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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that three years old is quite old to be using a buggy?

297 replies

Butternutsquash22 · 25/02/2011 10:41

Relative of DP was talking about how her buggy broke, so was going to have to find money for another one, find one she likes etc etc.

But the child in question is three which I would assume is old enough to walk places rather than buying another buggy?! Fair enough using it if it's there but if the buggy breaks she's probably too big for it...

Would you have bought another buggy at that age? She's an only child, with no immediate plans for any others yet.

OP posts:
solooovely · 27/02/2011 18:29

abilities? = random question mark!

JemimaMop · 27/02/2011 18:35

I have only just got rid of DD's buggy and she is in Reception.

I don't drive. It is half a mile walk to the bus stop and half a mile walk to her school. If she is ill her brothers still need taking to school and picking up again. If she is ill and needs to see a doctor I have to get her to the bus and then from the bus to the surgery, and the same again on the way back.

I can count the number of times that I have actually used the buggy in the last 12 months on one hand, however I wouldn't have wanted to be stuck without it.

Olessaty · 27/02/2011 18:40

I'd never be able to get my power walking done if I didn't put DD (2.9 years) in a buggy, and I intend to keep her in it for all the long journeys I do for the next fair while. Some days I walk in excess of 7 miles, she'd never keep up with me and I'd never keep to my schedule if she walked. That's not to say she never walks, but she's still little, she gets tired and misbehaves, and I don't drive anywhere and try to avoid catching buses unless necessary, for my sanity and her safety/poor wee legs, we use a pram. She runs around plenty even so.

Journey · 27/02/2011 18:50

Pushchairs are great for carrying the shopping....and of course a child! So what the child is 3 years old. Makes perfect sense to me that they still want a pushchair.

sincitylover · 27/02/2011 19:36

my dcs are a bit older now but it makes me laugh when people see not using a buggy as a badge of honour.

I am a working parent and when ds2 was 3 we had two drop offs to make by public transport each morning and I'd have never have got to work if he had walked.

We went on holiday when ds2 was about just 4 and I insisted on taking buggy. The people we went with had daughter of similar age.

At night if we wanted to go out late my ds could snooze in the buggy but the couple we were with he got drunk and his poor p had to carry sleeping child up a hill!!!

My exh couldn't wait to get rid of buggies and used to moan when I got a new one.

Both dcs able to walk long distances quite easily btw.

lovechoc · 27/02/2011 19:49

it just depends as many before me have already pointed out. if you don't have a car, I'd imagine having a buggy is a useful thing. If I drove though, I'd probably not bother buying another if I had a 3yo with no intentions of having another child later on.

Nothing wrong with asking OP.:)

5DollarShake · 27/02/2011 19:59

I have a walk-in wardrobe full of judgypants, but this is one issue I just don't get. Who gives a flying one if other people's children use a buggy? Honestly, what is the worry?

funtimewincies · 27/02/2011 20:01

We took the dcs to the zoo the other day and I let 4 year old ds1 have a ride in the buggy while dh changed 14 month old ds2's nappy.

I don't know who had more fun, ds1 getting the ride or me who stared down the judgy-pants tutting Grin.

mybabywakesupsinging · 27/02/2011 20:04

Both ds1 and 2 stopped using a pushchair by 2.3. Both walked up to 5 miles a day (school/nursery/other things).

But:
-it was their choice (and sometimes a complete nuisance); they called the pushchair a "babyseat".
-neither of them needed a nap by then
-DH really did not want double buggy and was prepared to walk v. slowly until they got faster.

Had ds2 still needed a nap at school pick-up time, he'd have gone in the buggy, babyseat or not.

randomimposter · 27/02/2011 22:31
23balloons · 27/02/2011 22:39

My nephew visited at Christmas he is 6 in April and insisted on using a buggy. He screamed the house down when told he would have to walk. He ranted and raved for ages about how he hated walking.

My cousing used to take a buggy on holiday for her 8 year old Confused.

However at 3 it could go either way. I personally wouldn't purchase a new one but I do drive a lot.

maxybrown · 27/02/2011 22:48

My DS is 3 and a half and I still have a buggy - ha hardly ever goes in it, and never asks too unless he is VERY tired and or ill.

BUT when you have o be somewhere FAST and long distnace i make him go in! He is very very slim and an excellent walker and really enjoys walking but I don't drive.

