Out of interest, around when did you stop using a pram / pushchair regularly?

[Playinggameswithme]

I’d say around 20 months ish for us. We still occasionally used it after that but I don’t think it’s been used since two and a half. If we didn’t drive we’d probably still use it though.

I think this totally depends on the types of walks you go and the purpose of them. I have a two and a half year old who can go out on his bike or scooter on a walk quite happily. If he’s tired it can quite easily escalate into a meltdown when he can’t be bothered walking home though and I’ve made that mistake before and had to carry him. I also have two big German shepherds that need a lot of exercise so when I’m taking them out I have no option but to have him in the pram. We walk up loads of hills and around 2-3 miles per walk so there’s no way he could manage that just now. It’s also way too risky to have him walking or on the scooter in case he darts out infront of a car and I don’t have a hand to grab him.

On the other hand I have friends who just go short walks for the purpose of taking their kids to the park etc and have no dog to exercise. They will say they stopped using a pram by 2 and a half but it does massively depend on its use I’d say

I walk a lot with DS so he’s still in one at 3.5. He can and will walk some distance but not 6-8km which is the sort of distance I often put in.

With our first DS I'd say well into him being 3

4 as don’t drive

We still use one sometimes for the nursery run - she’s 3 and capable of walking the distance but takes forever about it by wanting to stop and play with every stone she finds on the way, so if we are running late we use the pram.

3...3 and a half...ish. she's just turned 4 now. Used it back in November when we were on a mission to walk from one town to another and back again etc

she's happy to scoot, walk, cycle now, and I have fold up piggy back carrier I can take in my rucksack if I think she'll struggle on the way home or something

DS was 3-3.5 when we stopped, he didn't walk until he was 18 months and we also have no car.

Those who stopped much earlier always seemed to see it as a badge of honor despite mostly driving their kids door to door.

Some time between 2.5 and 3.5, but we did a lot of walking / public transport journeys. Probably could have let it go earlier but my mum preferred using it when she looked after DC as she couldn’t carry them as easily.

My daughter is 3 in a couple of months and I’ve just bought a new buggy for an upcoming holiday. (The old one wasn’t being used and went mouldy in my car. Ugh. We usually use an Out n About running buggy rather than an umbrella stroller.) She would rather walk but there comes a point when she gets tired and I can’t carry her the, say, 2 miles back home easily. I consider her to be a good walker. We often go out on walks as a family which last at least an hour (5km).

I agree with this. I used to fetch my eldest from preschool at 3 with the buggy and other mums would look at me like I had two heads. And yet I’d see them clipping their children into car seats outside the school gates while I walked (entirely uphill) home!

Used it regularly up until bang on when she turned 4.
(No I don't drive and yes we walked miles)

I was going to say exactly this. The people using buggies at 3 or 4 tend to be walking actual distances, not pottering about town.

2.5 for my first as we did lots of 5 mile walks

Still using it at 2.5 years with the twins because they run in opposite directions, otherwise I could have stopped a few months ago

@Doppelgangers that was why I clarified we drove … if we didn’t drive or didn’t use the car as much we’d almost certainly use a pushchair still. We have a younger baby and don’t use a double pushchair but the buggy board has come in handy!

DS is 25 months and I only really use the pram for going around our local shopping centre. He doesn’t love it but it’s just so much easier for me, as I have some mobility issues. I got some judgey tosser comment on it just the other day ‘oh you’re too big for that pram now! Why has mummy got you in that??’ 🤦🏼‍♀️ he’s very big for his age so I assume she thought he was older but honestly, it’s nobody’s business!!
That being said, I drive everywhere as we live in the middle of nowhere, so I have little occasion to consider using a pram anyway. On the farm, he went in the carrier until he could walk, then the carrier was on as an option for when his little legs got tired, and now I don’t really worry much. He keeps up with me for the most part, or goes on my shoulders if he really can’t go on!

DD was in her ONA sport weekly for parkrun until she was 6. It was used regularly for taking her to/from nursery until she was 4. It's a 2km walk and we had to be there by 8 and left at 6, so I didn't have time to waste.

We're debating getting rid of ours; youngest is 3.5 and we haven't used it at all in a good few months. I think I'll wait until he turns 4 and offload it then.

I appreciate you clarified you stopped earlier as you drive but I felt it still needed to be said because people absolutely use it as some sort of superior brag to show they are better parents. Not saying this was your intention but it happens with alarming frequency.

As someone who used it up until about 3.5 my God I got so fed up of all the judgement and faux passive aggressive comments.

It's absolutely fine to stop using it early but realistically anyone who walks any distance at all will need it until about 3.5 probably even longer.

My daughter was two years and 9 months when Covid hit and still used it a lot up to then as I don't drive and she was quite happy to be in a pushchair rather than walking. We had some outdoor space to use where we lived so didn't go much of a distance for the next few months. When I started taking her out and about again she'd turned 3 and I decided not to use it again. The only time we did was that August when we went to a theme park as that did involve a lot of walking.

Around 3 both times.I didn't drive.

My daughter is 8 and only just given up and put her in a sen pushchair. (She has severe sen) I'd tried to put off the sen pushchair because you get entirely different judgemental looks now she's in that and I couldn't cope. I'm thankful she's only the size of a 5 year old but now find myself dreading the day we have to switch to a wheelchair again because of the judgement

We got rid of ours at four months as we didn’t use it and it took up too much room. I didn’t have a car so no car boot to keep it in and a small house with front door direct into living room.

around 3 years 8 months.
it’s been almost 2 months and I miss it so much! 😂
even then we used it got long days out and shopping trips once a week at most. I don’t drive so he’s used to walking distances and bus rides.
by comparison my friends son has only ever been in the car and walking for 10 minutes makes him grumpy

DD was 4 as we walked a lot. It’s common where I live and work to see 3 and 4 year olds in buggies as lots don’t have cars so walk for the nursery / school run. One friend judged a lot but her then 5 year old used a buggy board - I have an only child and it would have been stupid to push an empty pushchair just so she could stand on a board. We also took it on holiday when she’d just turned 5. Next year will be the first year we won’t take it - I’m going to miss it!

@Sprinkles211 Fuck what other people think. Your dd's needs come first. You hold your head up high, you're a sen mum, it's bloody hard work