A young mother slammed ‘inconsiderate’ commuters who refused to give up their seat on a packed train – forcing her to breastfeed her baby while sitting on a dirty train floor.
Sophie Molineux, 22, was travelling from Shropshire to Ludlow Castle for a day out with her partner Rob Moore, 25, and their one-year-old son Chester Moore on Tuesday when they struggled to find a seat on a train.
The couple were stunned when they boarded the packed at 11.39am train and not one of the carriage’s 50 passengers, including in priority seats, offered Sophie a place to sit as she cradled her baby.
They were forced to stand in the aisle taking turns to hold the baby during the 30-minute journey and when he became hungry Sophie had to sit on the filthy floor and breastfeed him.
Sophie Molineux, 22, was travelling from Shropshire to Ludlow Castle for a day out with her partner Rob Moore, 25, and their son Chester, one, when she was forced to breastfeed him on the train floor when no passenger offered her a seat
Miss Molineux, pictured with Chester, slammed the other passengers and said there ‘were so many who would have been able to stand up’
She said she had ‘never experienced that many people refusing to acknowledge a young child before’. Pictured is Miss Molineux with her son
Despite the couple juggling a pram and the tot, no-one budged from their seats, forcing them to stand.
Miss Molineux, from Shrewsbury, said: ‘There were around 50 people in the carriage and not one person moved. We were stood in the aisle with seats either side of us so both sides of the train could see us stood there and no-one moved.’
She added: ‘It was pretty shocking. We don’t have a car so we always travel by public transport.
‘There were so many people able on that train to stand up I was surprised when we came in with a young baby that didn’t want to be in his pram that no-one offered us a seat.
‘We’ve never experienced that many people not acknowledging the fact we’ve got a young child with us having to be held while stood up on a moving train, let alone breastfeeding.’
A shocking photo shows the young mother forced to sit on the floor of the carriage, near the doors, while breastfeeding Chester.
The mother, pictured with her child on a day out, said it was ‘surprising and shocking’ that a parent with a young child would not be offered a seat
She had been on a family day out with her partner Mr Moore, pictured with their son
She explained that at that moment her son wanted to be fed when he tugged on her shirt.
‘Obviously I’d rather not sit on the dirty floor of a moving train breastfeeding him, it wasn’t the nicest place, but I didn’t really have much choice,’ she added.
Miss Molineux said people walking past to her to go to the toilet looked at her as she fed her child, but still no-one offered her a seat.
‘They just looked at me acknowledging what I was doing and then giving a blank expression. It was almost like they were not wanting to draw too much attention to themselves because they didn’t want to offer me their seat.’
The couple had planned a family day out to Ludlow Castle and as neither drive, they decided to travel by train and boarded the carriage near the priority seating area.
Miss Molineux, pictured with Chester, said many passengers walked past her while she was breastfeeding on the train floor but none still offered her a seat
The mother, pictured with Chester, said she hoped to raise awareness so people will ‘be more considerate’ in the future
Miss Molineux said they didn’t asked anyone to give up their seat: ‘We thought as it was only a short journey we’d just stand up and hope for the best but no-one got up.
The young mother hopes that fit and healthy commuters will use a ‘common sense’ approach and offer seats to parents with young children.
She said: ‘I was more concerned about Chester’s safety. I’m fairly confident about breastfeeding in public but I would probably have felt more uncomfortable about the situation if my partner hadn’t have been with me.
‘I just hope that people might be a bit more considerate in future, it should just be common sense to give up your seat for a child.’