Commuters seated at the back of the single-deck bus had to squeeze themselves past the stroller in order to alight at their stop.

The stroller took up three- quarters of the aisle but nobody had the heart to point this out to the mother.

But Ms Joanna Lee was so irritated by the inconsiderate mother that she took a picture with her camera phone.

According to the 23-year-old law graduate, the mother had chosen the seat closest to the exit doors and blocked the aisle with her stroller.

Ms Lee wanted to post the picture on The Straits Times interactive forum, Stomp, but decided against it later as 'she felt bad' about it.

But she says that the mother should have had the sense to take a taxi. She could also have asked someone to help her with the folded stroller while she carried her baby.

'I'm sure Singaporeans won't mind lending a hand if she asks,' she says.

A LifeStyle poll of 25 nonparents shows that more than half are turned off by parents who do not practise proper stroller etiquette.

They complain that parents with strollers use them to bulldoze their way through crowded places and are unapologetic when they bump into others.

This, they say, happens especially when parents try to get on and off the MRT with their strollers, lifts and in crowded places such as shopping centres during a weekend.

For room attendant Nancy Song, 51, her pet peeve is when parents do not even bother to fold up their strollers when the train is crowded.

She complains that parents put their strollers in front of those who are seated and occupy the space of three people.

Ms Marissa Low says that parents with strollers are an inconvenience at foodcourts.

The 17-year-old student has seen strollers blocking passageways at foodcourts.

She points out that the strollers are a hazard as people might accidentally spill their food onto the stroller or, worse, onto the baby inside.

'Parents should just leave their baby at home,' she says.

But it is all about compromise for Ms Jermine Wong, 31, who works in sales. She chooses to make a detour if she sees a parent pushing a stroller.

'It's easier for me to move around them instead of vice versa,' she says.

She suggests that parents with strollers should move towards the end of the MRT platform where there are fewer people or fold their strollers before getting onto trains.

SMRT has also been doing its bit to make travelling easier for parents struggling with strollers and those who have had to bear with being run over by stroller wheels.

It says that the stations have been fitted with lifts and separate wide fare gates for passengers with baby strollers to move around.

Newer MRT trains have wider spaces at every doorway to accommodate strollers.

It also says that passengers who need help with their strollers should approach the station staff for help.

But for Ms Lee, the peaceful co-existence between parents brandishing their strollers and non-parents boils down to just 'common sense'.

She says: 'It just does not make sense to take a stroller with a baby up onto a bus.'

This article was first published in The Sunday Times on Aug 3, 2008.