Are all Pre schools anti pushchairs ?

[Notsureaboutpreschool]

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 !!

That would infuriate me OP. I'd be pointing out that other families who travel the same distance as you drive.

Kids that age are often so tired, especially if they're settling into a new setting as so many are at this time of year. We prioritise them having energy for nursery rather than the trip there.

What nonsense! I had one dd who wouldn’t sit in a pushchair after she started walking at 12 months, and another who still wanted it after 3.

And it’s not just the length of the walk to school that can make a pushchair necessary - it’s also the almost inevitable slowness/dawdling of many small children - stopping to look at/pick up this or that, Ooh, look, I want to walk on that wall! etc. A brisk walk as a lone adult is often a very different thing from a slow amble with a little one.

Not everyone by any means has the time.

If your kid arrives in a car there is no problem but if you walk and have a pushchair for when your 3year old gets tired on the 40min route it’s unacceptable for the preschool? I’d say to check if your local council has any walk to school eco initiatives and explain to them what’s happening. Ask the teachers if they walk 1hr20mins a day - Also I’d return the crossed out pushchair paper and tell them not to give this to you again.

I think it must depend on the area you live in, how accessible the pre-school is for walking there and how inaccessible for parking. It's worth remembering that few children of today walk anywhere near as much as they used to in, say, the 1960s/70s when I was growing up, so I entirely get the school's position on this particularly if the cars are clogging the local streets (and associated complaints).

Living rurally for mine we had a 45 minute walk, but equally living rurally it's a long hike to anything eg local shop (now closed) local pub, bus stop local anything is a couple of miles, often involving public footpaths and stiles so not pushchair friendly at all (the bridleway is fine as not gates and a half decent surface even in the wet). So by 3.5 years old you have had to walk lots therefore are walking fit.
So I can understand why the school are saying this, particularly if in town. However I note your child has hypermobility. So I'd simply explain IN WRITING so it is on file that you will continue to bring a pushchair even though it's not necessarily used simply because when your child has had enough due to his hypermobility you cannot carry him.

They're being ridiculous. How is that any different than kids being driven to preschool? (Except that pushchairs don't pose a danger to other kids!) My kid sometimes walks/bikes but sometimes needs to go in the pushchair, especially if I need to get to/from school drop off for the older one - toddler pace is sometimes just not quick enough!

Thinking on this further OP - at one point when our eldest was about 2 or 3 (so younger than yours in fairness) we decided we should make the effort and walk to and from nursery, which is nearby and a fraction of the walk they'd do at the weekend but a bit of an effort on a nursery day. Nursery actually hinted at us to stop, as she was arriving tired and then had less energy for their activities, which included a walk anyway.

So no, not every nursery!

@Notsureaboutpreschool @MariaVT65 can I ask, hat age did your DC with hypermobility walk at? Mine is 18 months and still not walking! Diagnosed with hypermobility. I'm starting to worry that she'll never walk.

This! Much better to go in a pushchair than be driven, theres more pollution inside a car than outside it.

My son started properly walking just before his 2nd birthday. His hypermobility is worst in his ankles. He also wears orthotic insoles.

He just turned 3, loves walking now, just a bit behind with doing stairs and climbing up things.

Are you getting physio for her? The wait for NHS physio was long so we absolutely depended on going private.

I'm glad to hear that he did start walking! My little one has been walking while holding onto furniture for around 3 months now but won't walk independently. Won't even stand when you hold onto her, refuses and just buckles her knees to go down onto the floor.

We are engaging with physio. In my health board, physiotherapy referrals for paeds are just a couple of weeks (NHS Scotland). Most childrens services seem to be good.

What did your physio do with your little one? Ours checked her over, joints etc and diagnosed hypermobility. She then gave us a list of exercises to do with her ie encouraging her to kneel while playing to strengthen her core, trying to get her to walk while holding on to a broom handle etc. We have a follow up again tomorrow. Just wondering if going private would be any better, in addition to her NHS input...

Pushchairs or Prams what's the bloody difference

This is just pathetic.

Not everyone has or wants or can afford a car.

If you've a long or busy road walk a pushchair is appropriate.

Little legs get tired. Take the pushchair

Idiots

My NHS physio mainly gave me exercises to do at home and kept an eye on progress.

