In an average day how long does your 20 month old (thereabouts) spend in a buggy?

[Fairylea]

Bit of a boring thread but curious really.

Having a bit of a problem in that ds wants to walk everywhere and normally I do let him as much as possible.. I have reins and as a sahm I don't have to really be anywhere so I let him poddle about.

But there are times I need him to sit in the buggy- when he's tired / we need to be somewhere / shops etc. It's usually not for more than 20 mins or half an hour in a go as he whines so much he makes me feel awful!

So in a shameless attempt to make myself feel better, how long do you think your toddler sits happily in their buggy? Do you have any special tactics to help?? I have drinks and snacks for tantrums but they don't always work!

[Elfina]

Pretty much never (16m) during the week. Maybe two 30minute lots each day of the weekend.

[Auntierosemary]

Wow I think you are lucky! My daughter is the opposite in that she is reluctant to walk anywhere. She is three and a bit, so I've turfed her out of buggy and onto a buggy board but she rarely ventures off it of her own accord. I'd love her to be more adventurous and active. Have y got any tips on encouraging my kids to venture out of their buggy??!

[Fairylea]

He didn't need any encouraging :) ... pretty much as soon as he walked he didn't want to sit in the buggy or car to go anywhere! He will literally be falling over his feet tired and still have a tantrum if you suggest going into the buggy for a ten minute rest! My first dc now aged 11 years was like yours Auntie and would sit in the buggy all day if you let her!

Hmmm. Maybe I'll just continue with the coaxing and moaning :)

[PinkPepper]

Loads if we're out but I don't drive so he'd get put in buggy to walk up hill to bus stop (15mins) sit in buggy on bus (30mins) then we'll do whatever and he's normally out a good hour plus at a group or park or library then he'd nap an hour or so in buggy and repeat on way home.
He's not been walking long though. I do use a sling lots too

[TinkerbellTrains]

Well ds2 is 3 1/2 now but when he was 20months he went in the buggy hardly ever. The buggy stayed in the hallway gathering dust for until his 2nd birthday when I just decided to get rid of it.

I was a sahm too so didn't really need to be anywhere by any certain time. If we did need to be somewhere like a docs appointment or something I would put him in the ergo but he didn't like it very much.

[Artandco]

I gave up with one by then as the wanted to walk anyway. We always went home to nap though as they still needed nap yet it seemed pointless to push around an empty pram just for that. Also means I could nap at same time also if home!

Can you just not take it? It might take a little longer to get around but good excercise for him and will help him nap in day and sleep at night. And within 6 months he will be much more confident/ stronger and actually far easier

I always treated mine like Labradors! Two long walks a day!

[DeWe]

Mine were different.

Dd1 and dd2 we didn't have a car.
So dd1 would be in for anything from 10 minutes to a couple of hours plus if we were going a long distance. She liked the buggy, so was always happy to go in when I said we had a long walk. She probably could have walked longer than she did, but sometimes it was sides of busy roads etc for 60+ minute walk in each direction, so it was much less stressful for me when I didn't have to worry.
Dd2 hated the buggy and rarely went in, even if it was a long walk. I did put her in sometimes, but she'd choose to walk whenever she had the choice.
On long journeys I often had dd1 in the buggy and dd2 on the buggy board, from when dd2 was not quite 1yo. Little bit precarious, particularly as dd2 only had one hand.

Ds almost always went in for at least an hour and a half. Because the school run (2 schools) was roughly a 90 minute round journey. (the further away one had a lift in the morning) He preferred to walk generally, but at the end of the day he was tired, so getting anywhere at his speed tended to be along the lines of 10 paces forward, sit down, admire ants, stand up, walk 10 paces, sit down to examine the leaf he'd found...

[AveryJessup]

I gave up on our stroller after about 20 months. DS just wouldn't sit in it at all after that point. Once in a while I would drag out our travel stroller e.g. when we were in the airport and he refused to hold our hands but I had to shamefacedly give him our phones or an iPad to use so he would sit still. It was unavoidable in the long queues for security etc though.

Other than that, he has pretty much been a stroller refuser since 18-20months!

[AveryJessup]

It does depend on the child. My friend's son is almost 4 and will still gladly sit in the stroller for as long as he can. We went on a small hike, nearly 2 miles, recently and her son sat into the stroller after about 20 minutes whereas mine walked the whole way and still had energy to spare when we got finished the route. He's a flipping dynamo... I need to find ways to calm him down...

[toomuchtooold]

I've got 22m twins and it's unavoidable sometimes (one's quite sensible and holds my hand but the other one enjoys the occasional break for freedom and there's nothing more undignified than chasing one giggling toddler down a busy street with the other one, outraged, over your shoulder in a fireman's lift) but I figure if it's not more than say about an hour a day total they're not going to suffer in their development so for me it's just a matter of making it bearable. We walk to the local soft play and back in the afternoon and the trip is broken by stopping at the train station to say hello to the trains, supermarket to say hello to the supermarket lady etc etc. Sometimes I pick blossom off the trees (and they eat it. Bloody weans). They have fruity snacks - mandarins and berries, stuff they have to think about. And if all else fails I take the car!