Americans have an obsession with strollers that I haven't understood. I took my infants on Caltrain, BART, and light rail using a baby bjorn. When they could walk, they walked or were carried. It's not something you should avoid having kids over.
Try taking three car seats/booster seats on the train because you can’t walk to your final destination from the train…unless you live in NYC/Chicago etc. there are very few us cities where most of your trips can be completed only via train/walking
American babies are about the same or maybe a bit lighter than their European counterparts at birth. Perhaps the issue is that American parents are physically weaker. It's hard not to imagine the SUVs and strollers are components of a negative feedback loop.
My kids hated the bjorn and so did my (very third world communist country) foreign wife. I liked it.
The stroller also has storage space for, for example, the medicine bag that keeps my last kid alive in case he swallows <insert long list of allergens>. The stroller has everything ready to go except the baby and we don't have to don our various accessories.
Finally, as Europeans, we find those Americans and their various polyester bags (back, front, bjorn, fanny, etc) look ridiculous. One looks like a marine about to assault Fallujah. The stroller has a dignity to it that all those bags lack.
? The reason no one wants to take the bus or subway in America is not because they are undignified but because they smell like piss. Unlike the buses in Switzerland which are great.
In fact, despite the smell of urine, I used to love Atlantas MARTA for its brilliant airport exit.
There's nothing inherently undignified of public transportation system. America's indignity comes from our inability to clean.
