Mainly walking, ditching the buggy - how old was yours?

[Gem13]

Still pondering on double buggies (it's a hobby!) and I was wondering how much long term use I would get out of one considering DS will be 18/19 months when D? arrives.

So... when did you ditch the buggy because you knew your child would want to walk?

Actually, I'm wavering about the Kiwi explorer...

[codswallop]

Buy second hand - you will hardly use it. I reckon at 2 you can cope without unless you walk alot

[M2T]

Gem13 - I've been wondering this but then my DS will be 3.2 yrs old when D? arrives!

Ds is 2.5 now and he still needs his buggy when we are out at the shops etc. Then again it depends if your ds is still having a nap in the afternoon. DS still takes a good 2 hrs in the afternoon so a buggy is still essential.

Very individual though.

[M2T]

Oops! posts crossed Coddy. We don't have a car which is another reason a buggy is required to get ds to and from Nursery!

[codswallop]

M2t no way!

Make him walk!!

[samACon]

How about a buggiboard/kiddiboard instead?

[codswallop]

or ride his bike?

[Queenie]

DD was about 2.6 when I ditched it really and we'd got through the winter months. It was only then she would walk with me and stop running off or getting distracted. For long shopping trips when they get tired/bored it's handy to have one.

[M2T]

Why would I want to do that Coddy. We need to carry alot of stuff for his Nursery!!! And there is just no chance I would be able to get him home from Nursery with his Bag, Packed lunch box and various drawings and my own bag and sometimes my laptop too!!

How would I manage that??????

And he's very slow.... we don't get in until 6pm anyway and we have to walk quite a distance from Nursery to get the bus!

People with cars will NEVER understand.

We wouldn't be able to have a walk around the shops if we didn't have his buggy. He has to sleep. We would be housebound!

Is there something wrong with that?

[M2T]

DS can't ride a bike yet!!!
Is my ds really that slow and backwards compared with other children at 2.5yrs old???

[Sari]

18 months is probably too young so yes, I'd have thought you'll need a double buggy - got no idea what kind though. But for older children like M2T's ds what about a buggy board? Ds1 was 2.2 when ds2 arrived and that worked well for us. He's now 3.5 and still loves it. He likes walking but can't manage very far, certainly not to nursery and back, without getting knackered and starting to whine about being picked up. Plus putting him on the buggy board is a good way of keeping him contained when crossing roads or in a hurry.

[samACon]

I admire anyone who gets around with kids without a car. I was without a car for a month at the beginning of the year and had to use buses to get DS1 to school with DS2 in buggy and IT WAS HELL!! Never ever again - and I live in London with loads of public transport. Bus drivers seem to get great joy over pulling away so that the kids fly off down the end of the bus and no one ever gives you a seat unless you shame them into it.

[M2T]

SamAcon - Tell me about it! Wish I could afford a bleeding car.... or even lessons!

Violins out???

[MUM2ELA]

SamAcon - I second that.

If I didn't have a car I wouldn't have children. Simple as.

M2T - 2.5 years is still young to be using a pushchair. Rather that than DS run off into the middle of the road whilst waiting for the bus eh?

[M2T]

Thanks Mum2Ela!

See Coddy..... you must just be an Ogre-Mummy!

[doormat]

he was just over 2 and a half when his buggy wheel broke.
He does fine.

[Angeliz]

My dd is 2.8 now and walks MOST of the time but f i know i'll have lots of bags, then i take the buggy! Even if dd walks the whole time, then the shopping goes in the buggy! I find it very difficult if dd wants a carry and i have lots of shopping! She is mainly out of it but we just see on the day! I saw a mum yesterday with a baby in pram and a toddler on the buggy board and they looked great and all very happy!

[Crunchie]

M2T I still use the buggy with my dd who is 2 yrs 10 months. She does walk a lot too, but I know what you mean about carrying all the other stuff. If I go shopping with her I do take the buggy, I have another one of 4 who can then hold the handle too. All the shopping can go underneath and it is earier. Otherwise she will be able to do a lot and then give up and demand to be carried - cue massive tantrum!!

I would say Gem13 you will get about a year or maybe more. Or dependant on your back, get a sling for the first few months (I never had a double) then progressed to the 2 yr old standing on the buggy. We have just been on holiday - with a lot of walking in a town and we nearly didn't take the buggy!! Thank god we did. Most of the time we have one sitting in the buggy and one standing on the back (both refusing to let daddy push!!) Without it we would have had to carry the both at times when we went walking around for hours on end!

[M2T]

I don't think I've ever seen a buggy board! Do they just stand on it?

[Angeliz]

M2t, yes they stand on them, but you can also get a one that looks like a little step where theolder child can have a sit down! I went into this when my sis had her second boy a year ago! They look really good

[marialuisa]

DD is 2.9 and we've just got a new 3-wheeler. She will happily walk round the shops but there is no way i could expect her to do the 2 mile walk to and from school, esp at the end of the day. I still take the buggy to town just to put the shopping in. It's very easy to be snobby and dismissive about older children being in buggies when your own little darlings rarely do more than half a mile, and nothing at all in the freezing cold or torrential rain.

[Northerner]

I'm with M2T. My ds is 20 months and I still totally depend on my pushchair and will do for at least another year I think. But again I don't drive and it would be a night mare taking/collecting ds from nursery if he had to walk. Ovbiously I let him walk wherever I can but the buggy is a necessity IMO.

[judetheobscure]

My 4 year old still uses a buggy occasionally - and we have a car. If he's tired or I need to get somewhere quickly it's much easier to just get the buggy out than face the hassle of dragging a reluctant child along. My 2 year old is almost always in a buggy. No way would I expect him to walk more than a few hundred yards unless I've got lots of time on my hands - and, yes, he enjoys walking - has been know to walk over a mile quite happily. Life is too short to be dawdling all the time!

[Bozza]

My DS is 2.9 and will be 3.3 when baby is born so similar gap to you M2T. I will not be getting a double buggy but then I am a car driver. I have been trying to get DS used to walking and also plan to take the sling on outings for just in case. Might get a buggy board though. DS is not the world's best walker - quite slow. And lucky you M2T - DS has not slept in his pushchair for over a year.

[fio2]

If you walk about alot, I would buy a double buggy or stroller with a buggy board on the back. I still use my double buggy (mine are 4 & 2)occassionally if I have to walk far or rush somewhere quick.

M2T my ds 2.3yrs cant ride a bike dont worry, infact he cant even reach the pedals to ride one!

[Gem13]

Thanks for these answers they're very helpful. I've bought a second hand mountain buggy (with carrycot) in readiness for number 2 but I was wondering if I wouldn't be better off with an Explorer.

Judging from your answers though I like the idea of my 2 children sitting side by side. I was tempted by the Explorer if D? could spend the majority of time in the main seat (I'm not very keen on the bottom bunk idea once it can sit up and look about - despite all the assurances that they enjoy it) but it sounds like DS might spend another year at least sitting. He does like to lounge so I guess he's not going to be prepared to be booted out.