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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:
purpleme12 · 10/10/2023 22:44

Honestly this would really make me angry.
I took my pushchair with my child till she was 4. We'd walk miles and still do. She got in and out and was and is a good walker. I'd be telling them and it would tempt me to move nurseries if they didn't stop

J316 · 10/10/2023 22:50

fishfingersandtoes · 10/10/2023 22:38

This!

Show quote history

Exactly! It’s absolutely none of their business and wildly overstepping, who do they think they are!

megletthesecond · 10/10/2023 22:51

If they're not banning cars then they shouldn't be banning pushchairs.
At least kids can hop in and out of pushchairs and get some sun on them.

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mummy21blueeyed · 10/10/2023 22:58

I’m sorry but I do work in a school and I see a an almost 4 year old be put in a pushchair and walked home and it does seem a little too much. I see a lot of bikes and scooters which is fun and they want to ride but still. I just don’t see when they’ll ever get used to walking a little further if they are constantly pushed. If they have a medical reason or autism maybe but still. They will never lesrn or get used to anything if it is made easy every time. I wouldn’t want to be pushing my almost 2 year old around in 1.5/2 years time. It’s about building the strength also. I get where the nursery’s coming from it’s practically babying then still if they are in the pre school age.

Danikm151 · 10/10/2023 22:59

My son is a good walker but for long day trips or shopping we’ll still use the pushchair. He’s 3.5.
I don’t drive and use the bus to get around and he’s too heavy to carry if he’s tired.

we usually walk to nursery or take his bike( it’s got a safety handle so I can push if he’s not pedalling)- occasionally he’ll ask for the pushchair,
I worry that some people can judge but then remember they’re in cars so even with the pushchair he’s still walking a lot!

purpleme12 · 10/10/2023 23:00

How is it? As stated, I walked for miles with my child (we don't drive and I was happy to walk for miles to places we wanted to go) so she got in and out regularly. So yes she built herself up.
We really everywhere even now. We still walk miles in fact.
And I can't be the only one in the country doing this
Don't judge everyone but what someone else MIGHT do

YourNameGoesHere · 10/10/2023 23:04

mummy21blueeyed · 10/10/2023 22:58

I’m sorry but I do work in a school and I see a an almost 4 year old be put in a pushchair and walked home and it does seem a little too much. I see a lot of bikes and scooters which is fun and they want to ride but still. I just don’t see when they’ll ever get used to walking a little further if they are constantly pushed. If they have a medical reason or autism maybe but still. They will never lesrn or get used to anything if it is made easy every time. I wouldn’t want to be pushing my almost 2 year old around in 1.5/2 years time. It’s about building the strength also. I get where the nursery’s coming from it’s practically babying then still if they are in the pre school age.

And yet you don't judge the parents who drive their child home in a car. How will those children learn to walk properly or build up their strength... it's almost comical that it's only ever those who use a pushchair who have idiotic comments like they are being babied or won't learn to walk a little further...

KeepTheTempo · 10/10/2023 23:09

I had the same issues with no car. This messaging could be better phrased, and should definitely include cars.

However, we are in the minority. Most people with kids in pushchairs are not walking miles. In our school, since Covid an increasing number of Reception kids are now being wheeled into school in a buggy. This is not good for the kids. Cars are the same.

Maybe another sign that this nursery, a 40 min walk away, isn't the right fit for you and your son in any case.

ladygindiva · 10/10/2023 23:10

mummy21blueeyed · 10/10/2023 22:58

I’m sorry but I do work in a school and I see a an almost 4 year old be put in a pushchair and walked home and it does seem a little too much. I see a lot of bikes and scooters which is fun and they want to ride but still. I just don’t see when they’ll ever get used to walking a little further if they are constantly pushed. If they have a medical reason or autism maybe but still. They will never lesrn or get used to anything if it is made easy every time. I wouldn’t want to be pushing my almost 2 year old around in 1.5/2 years time. It’s about building the strength also. I get where the nursery’s coming from it’s practically babying then still if they are in the pre school age.

It's none of your business. You're judging and it's unpleasant. Do you also judge those that are put in cars for short distances?

ladygindiva · 10/10/2023 23:11

I used a pushchair up to 4 years for all 3 of mine ( live rurally, no car) and they all walked at 11 months by the way.

gotomomo · 10/10/2023 23:16

I used mine for dd even on starting school, I didn't drive!

PaprikaPlease · 10/10/2023 23:18

Our preschool doesn’t seem to mind what we do which is a relief! Ours is 15 minutes away (for me - probably 30 mins for my toddler) and I couldn’t think of anything more annoying than walking at toddler pace before work! I then just want to speed home in the pushchair for lunch after pick up rather than stop to look at every snail in the locality!

I do know a set of parents who are a bit sanctimonious about their kids not using a pushchair but they use a nanny/nursery combination 5 days a week so it’s not like it’s inconveniencing them to the same extent.

BungleandGeorge · 10/10/2023 23:32

I’d presume the owner or manager is rather eccentric. What on Earth do they mean it ‘hinders develop and independence’ anyway. Should the 3 year old be expected to walk home alone?! I’m actually not sure I could cope with them being so controlling over something that is absolutely none of their business

mummy21blueeyed · 11/10/2023 00:01

@YourNameGoesHere that is totally different. I drive but I still walk to the shop and back with my 22 month old most days she does well sometimes she wants to be carried a little bit but we are working on it and she’s getting better at walking each time. It helps. Just because I drive doesn’t mean I drive absolutely everywhere.

Tryingandfailingagain · 11/10/2023 00:15

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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I personally wouldn’t expect any 3 year old (without hyper mobility) to walk to school 40 mins there and back each day. Ignore their stupid emails. Do what works for your child.