Funny how it is acceptable for the 3 year old to get in the car for a mile down the road but not a pushchair!

When DS starts nursery in Sept I am aiming to walk to save money - it is about 3/4 miles away. I am not sure what time I would have to set off if I expected him to walk it and be in time for school start? It will prb take me about 40 mins power walking. But I couldn't do that with him walking too.

maxybrown · 27/02/2011 22:49

that is 3 to 4 miles away not three quarters of a mile!

CoffeeDodger · 27/02/2011 23:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Newgolddream · 27/02/2011 23:10

"oldwomaninashoe Fri 25-Feb-11 15:01:03
I do think the sooner you can get them out of the buggy and walking under their own steam the better."

Why? Ive yet to see anyone starting school travelling there in a buggy!

redpanda13 · 28/02/2011 02:23

I borrowed a buggy for hols last year for DD (then 4.4 years). We did the sights of Barcelona with minimum stress.
Said buggy also came in useful so we could go out at night. If DD was tired we put a blanket over the sunshade and she slept while we enjoyed a few cocktails.
Shock horror I am taking the buggy to New York. Sorry my child is not the type who will walk all day without complaining and behave appropriately in all social situations. I am a bad mum with a lazy child.
Who cares?

thumbwitch · 28/02/2011 02:34

Ds can walk very well. He even holds my hand properly and everything. However, we still have a buggy for him, and we take it in the car wherever we go, because he's still 3 - and he still gets tired, and he still falls asleep in the car. Soo - we get somewhere, he's asleep in the car, we take him out and put him in the buggy. That way he gets his sleep, we get to do what we need to without
a) waking him up -->v.v. grumpy child
b) carrying him --> v.v.grumpy and broken mummy
c) wasting around an hour waiting for him to wake up naturally and avoid a) and b).

Plus, it's bloody useful for carrying the bags and stuff (saving mummy from being broken) while DS walks alongside. Also, if he gets hurt - bloody useful.

I realise at some point I will have to stop using it but probably not until he starts school. So there.

cory · 28/02/2011 08:30

Still remember with pleasure the look on the consultant's face when I told him that a car is simply a wheelchair for the able-bodied.

Unwind · 28/02/2011 08:43

I was listening to a radio 4 programme where they discussed the cost of children - there was much sneering about parents buying expensive buggies.

I was thinking ffs - never this judgementalism about cars or driving.

bonkers20 · 28/02/2011 08:45

My DS was certainly using a buggy now and again at age 3. A whole day out is a long time to expect a little one to walk. Also he still napped at that age. We also went out in the evening with friends and he'd use the buggy on the way back to the car.

I suppose I would not have forked out for the same one we used from tiny but I certainly would have replaced it with a cheapy one, which you can pick up for about £20.

I remember we bought a very cheap one when DS was just over three specifically to go travelling.

differentnameforthis · 28/02/2011 11:06

dd1 would happily walk & walk with me, at that. She would stay close, hold hands etc.

dd2 is completely different. She is 3 in July & I still use her buggy for the school run (we drive, but park away from the school) as she would just bolt. It's summer here, don't fancy chasing a quick toddler in 35+ heat!

You do what you have to do, buggy makes it easier & quicker for me, safer for dd2. Especially as some drivers can't adhere to the 25 zone around the school!

Bramshott · 28/02/2011 11:11
Biscuit
gardeningmum05 · 28/02/2011 11:14

my 3 year old regularly walks 5 miles a day,he has legs and enjoys using them.both me and him are not overweight because of this. lazy people use buggys at that age!

sethstarkaddersmackerel · 28/02/2011 11:17

'I was thinking ffs - never this judgementalism about cars or driving.'

that's a really good point Unwind.
Reminds me of the Amanda Vickery 'At Home With The Georgians' programme where she pointed out that although women were always getting slagged off for wasting money, household accounts show that middle class men spent a fortune on carriages and bits of harness Grin

maxybrown · 28/02/2011 11:31

gardening - my 3 year old is not overweight either! He is very fit and able - has vbeen wlaking since 10 months. And yes he too could walk that distance in a day - no problem, but I doubt he could do it in half an hour Hmm Oh and I walk everywhere - I can't bloody drive anyway, so not sure how i am lazy?