ran into this week when she boarded a city bus with her 1-year-old took it to a whole new level.

"He had just pooped in his diaper as soon as I got on [the bus]," she told ABC News.

Hakimian's son was sick, and she was taking him to the doctor.

"Right after that, the bus driver told me to get off the bus. And I said, 'why is that?' She said, 'your baby … smells really bad. And it's not fair that we all have to smell that.'"

The 4-month pregnant mom then exited to the bus, she says, still a mile and a half away from her baby's doctor.

A Seattle Metro spokesperson said they are now investigating the incident.

"[This is a] very unique situation … Our goal is always to balance the comfort of all our riders," the spokesman said.

This isn't the first instance of a mom and a baby booted off public transportation just for the baby acting like a baby.

Last year, video captured a Portland woman struggling with a crying baby in the back of a bus. The clip went viral after she was kicked off for making too much noise. The driver was reportedly disciplined.

But who's really to blame when babies interrupt an innocent commuter's ride?

"The baby was just being a baby, pooping or crying, and yet we're saying get off the bus," Melissa Lawrence, CEO of Cloudmom.com said. "So that's clearly intolerant."

Pregnant Mom Kicked Off Bus Over Baby's Dirty Diaper | ABC News Blogs - Yahoo!
 
I heard someone say on TV this morning that "the babies are acting like babies, as they should. If only the adults would act like adults."
 
Wondering of the buses have a small bathroom?...If so, she could have changed the diaper in there....??...Leaving a nasty diaper on a child can cause diaper rash....If not, then changing a diaper in her lap would make things worse....(the smell).....

Seriously, if the smell was so bad and it was my child, I would have gotten off closest to the nearest bathroom and change the diaper and catch the next bus...bad mishaps do happen on buses...people getting sick and throwing up, etc. ....
 
There is reason: own the car is better than use the public transportation.
 
Foxrac said:
There is reason: own the car is better than use the public transportation.
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Not everyone can afford to own a car, and not everyone can drive. It seems like that's the case in this situation.

That's wrong that they kicked her off the bus. There are people who have bad B.O. on the bus- I doubt they get kicked off.
 
CSign said:
Not everyone can afford to own a car, and not everyone can drive. It seems like that's the case in this situation.

That's wrong that they kicked her off the bus. There are people who have bad B.O. on the bus- I doubt they get kicked off.
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In here, if you couldn't afford to own or lease the car so your life is much pretty incapacitated because public transportation is very abysmal so you cannot get to appointment or work or school on time because they usually operating behind of schedule. I don't recommended to irresponsible citizens and poor people from northern or western states move to here or anywhere in southern states due to worst and limited public transportation.

I have no opinion about woman with baby that got kicked out because of dirty diaper, however I think RR is just give a good suggestion.
 
CSign said:
Not everyone can afford to own a car, and not everyone can drive. It seems like that's the case in this situation.

That's wrong that they kicked her off the bus. There are people who have bad B.O. on the bus- I doubt they get kicked off.
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They're not. When I worked in Boston, I had to take the commuter rail. There was a guy in his mid to late 20's that just never bathed. Hair was always matted and I smelled him when he stood next to me waiting for the train and I had to move. I could smell this jerk way down the platform. Never bathed...period. Pig like that rides with all of us and this woman is kicked off?

I appreciate the inconvenience the passengers felt because I've been there but the bathrooms, if any on the bus, which I doubt - are dirty. I wouldn't use it much less change a baby there. A pregnant woman with a child should never have been kicked off - it's a safety issue. She probably would have gotten off the next stop but instead, she's kicked off with a little one who's sick and somehow, she has to get to the doctor? She should be compensated. It's not her fault her child wasn't feeling well - she was trying to get to the doctor....

Laura
 
Perhaps the bus driver could have radioed his supervisor and gotten permission to pull over to the nearest bathroom so the lady could make a quick change of her child....then again, the passengers might "complain" if they themselves are late for an appt., or whatever....

Also, people get "sick" (throwing up) on buses...so what happens then?...Are the passengers expected to put up with that?.....And vomit has a very bad stench also...

Dunno what the weather was there. in Seattle.......even if the bus driver could have been able to open all the windows on the bus (If there were any) to help diffuse the "smell"....or just have the passengers switch to another bus....
 
rockin'robin said:
Perhaps the bus driver could have radioed his supervisor and gotten permission to pull over to the nearest bathroom so the lady could make a quick change of her child....then again, the passengers might "complain" if they themselves are late for an appt., or whatever....

Also, people get "sick" (throwing up) on buses...so what happens then?...Are the passengers expected to put up with that?.....And vomit has a very bad stench also...

Dunno what the weather was there. in Seattle.......even if the bus driver could have been able to open all the windows on the bus (If there were any) to help diffuse the "smell"....or just have the passengers switch to another bus....
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Oh see? using public transportation made my life so miserable because there are some people never bath at all, so I just can smell so easily and very uncomfortable.

