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Original poster

Are all Pre schools anti pushchairs ?

106 replies

Notsureaboutpreschool · 10/10/2023 20:21

Ds (3.5yr) goes to a pre school (for ages 3-5) . They are regularly telling us and also sending in emails that children shouldn’t be in pushchairs anymore ?

Twice this week already ds keyworker has said to me ‘we don’t advise the use of pushchairs it hinders development we need to encourage walking and independence!’ And I’ve made it clear on multiple occasions that we dont drive and it’s a long walk to and from pre school so need a pushchair and ds gets tired !!

Is this a new thing ? If I get one more email with a picture of a pushchair with a big Red Cross by it I think I’ll scream !!

OP posts:
echinaceadreams · 10/10/2023 20:22

Try a scooter or a bike

Original poster
Notsureaboutpreschool · 10/10/2023 20:23

echinaceadreams · 10/10/2023 20:22

Try a scooter or a bike

He has a bike - we go to the park at weekends but the point is we are using the pushchair as it’s a long walk (40 min each way) and he can’t manage that yet (has hyper mobility)

OP posts:
Sirzy · 10/10/2023 20:24

do they also complain about children being driven to the door in a car?

for some children at 3 a pram will be needed to get them safely to nursery.

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Original poster
Notsureaboutpreschool · 10/10/2023 20:26

Sirzy · 10/10/2023 20:24

do they also complain about children being driven to the door in a car?

for some children at 3 a pram will be needed to get them safely to nursery.

I did mention that actually as well ! I just got a blank look back !!

OP posts:
MariaVT65 · 10/10/2023 20:26

That sounds ridiculous OP. My son has just turned 3 and also has hypermobility. He rarely uses a pushchair but does ask me for quick breaks to carry him when we go on walks, and he certainly can’t use a scooter or bike yet. We do take a pushchair for long days out still.

PuttingDownRoots · 10/10/2023 20:26

I can understand them not being able to store them...
But they have no idea of the journey involved and the reason for a pushchair!

YourNameGoesHere · 10/10/2023 20:26

I would be arguing right back that cars are much worse for hindering a childs fucking development and I bet they say sweet fuck all to the parents who drive their children from door to door!

Honestly they are being absolutely ridiculous!

Original poster
Notsureaboutpreschool · 10/10/2023 20:28

It’s not just us they are saying the same to everyone using a pushchair but it seems very over the top I was wondering if it’s some kind of new guideline as they keep on about it. Nobody is asking to store the pushchairs there so it’s not for that reason they are just saying about waking and independence

OP posts:
SisterMichaelsHabit · 10/10/2023 20:29

It's up to them to get the children to exercise during the day, I'd want to ask them why they are struggling to provide enough outdoor play for the children that they have to attack parenting decisions like this.

YourNameGoesHere · 10/10/2023 20:30

Notsureaboutpreschool · 10/10/2023 20:28

It’s not just us they are saying the same to everyone using a pushchair but it seems very over the top I was wondering if it’s some kind of new guideline as they keep on about it. Nobody is asking to store the pushchairs there so it’s not for that reason they are just saying about waking and independence

No there isn't any new guidance or anything and again I'd be putting it straight back to them that even if he's using the pushchair for some of the journey he's still got more freedom and exercise than those driven to the door each day.

Frankly it's none of their business and they are re massively overstepping.

Tryingtohelp12 · 10/10/2023 20:34

Nope. Never heard it mentioned. Always dropped off walking but always brought the pram for pick up. We live at the top of a big hill and it’s a lot for little legs after a full day of pre school.

NuffSaidSam · 10/10/2023 20:35

I think generally encouraging children to walk/scoot/cycle as much as possible is a good thing. I think buggies are used longer than needed because parents are too busy or too lazy to have their children walk.

BUT what you describe sounds insane! A gentle push to get kids walking is fine. This kind of bombardment with no regard for anyone's circumstances is ridiculous.

itsgettingweird · 10/10/2023 20:46

Just ignore it.

You have a long walk and your child has a medical need.

If they ever say anything directly to you just say "thanks for the advice." And carry on using it Grin

InterFactual · 10/10/2023 20:48

DS is 4 and it was never mentioned at his pre school. Honestly a 40 minute walk is beyond him at this age, let alone age 3, and he doesn't even have hypermobility like yours. I parked one street away from school the other day and he dramatically flopped onto about 5 front lawns on the way back to the car to make sure I knew how tired his legs were and how I should carry him!

It's a load of bollocks. I'd write a complaint and escalate this, surely it's discrimination against disabled children?

mindutopia · 10/10/2023 21:10

No, two nurseries/preschools and never had it mentioned once. In fact, I’ve never actually in my 10 years of taking children to nursery/preschool/school walked because we’ve never lived in walking distance. No one has ever remotely cared.

romdowa · 10/10/2023 21:18

It's not really their business how you get your child to the creche . I'd ignore the email and carry on as you are.

marketing101 · 10/10/2023 21:20

I'm in london and loads of people just prams for preschool there's a row of them at the school. Weird.

Bigoldmachine · 10/10/2023 21:24

Cheerfully ignore!

SunnySideDownUp · 10/10/2023 21:31

What a load of rubbish. My youngest is almost 7 and still has a pushchair. (She's disabled so it's a specialist buggy!)

But even so, pretty sure at 3.5 my eldest was going to nursery on the buggy board.

Essie274 · 10/10/2023 22:05

No - DS's preschool don't seem to care. I also don't drive. We don't live that far away from preschool (15 min walk at adult pace, more than 25-30 at my 3.5yo's pace), but DS is a naturally later riser so getting him there for 9am is hard enough when he's in the pushchair, let alone when he walks (he does sometimes!). I also have a 1yo so it's a double pushchair, so they can't exactly ask me not to use it - but they've never mentioned anything about it anyway. If they did, I'd mention the fact that two other children who attend the preschool live on my road and go by car so there's no bloody difference.

His old nursery (took age 2y up) did have a rule that all children must walk into the nursery building, not be pushed in pushchair or carried, though.

olderthanyouthink · 10/10/2023 22:14

Ours asked us to leave a pushchair when they did they yearly "big" trip if we thought the kid wouldn't manage the walk well (big hill). And there was space to leave prams, scooters/bikes and bike trailers.

SparkyBlue · 10/10/2023 22:27

My dd is 4 and in preschool which has a mix of ages from two to five and many still use buggies. Not everyday and not all the time but the parents and minders I assume know when to pick their battles and sometimes after a hectic weekend you might know the child will be a bit tired at collection on Monday or if they are recovering from an illness or even if you have a few errands to run after school sometimes it's handy to have the buggy. It's absolutely none of the school's business

Goldbar · 10/10/2023 22:35

I would tell them that you will get rid of your pushchair once all the other parents have got rid of their cars.

fishfingersandtoes · 10/10/2023 22:38

Goldbar · 10/10/2023 22:35

I would tell them that you will get rid of your pushchair once all the other parents have got rid of their cars.

This!

echinaceadreams · 10/10/2023 22:38

Notsureaboutpreschool · 10/10/2023 20:23

He has a bike - we go to the park at weekends but the point is we are using the pushchair as it’s a long walk (40 min each way) and he can’t manage that yet (has hyper mobility)

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Fair enough. I'd also argue that it isn't very disability aware of them.

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