After more than a decade living in London, I thought I knew this city inside-out. But having a baby changes everything.
Suddenly the familiar Tube map, that tangled circuit board of possibility, becomes a desert of inaccessibility, with just a handful of stations where it’s possible to get on a train without having to lug your pushchair up and down staircases and escalators.
The pubs that you used to avoid during the daytime, the places where you had to weave your way between pushchairs and screaming kids to get to the bar, suddenly beckon like a welcoming oasis. Restaurants and cafés without highchairs or baby change facilities are now on your blacklist. And trying to plan lunch or drinks with friends and family becomes a military operation, as you scour Google Maps on your phone for a meeting place that satisfies all your criteria, while simultaneously making up a bottle of milk or changing a nappy with your other hand.
The reason I built Baby Friendly London is because I was frustrated that it didn’t already exist. The aim is to create a comprehensive resource for London parents, focused on pubs, restaurants, cafés and attractions that are specifically baby friendly, rather than just generically ‘child friendly’ or ‘family friendly’.
Baby Friendly London’s simple search engine allows you to find venues that offer the facilities that matter to you, whether that’s a highchair for your little one, baby change facilities that are accessible to both mums and dads, or a step-free station within an easy walk.
We’re adding more and more venues to our site all the time, but if you own a business that you believe should be featured, or you want to recommend somewhere you love that’s local to you, then please do let us know!