How important is it to be within walking distance of amenities with a baby?

[Banana175]

Currently pregnant and house hunting! My partner and I are fairly flexible on location (our jobs are about an hour from each other, so anywhere vaguely between the two would work). At the moment, I'm drawn to the nice market towns and have visions of spending my maternity leave being able to pop in and out of coffee shops etc with baby. But how important is this really? We can get a lot more for our money outside the popular towns. Is it easy enough to pop the baby in the car and make a 15 minute drive when you want to go out? I have no idea about the realities of parenthood!

I don’t drive anywhere and we are in London so we walk everywhere. It’s nice!

I’m four months in now though so the novelty of popping out to a coffee shop every day is wearing off…it’s probably not something you’ll feel like you need to do for very long!

I just lived this … with my first, Iived in a small maisonnette within walking distance of cafes, museums, parks etc. I had a great time walking everywhere, and never used the car.

Since the lockdowns, I reasoned that those things didn’t make a difference anymore and moved to a much bigger house that was a bit out of the way, for the arrival of my second (only temporarily, though, while we househunted). It wasn’t great. I had a bigger house, but life was quite restricted for the time we lived there, and I was very dependent on deliveries.

Now I am back in the middle of things (we moved to our permanent home) and just feel a bit more animated. More people drop by, I can get to a pharmacy or supermarket really quickly, there are lots of childcare options within a stone’s throw for after maternity leave, and we will attend our first baby group today (on foot!).

We live in a market town just over a mile from the town centre, there is a huge park that was most of the walking in to town. I used to walk through this when on maternity leave and it has every type of shop needed. I did have DS in March though so all those walks were mainly in fine or at least ok weather. I had a routine of walking in to town three days a week, out to lunch for two of them, one had a visit to the library and one was to a baby group. On the other two days I had a gym and swim morning with free crèche at the leisure centre and on another morning I took an art class at the local college that was relatively inexpensive and also had a free crèche. So I had two baby free mornings. Obviously that routine was broken sometimes, I used to drive for 30 mins to meet my colleagues for lunch occasionally.

I really liked being able to walk and I did have a car.

Driving with a baby is such a faff though. All the stuff to lug to and from the car, praying they either do or don’t fall asleep depending on the time of day. Or you might get a baby that HATES the car and screams bloody murder every time she’s strapped in like mine did for the first year Even now she’s a preschooler I tend to walk rather than use the car for most things as I still think it’s a faff loading her in and out. Not sure if I’d base a house choice on this though. I think I’d struggle in a place where I’d have to drive. Our town is pretty dull but I’m still glad I can walk into town quickly and easily.

It’s not majorly important but it’s very handy if you run out of milk/nappies

I absolutely love being able to walk everywhere, and we do, but please don’t base a house choice on how easy it might be to nip out for coffee!

I can count on one hand the times the baby has been in a car.

Depends what you mean by amenities :) I would want to be within an easy walk of a decent cornershop, a decent primary school, a little park and possibly a playgroup and for that walk to be on pavement.
We nearly moved somewhere really rural before we had children and didn't realise how much we would use those things.
I didn't mind putting the children in the car to go for longer outings especially to meet friends though.

I found it very very convenient to live in close walking distance of a supermarket and a small park when DS was very small and we didn’t have a car. Even if you do have a car it can be a challenge with parking etc. If I needed something, I quickly put him in the pram and was on my way.

I think it is ideal to be within walking distance of a park, playgroup, pharmacy and shop. I never went to cafes with baby, although I know it works for some people.

I wouldn't say this was at all important to me. We live very rurally (closest small shop maybe 5-10 minute drive away, town 20-25 minutes). I actually really liked the break of driving into town. It meant babies could sleep in the car and I got some headspace. And then we both were all nice and rested by the time we got there. Honestly, there's only so much wandering around the shops you can do and it's such a very short period of life.

The right house with the right space inside (especially if you plan to have more, mine fight so much when they are right on top of each other, so nice to have space for them to each play separately), a big garden and/or green space nearby, access to things you would do as a family, nice walks, parks, beaches, schools are much more important because that's when they are old enough to care what they do.

Maternity leave only lasts for a year tops, and if you have an early crawler, popping in and out of cafes for coffee won’t seem like a particularly relaxing option for too long . I’d take a more long terms approach and chose somewhere where you can have a decent sized garden and has easy access to toddler/children’s activities. It’s a little different, but we moved to the suburbs of a city when I was pregnant (for my job), having lived quite rurally beforehand. Thought I’d hate it, but it’s been a godsend having friends/toddler groups/soft play/libraries/swimming pools close by. I wouldn’t have coped living rurally with a baby (although I’m aware lots do).