In Seattle, they do rain and overcast a lot, just like rest of northwestern states and Vancouver in British Columbia.
 
rockin'robin said:
Perhaps the bus driver could have radioed his supervisor and gotten permission to pull over to the nearest bathroom so the lady could make a quick change of her child....then again, the passengers might "complain" if they themselves are late for an appt., or whatever....

Also, people get "sick" (throwing up) on buses...so what happens then?...Are the passengers expected to put up with that?.....And vomit has a very bad stench also...

Dunno what the weather was there. in Seattle.......even if the bus driver could have been able to open all the windows on the bus (If there were any) to help diffuse the "smell"....or just have the passengers switch to another bus....
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You can't kick people off for smell. You should try riding the train in Boston during the summer. The smell would kill you....I doubt highly the bus driver would have extended any courtesy to this woman trying to help her find a clean bathroom. Clearly, he didn't care about a sick child....

Laura
 
Lau2046 said:
You can't kick people off for smell. You should try riding the train in Boston during the summer. The smell would kill you....I doubt highly the bus driver would have extended any courtesy to this woman trying to help her find a clean bathroom. Clearly, he didn't care about a sick child....

Laura
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You might be right....I'm just offering some questionable solutions.... As for the "smell", don't believe most drivers would let someone aboard the bus if they smelled highly of alcohol or were falling down drunk...

I do remmy a bus driver bypassing one woman at the bus stop because she smelled like garlic, seems she ate it all the time...and the smell was really bad, the passengers complained....

I've never rode the bus tho'....and can imagine some of the people on it smelling pretty bad.

As for the bus driver not caring about the woman and her child, we don't know that for a fact...it's the bus passengers that were making the complaint...and the driver's job is to make sure his passengers arrive safely, on time and as comfortable as he can.....that's his/her job.

But all in all, if it were my child, I would have gotten off the bus willingly, find a bathroom and change my child, called the doctor to explain the situation and catch the next bus or call a cab....I've been in stores when my child pooped their pants...went into the bathroom and changed the diaper...if there were no bathrooms, then I would take my child back to the car nd change the diaper.
 
You know, one solution...if he had asked her destination, he could have driven her straight to the doctor and then continued to his route. The passengers wouldn't have to smell or hear the child and the doctor could have assisted this woman's child right away. A win-win situation. Too bad people don't think before they act.

Laura
 
Lau2046 said:
You know, one solution...if he had asked her destination, he could have driven her straight to the doctor and then continued to his route. The passengers wouldn't have to smell or hear the child and the doctor could have assisted this woman's child right away. A win-win situation. Too bad people don't think before they act.

Laura
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Believe the article said she was a mile and 1/2 from the doctor's...just don't think the driver could or would be allowed to drive that far without the inconvenience of the other passengers....??....

And also, suppose she went to a restaurant?....Would the patrons complain of the smell?...I believe so...Even parents of unruly kids are asked to leave the restauirant if they cannot control theirunruly kids...
 
A city bus is a public conveyance, and is under all kinds of non-discrimination regulations, including the ADA. Unless someone's life or health is actually endangered by the presence of another passenger, I don't believe the driver can kick them off.

A baby's stinky diaper is very unpleasant to bear but guess what folks--it ain't gonna kill ya! Just cover your noses and put up with it for a few more minutes of your ride. There are worse things that could happen to you. If putting up with a stinky diaper one hour out of your life is the worst thing that you have to face, then you've been blessed.
 
rockin'robin said:
Wondering of the buses have a small bathroom?...If so, she could have changed the diaper in there....??...Leaving a nasty diaper on a child can cause diaper rash....If not, then changing a diaper in her lap would make things worse....(the smell).....

Seriously, if the smell was so bad and it was my child, I would have gotten off closest to the nearest bathroom and change the diaper and catch the next bus...bad mishaps do happen on buses...people getting sick and throwing up, etc. ....
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nope. public buses do not have bathroom but private buses do.
 
rockin'robin said:
Believe the article said she was a mile and 1/2 from the doctor's...just don't think the driver could or would be allowed to drive that far without the inconvenience of the other passengers....??....

And also, suppose she went to a restaurant?....Would the patrons complain of the smell?...I believe so...Even parents of unruly kids are asked to leave the restauirant if they cannot control theirunruly kids...
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restaurants can kindly ask them to leave. they have legal rights to do so.
 
Lau2046 said:
You know, one solution...if he had asked her destination, he could have driven her straight to the doctor and then continued to his route. The passengers wouldn't have to smell or hear the child and the doctor could have assisted this woman's child right away. A win-win situation. Too bad people don't think before they act.

Laura
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that would be against the policy. plus - waiting for next bus can be 15-30 minutes and people would file a complaint about it and the driver would be disciplined for it.
 
CSign said:
Not everyone can afford to own a car, and not everyone can drive. It seems like that's the case in this situation.

That's wrong that they kicked her off the bus. There are people who have bad B.O. on the bus- I doubt they get kicked off.
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they can get kicked out of planes :eek3:
 
Jiro said:
that would be against the policy. plus - waiting for next bus can be 15-30 minutes and people would file a complaint about it and the driver would be disciplined for it.
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Yup, city buses are based on fixed route so no exception.
 
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