Parents really do need to slow down when they’re walking

[Parker1970]

This is a given for me, but when I look around I see all of these parents who are walking at an average pace, but of course their little ones they are pretty much having to full on sprint while holding their hand, and it’s only amplified when they’re holding hands with both of their parents. Again this is obvious to me that when you’re walking with your little one you need to slow down so that they’re little legs can keep up. For example even when I slow down my two are still working double time to walk the same distance that I am. I feel like my parents need to recognize that.

Are you self-aware of that? When is the first time you became aware?

This has to be the opinion of someone who never actually walks further than from the car park...
Have you ever tried to drag along an unwilling toddler? It doesn't tend to work. I promise the children are fine. And on time.

This!

My son is perfectly clear when he wants to be carried, to go in his pram etc. Otherwise his preferred pace is a run.

I usually err on the side of posters being too harsh and forgetting kids are human too, but I'm pretty confident that most parents you witness will have a reasonable idea of their own child's capacity.

Dare I say it OP, but they MIGHT even know their child and their plans for the day better than your pained imagination!

I agree with this. In most cases, a young child running or skipping alongside their parents is a happy child, because if not they'd be moaning, lying on the ground or demanding to be carried. Children nowadays are not known for holding back if they're not happy and most parents are as responsive to their needs as they can be while still getting stuff done.

I look forward to the thread praising the same mums in the park spending hours dithering over a snail, the ducks, a leaf, a hole in a rock (my sons favourite - Nanny lived in there apparently?) and their own feet.

Then sometimes you have to get to the shop before swimming.

Lifes hard enough without constant judgement from strangers.

Give over. Kids can soon move fast when they hear the ice-cream van coming. Unless you're taking them on a 10 mile hike they are perfectly capable of keeping up with their parents if they want to.

Young children will want to spend 1.5 times taking the time allocated to do anything. If you give them more time, they'll fill it anyway and you'll still end up in a rush.

At primary school, I'd briskly march with the DCs trotting/ run-walking along. They had to be there on time. They had inevitably burned up the sensible quantity of time allocated to get there and we had no spare time to waste.

When they were little I used a combination of reins/ buggies/ baby carriers/ piggy backs to get aound functionally. There were ambling child-paced walks. There were times walking was functional transport.

My walk is brisk because I have to get to places. I also have short legs and have to trot to keep up with DH's long and not-slow stride. It keeps me fit!
The DCs are teenagers now and have lovely brisk walking paces. They're also good runners and generally fit and active. They have peers who are not. They don't enjoy Scout hikes because the pace of their peers is such a boring, slow suffle and it stops them from going very far or exploring more interesting places.

Walking pace can be used as an indicator of mortality risk!

Haven’t you got anything better to do with your life than worry about how fast other parents are walking with their children??

You speak as if running or skipping is somehow torture for these little children. When my kids were small rarely walked anywhere, they ran or skipped, even in the house. They are both very fit now as adults and have no issues walking long distances at a fast pace. I mean, I wouldn't expect them to run or skip for 5 miles or anything but they could easily run around in a park for an hour or two before they reached school age.

Mine used to walk 6 miles a day with me on two dog walks, and school runs, and anywhere else we needed to be. She managed fine as 3/4 year old doing that before she got some respite from all the dog walks when she started school 😂

I honestly don’t remember them struggling to keep up, I must have slowed down a bit but they also walked quickly

TBH it teaches them to walk faster so no I don’t think you should slow down to their pace otherwise you won’t get anywhere. Better fast walking than using the car to transport them everywhere

This is why we used a buggy longer than some MNers, and then switched to a scooter (and mostly used it as a standing buggy rather than them scooting). I don't have the patience to walk at a small child's pace, but I like to walk to get to places and it's easiest to just push or pull them along, and let them get proper exercise in a nice park.

At least in your scenario they’re holding the child’s hand and not way ahead of them staring at their phone with no idea what the kid is doing. Now that really pisses me off.

The tables have turned for me. I have rheumatoid arthritis & fibromyalgia which affects my mobility. It's now my adult dds that are waiting for me! If it's something like the school run I tell them to carry on & I'll catch them up but if it's just a meander around town then they'll keep stopping for me.

Kids always like running everywhere, and I can guarantee you will hear about it from your toddler if anything is not 100% their satisfaction!

Ach, it's good training for them - builds stamina!

Its good exercise for them to walk fast or run along for a bit, its not for miles. You cant always walk at toddler pace, you'd never get anywhere.

Do you have any other parenting tips.

Cruel parents make their children eat too many vegetables!

They have to brush their teeth twice a day!

Why can't children have infinite screen time and a nice razer?