Strolling with a baby stroller is no walk in the park in Singapore.

Parents who push their offspring around in the wheeled carriages say Singaporeans are not very understanding if they accidentally bump them. Worse, they cannot be bothered holding the lifts for the baby brigade to manoeuvre into them.

On the other hand, pedestrians say that strollers with their cute toy adornments and cooing contents turn into battering rams wielded by parents forcing a path through crowds.

Mallgoers can get their tootsies run over or heels shredded in the process.

Undergraduate Eunice Quek, 21, had her ankles painfully rammed by stroller wheels while shopping. 'The parents did not even apologise,' she says.

But a LifeStyle poll of 25 parents with strollers shows that many do try to be considerate, yet find manoeuvring a stroller in public an uphill task.

Most parents complain that places such as shopping centres and MRT stations are not stroller-friendly and that Singaporeans lack civic-mindedness.

Operations manager Terry Tan, 37, says there were people who would not give way even if they saw someone struggling with a stroller. Mr Tan, who has an eight-year-old son and a six-month-old boy, keeps his cool by telling himself that these people are 'not parents yet and do not understand'.

Parents in the poll say that they try and avoid being a menace by switching to a baby carrier in crowded areas or leaving their stroller with a domestic helper at a cafe.

Mr Tan, for example, says he makes an effort to avoid crowded malls during sales periods as they are 'no place for a baby'.

Another parent who makes an effort to avoid crowds is 33-year-old clinic assistant Angeline Pua, who skips town and heads to family-friendly neighbourhood shopping centres on weekends.

She points out that she cannot carry her seven- month-old baby girl around as she suffers bruised shoulders from the bulky carrier if she does so.

But instead of sympathetic and considerate Singaporeans who give way to her stroller, she says she has to contend with dirty looks if she knocks into people by accident.

As for the battle of the lifts, she says people push past her and 'rush to fill the lifts' even when they see her struggling to squeeze her stroller in.

She points out: 'It's difficult and dangerous for me to balance a stroller on the escalators. I need the lifts.'

Mum Fauzana Ismail thinks that shopping malls should install travelators or ramps for parents with strollers. The 31-year-old teacher, who wheels her two-year-old boy around on weekends when she is out, points out that that is the only time she can spend quality time with him.

Still, some shopping malls and restaurants are becoming more stroller-friendly.

Department store OG has installed a chair lift at the main entrance of its Orchard Point branch to help customers carry strollers up the stairs.

Shoppers at Tangs can leave strollers at its customer service counter.

The department store has also widened aisles and lifts to improve access for strollers. A spokesman says this ensures shoppers, including parents, are able to enjoy their shopping experience.

Family restaurants such as Crystal Jade, Jack's Place and Swensen's allow parents to push their strollers up to their table if space allows. They also offer to fold and store the stroller if the restaurant is too crowded.

As for hapless pedestrians, Ms Eva Wu is one who has been run over by strollers and thinks that pushy parents should be more considerate.

But the 21-year-old student adds: 'We can't expect parents not to take their strollers along just for our convenience.'

Additional reporting by Zaidah Rahmat and Benita Aw Yeong

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