NHS discharged him as soon as he was walking, so still needed a couple of extra sessions from my private physio to help him with things like going up and down steps, or climbing slide ladders.

My private physio was also instrumental in encouraging us to ask for an appointment with orthotics, as NHS physio wasn’t so keen on this.

It can also be useful to have a private physio appointment because they come to your house and can work with what toys and funiture you have.

@Inyourwildestdreams I need to stop posting on these threads cause the next day I regret what I’ve said however I don’t know where they are going after school etc but I personally wouldn’t bring my child’s pushchair if it was 15 mins down the road or if they were nearer four not two. But I don’t know everyone’s story or everyones
sitwuron or need to care

@SkinnyMalinkyLankyLegs My DD has hypermobility, she was given exercises at home, too like the bridge pose, sit ups and squats. Walking holding on to a carrot in each hand gave her stability! She walked at 2 years and is 12 now, all is well :)
Did struggle with stairs longer than others, maybe when she was4 or 5 was confident with them.
I had thoughtless comments from idiotic parents who didn't have this issue with their kids. I marked them as wankers and avoided them. It gets too tiring trying to explain again and again.. they don't even believe me half the time either! Like this thread brought some of them out, it's very ignorant.

Our rural location means the majority of parents use cars to get their children to us so we rarely have children arrive or get collected in buggies.

I'm thinking that you need to know your families. We might be a bit surprised if a 4yo was being pushed home living on the nearest estate to us but wouldn't take much notice of they had a half hour walk.

Is it a generic email going out and do they have a lot of parents living very close to the nursery? That might be what has prompted the email in your case.

Even if someone lives at the bottom of the playground it’s still nothing to do with nursery if a parent decides using a pram for the nursery run is best

Even if I lived 15 minutes adult walk away, with a 3 year old that's more like 25 minutes walk with requests to pick up. Loads of people drive what is a 15 minute walk to get on with their day quicker and for convenience, we need less cars on the road not more so pushchairs for a speedy drop off is better than being driven. The parent gets exercise and the environment has one less polluting car.

They can make suggestions about what they feel is best for children, but can't dictate what takes places outside their premises. If I were you, I'd continue to take him to preschool in pushchair and leave outside the premises.

Fucking twats. Fucking ablist twats.

Try sending them the link to the hsd society website that explains hsd to kids. It's good and clear. It's the UK one but can't remember the bloody website address at the moment.

But if they are going to complain about pushchairs they need to also complain about cars. Surely it's better for a child to have a pushchair where he can walk sometimes and be pushed when he gets tired than be driven door to door.
It's a 40 minute walk for the OP that' a lot for a 3 year old. Especially before or after a busy day at preschool
I used a pushchair for my children to go to and from pre school at that age because it was too far for them to walk all the way. That was 30 years ago, no one complained and they grew to be perfectly fit and healthy adults!

OP if the walk takes you 40 minutes with your DS in the pushchair it's likely around 2 miles. Longer if you're walking fast to get it over with!

Did you know that for primary school aged children a walk of more than 2 miles is considered to be unreasonable and would qualify the child for school transport? I think it is very unreasonable to expect a 3 year old to do as much/more walking than an 11 year old on either side of his school day. And that's before you add in the hypermobility, which depending on severity could qualify your DS for school transport regardless of distance. Maybe mention this to nursery if they continue to be grumpy about it.

Really the problem is children who are driven in cars. If indeed there is a problem at all.

It doesn't matter what age the child of a non-driver stops using a pushchair - whether 3/4/5 or whatever. By the time that child is 10, they'll likely have walked many more steps, carried much more shopping, waited at many more bus stops and train stations, and have learnt much more resilience than children who spend their whole lives being cossetted and driven around in cars. They'll also have been exposed to the world around them and to all sorts of other people to a much greater degree.

'Indulging' them by letting them stay a bit longer in the pushchair than the child who is driven to within 20 metres of the school or nursery isn't such a big deal.

Or they have hypermobile or other disabilities

My hypermobile ds had only just started walking by the time he got to the age your toddler is. I guarantee you'd have a different opinion if you had a similar child.

@cadburyegg I agree.

Also, even without hypermobilty, it's not the distance that's the issue - it's the fact that three year olds just don't appreciate schedules, and getting them to walk somewhere at a reasonable pace can be a nightmare.