My son refuses to walk

[Honis]

This is the first time I have posted a message, a friend recommended this website to me.

I have a boy who is 2 years and 9 months and a little girl who is 6 days old. This problem started several weeks ago when I heavily pregnant.

My son had always used a buggy, however, a few weeks ago he decided he wanted to walk, which was fine with us. The problem is that whenever either my husband or me take him out, he starts off fine but at some point he gets fed up and sinply refuses to move and sits on the floor in the street!

We have recently brought him a buggy board and he really loves pushing his sister, but he is still doing the same thing and at some point getting off and refusing to move. Yesterday we were with him in the street for 30 minutes!, he really is stubborn!

Has anyone experienced anything similar? Any ideas as to what we can do? At the moment we keep telling him he is a big boy and trying to praise him but this obviously isn't working!

Many Thanks

[BelleDeChocChipCookieMonster]

If he's not use to walking around then his legs will be getting tired and achey. He needs to build his strength and stamina up, start off with a short walk and slowly build it up.

[Goingspare]

He might perhaps be asserting his ownership of the buggy, or be might simply get fed up with walking after a bit, as you say.

I used to keep a sling handy to put the baby into when my 2 1/2 year-old wanted her buggy back. The baby eventually moved into the sling pretty well full-time anyway, so DD1 could have the buggy whenever she wanted it.

Try to work round him if you can, so that it doesn't become a big issue while he's getting used to being a big brother.

Congratulations, by the way.

[Honis]

Thanks for your ideas. In fact yesterday he was a lot better, I had to take the baby in the pram to pick him up from nursery and he stayed on the buggy board till we got home! Which is real progress.

This morning we walked to nursery together holding hands, and that is the first time hehas ever done that, lets hope things will keep improving!

[Tgger]

Ah bless. Does take them a while to be able to walk for any distance.

We had buggy board/double buggy until about 3 and a bit and sometimes having a baby-carrier for the baby and letting the "big one" go in the buggy worked too. Often we'd go to the playground with baby in buggy and then come back the other way round. DS was younger than yours when DD born- 25 months so the double buggy was more necessary but I used it on and off for longer distances right up until the Christmas after he was 3 in the October.

We sort of got round it by saying if you're tired you can go on the buggy board, or you can walk. I did end up carrying him a couple of times.....

Congratulations on the babe!

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