Decent schools are a better thing to consider

And city's / towns with kids are ace as always tons to do. They can walk to stuff.. more important as they get older

I think the point about being near schools is potentially as important (unless you're planning another move in the next 5 years?). Personally I wouldn't like to live somewhere I couldn't walk to a corner shop, park, school etc.

Getting the pram in and out of the car was one thing that I can still feel 'the rage' from 13 years on!! Hated it!

I'm in a village where I can walk to a few shops, cafes, the library etc in about 20 minutes. A playgroup and playground are about 10 minutes away.

For me having some facilities (and a nursery and Primary school) within easy walking distance was absolutely essential. It's quite a faff getting a baby in and out of a car just to go and get a liaf if bread. A stroll to the shop with a buggy, timed when you want baby to fall asleep and have a nap, was much more convenient.

I also had a baby who would wake when the car seat was moved. With the buggy though, I could wheel the sleeping baby into the house, and they'd stay asleep for longer.

When choosing your location I'd advise that you take Primary school facilities into account. Being within walking distance of a good school is a major bonus.

It was very important to me as often you just want to wander out to punctuate the day. Or you have a baby who will only sleep in the pushchair for naps. It saved my sanity being able to walk to stuff to just feel in the world some days. The pain of getting in the car is of they fall asleep and won’t transfer to pushchair. Then you’ve got the whole thing in reverse. The car seats are not great for them spending a lot of time in so I used to avoid putting that on the pushchair. I liked being able to walk out with pushchair with a purpose - get something for lunch/milk/coffee/whatever.

When I had my first DD we lived in an area where we had nothing local, we had to drive everywhere, not that far but couldn't walk it. Also no baby classes in local area so had to drive to them, and then everyone I met lived further away. We had moved by the time DD2 arrived and had things in walking distance including lots of classes and it was much better.

I’d much prefer the bigger house (and good schools) over walking distance.

Definitely be walking distance from civilisation! We live in the centre of a city suburb and I love it. Baby classes walkable distance, can invite friends round for coffee easily. Can park sleeping baby in pram in the hall no faffing into and out of the car. And so much better when they’re at school and close to friends.

II found that activities within walking distance saved my sanity when I had small children. A pram push into town for baby club, past the duck pond was enjoyed by all. Getting into the car and strapping in two kids and then driving to the nearest town would have been a real faff. Also popping out of milk or nappies was so easy in a market town.

It’s certainly not essential to live within walking distance of schools, shops etc but I can imagine it makes life a bit easier. I live out in the sticks, and have to drive at least 15 minutes anywhere. The only thing within walking distance from our home is fields. This is fine by me as the benefits far, far outweigh the fact I can’t walk to get a coffee. We just load up the pram (or tie the sling on before we set off) and go wherever we need to go. DS is a good old boy and sleeps in the truck, is easy to swap between the car seat and the pram with little interruption to his sleep and likes an outing generally. I appreciate not all babies are as laid back tho.

I've had 2 babies that scream blue murder in the car and most classes are half an hour away from me. I coped.

Like other people say, concentrate more on the long term - schools, nurseries, etc. The baby stage is very short but the park stage is very long! Our nearest park is a 25 minute walk (or 40 minute at toddler pace) so we tend to drive to it.

I'd be thinking more about schools than being able to walk to a coffee shop. I've just returned from mat leave, I can't say that coffee shops was on the list of NEEDS when buying our house. Priority 1 was is there a good school nearby and what do we have to do to get in? I have a 5 and 4 year old, having outdoor space and a play area (with swings/slide) is more important. Having a little shop for milk etc is obviously useful and if we are being really picky maybe a place to eat/drink (forward planning if you want a meal out without your children you can walk there and be back quickly). We live within 5min walk of a corner shop, butchers, pub that does food, children's play area and a large park with walks and views. There's a cafe about 15 min walk away but I've never been. We also have 3 churches, a local community hub and a children's play centre, these all host various baby groups which is good for meeting people. If you drive its less important having these thing really close though. Priority 1 does need to be schools, do some research and check the catchment areas.

I live in London and I love being able to walk everywhere with the kids.

When we visit my parents I really hate having to use the car so much. It's such a faff getting them in an out.