Sonolanona · 11/10/2023 00:31

Ridiculous, unless they ban driving too.
Kids grow out of needing a pushchair at their own pace and in their own time.
Mine varied... one rarely sat down after the age of two, another would have happily been pushed til she was ten given a chance... (and yes she is hypermobile and as an adult was diagnosed with EDS)

Toddler grandson is 2.5 and very very short... he loves running around, but his short little legs aren't going to do a 20 minute walk without flagging, let alone anything more and I can't carry him!

I'm a Nursery TA and I judge the people who drive a 5 min walk to school not those with a pushchair! (especially the parents who rock up in the 'staff only' car park and think they have special dispensation to do so)

BabyFireflyx · 11/10/2023 00:43

Oh just wait for when they push the "green travel to school thing". When DD was in primary school, we got a taxi in the mornings (cheaper than bus fares for us both), I'd walk 2 miles home, then two miles back to pick her up. Then we'd walk two miles home again. And the kids were being judged by how they got to school! I actually ended up saying to her teacher, give me a pedometer and I'll bust the rate of the majority of the kids in the class on my own! They wouldn't accept DD walking 2 miles home with me because the feature was solely about how they got to school in the mornings.
They're batshit with a lot of things!

larren · 11/10/2023 01:27

Our nursery didn't send anything out in writing but we'd get some judgy comments from staff at pickup. It was only a mile walk but I just wanted to get there and back quickly. We'd see other kids with scooters and bikes but the parents would be pulling them most of the way, which would have made my back ache - far easier to push a buggy.

user1477391263 · 11/10/2023 01:42

I wish people would stop telling parents to put tiny kids on scooters. My DD2 is almost 5 and I still don't trust her with a scooter on the pavement because she goes zooming off and it's really easy for them to shoot off the edge of the next curb into the road. We have a bike with a bike seat but I live in a city where things are set up for biking safely (we are not in the UK); I wouldn't do it in my UK hometown.

user1477391263 · 11/10/2023 01:47

We used a buggy at pickup from daycare when we were using daycare, because this was the chance I had for exercise after a day spent stuck behind a desk, so we would powerwalk to the park for exercise together.

The idea was to maximize time spent in the park, which meant I was keen on minimizing the time spent inching my way sloooowly along a pavement, nagging, grabbing, plucking her out of the road, stopping her from picking up bits of litter or sitting down on the pavement refusing to move or running off in the other direction.

The daycare built walking into the schedule, so she did learn how to walk along a street as well.

If someone had given me a lecture about the importance of walking, I would have told them to piss off.

user1477391263 · 11/10/2023 01:52

mummy21blueeyed · 11/10/2023 00:01

@YourNameGoesHere that is totally different. I drive but I still walk to the shop and back with my 22 month old most days she does well sometimes she wants to be carried a little bit but we are working on it and she’s getting better at walking each time. It helps. Just because I drive doesn’t mean I drive absolutely everywhere.

I don't think you get it. If you drive a lot of the time, it's no skin off your nose to sometimes choose to make a walking trip for your child.

But if you do not drive AT ALL and ALL your trips (apart from public transport) are on foot, getting your very young child to walk every step of every trips becomes way too much; there are times when you need to properly leg it, if you want to get all your errands and jobs done, so you bring the buggy and they hop in and out as and when.

Unless you are trailing the parents home watching exactly what they do after pickup, you don't know what their plans are and how much time their child will and will not spend in a buggy.

coxesorangepippin · 11/10/2023 02:00

Yes but they're not pushing a screaming child home are they??

Millybob · 11/10/2023 02:03

Can't see that it's any of their business as long as you're not expecting them to park it until home time.

Topseyt123 · 11/10/2023 02:08

What utter bollocks. I used the stroller a lot when mine were that age to get to and from preschool. It has done no harm whatsoever. They are going to be running around at the preschool and burning off energy for several hours anyway.

I would ignore them. If they continue to press it then I would make clear that I would not stop using the buggy until I was personally convinced that both my child and I were good and ready!

Don't listen to their bullshit. Do what suits you and if necessary tell them to wind their necks in. It's an absolute non issue.

Inyourwildestdreams · 11/10/2023 02:34

mummy21blueeyed · 11/10/2023 00:01

@YourNameGoesHere that is totally different. I drive but I still walk to the shop and back with my 22 month old most days she does well sometimes she wants to be carried a little bit but we are working on it and she’s getting better at walking each time. It helps. Just because I drive doesn’t mean I drive absolutely everywhere.

@mummy21blueeyed how do you know the ones taking their kids to preschool in a buggy don’t walk with them at other times? Just because they’re in the buggy for pre-school doesn’t mean they’re in the buggy everywhere!

My DS is 3. I don’t drive for medical reasons. I have a 30-35min walk (adult pace) to get him to nursery, then a further 15 min walk to get me to work. I take him in the buggy and then take the buggy with me to work then take it back with me for pick up. I work 8-5.30 so it’s well after 6 by the time we get home even with the buggy. It’s then a rush for bath and bed as he’s shattered. Why make the day harder than it needs to be by forcing the walk there and back too?
Hes in nursery 3 days per week. I assume he’s having an active day there and not sitting down all day so that time in the buggy shouldn’t really matter.

Out of the other 4 days he’s in the buggy once when we do our big supermarket trip (40 mins each way at adult pace & uphill most of the way home). Almost every non-nursery day he walks almost 40 mins to town and back for toddlers groups/ gymnastics/ swimming or to go to the big park or beach. We also play outside on bike/scooter or walk most afternoons for over a hour through the big park and forest near our house.

Stop judging other parents.