Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to worry about seeing older and older children in buggies?

281 replies

mariebl · 05/09/2011 22:16

In the last couple of years I've really started to notice many more children in buggies, some of them must be almost school age.
I also very often see them looking unhappy and bored and trying to get out and being told off for being "naughty".

I'm beginning to think it must be my age as not too many years back there didn't really seem to BE any buggies for older children, babies went in prams, when they started toddling they had reins and when they got tired people picked them up and carried them for a bit.

I appreciate that there are children with conditions where having that transport is helpful and necessary but I also believe that having older and older children in buggies is a recent trend which is in danger of becoming the norm. We are also told we have a child obesity crisis and are told that children do not get enough exercise.
Am I being judgemental to say is this kind of trend a part of it?

OP posts:
mothiman · 06/09/2011 21:51

no kaumana did. i know i should go to bed now but i'm just not tired.

Notanexcitingname · 06/09/2011 21:54

In the spirit of trying to have a sensible discussion, I think it is very much a case if lifestyle having changed. There is more traffic, people are used to greater mobility, as someone pointed out buses are fewer, and so are local shops. And we are more time-pressured now.
I'd equally agree it seems likely that people do, on average, just keep putting their child in a buggy just becasue they always have, or indeed, because they need/prefer somewhere to carry the shopping, or because they are in a rush.
But I don't think 3-4 year olds in entirely new. MIL brought up her first two ds's in the 50s, and both were in buggies until well past 3, as they lived by a main road. I was born in the 70s, and I certainly remember being in a buggy, so 3 ish. I also remember loaning it to a friend a couple of years older when she had some disease affecting her legs. And being jealous, because I now had to walk!

and the only 4 year old I've ever seen in a buggy recently had SN, not that that negates other's experience, of course.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 06/09/2011 21:54

We don't drive and have never had a car, so walk a lot and always have done. The dds didn't use a buggy beyond about 2 years and 3 months. I agree with Pag that the only 'evidence' I can think of for the idea that buggies are being used later nowadays is seeing 'older' children (up to around 4) in buggies in town.

My opinion is that this is a shame for the child and that at that age children should reasonably be expected to be able walk for a couple of hours without the use of a buggy.

But that is just my opinion and it seems that lots of people have a different opinion. That's fine - it's a subject for discussion and I think it's unfair that the Op has had such a pasting from people for simply beginning a discussion.

Ormirian · 06/09/2011 21:58

Oh good lord, don't worryabout it! Confused

Clary · 06/09/2011 22:02

I find it odd that people think it's no-one else's business what anyone else does (seems to be the tone of some posts).

So is it no-one else's business that increasing numbers of children are obese? Or should society just let parents carry on over-feeding their DC and not bother about the ticking time-bomb for the NHS?

I am not saying (heaven help me) that those who use a buggy for a school-aged child lest he should have to walk a mile Hmm are equivalent to a parent who knows no better than to feed their DC high-fat rubbish all day; but I do think that it is reasonable for the OP and others to question this trend and wonder if it is a good thing. It's all about education of course (but then I would say that Grin)

skybluepearl · 06/09/2011 22:04

I disliked using a buggy for my pre school child but it had to be done as the half an hour walk to pre-school would have taken an hour. That would have been two hours walking each day for the toddler. Getting a micro scooter really helped with covering distance later on

mothiman · 06/09/2011 22:05

me too kaumana - think i've just seen this one too many times before.

Another point - yes before I bore you stupid, is that the average age of mothers is somewhat more than that of the past.

As an older mother - yes in my twenties I probably could have strapped a todller on my back and carried him/ her and two bags of shopping up a big hill home.

As a mother in my late 30s (having suffered a prolapse and a slipped disc) I could most definitely not.

maybe that's something to do with it all.

Ormirian · 06/09/2011 22:06

DS2 was obviously heading for obesity - he used a buggy until he was 3 because he was an escape artist with attitude. But the buggy broke so he walked except when I had to carry him on my shoulders so ended up with massive shoulders and a really bad back.

Buggy would have been better.

kaumana · 06/09/2011 22:08

Mothi - I am sorry if I have offended you.

littlemisssarcastic · 06/09/2011 22:13

Haven't read the whole thread, but am now reminiscing about how lovely those silver cross prams were with the toddler seat on top, so easy to push, so bouncy and lovely.

I want to push one with a toddler on top now. Grin

mothiman · 06/09/2011 22:18

kaumana you haven't at all. i'm chuckling here. i just think in the grand scale of things - what on earth does it matter how long anyone uses a buggy.

MissJanuary · 06/09/2011 22:22

You honestly sit there worrying about it? You need to get out a bit more love.

My son is really tall for his age, just turned 3 and he's always mistaken for a 5 year old. We haven't used the buggy for over a year, but recently he was ill and with the childminder and he asked to go in it as he was too shattered to walk, and I'm more than happy she obliged him, I would have as well.

Don't fash yourself over other people's business. Really there are bigger problems in the world.

kaumana · 06/09/2011 22:38

The only time I have ever "noticed" any child in a buggy is when I've been in the States, when I saw plenty of 7-9 yr olds in them, TBH it's the 7-9+! that get your attention purely because their legs are hanging out akimbo. I don't care what distance your 3/4 can walk but surely you would hope by the age of 7/9 they can walk a couple of miles?

TheLadyEvenstar · 06/09/2011 22:38

I have a buggy for DS2 for days out, it is easier for me and maybe some will say lazy I am sure.
If I am out with DS1 and DS2 it is definatly easier for me to have DS2 in the buggy and be able to grab DS1 if needed - yes DS1 is 13 but is skittish, has a tendancy not to look where he is going while we are walking (He has Aspergers) and is often in a world of his own.

DS2 looks huge in a buggy he is big anyway (3ft 10") but needs must!!

OP I'll swap you for a day if you want?

ThePerfectShitStorm · 06/09/2011 22:42

No need to get your knickers in a twist, Kaumana. My post was pondering on some of the reasons why people may make buggy journeys with larger children. I was not presenting them as hard or universal facts. And you are not presenting any either, just your own personal experiences/observations, which is what most people on this thread are doing. Unless you are seriously suggesting that from your childhood recollections and photograph album we can extrapolate a nationwide trend, or something. I mean, do you really have any clear recollection of the number of kids being wheeled about in buggies when you were 10?

That's a rhetorical question, by the way, I really don't care. I don't particularly like seeing older kids strapped down in buggies, but at the same time, I'd rather give people the benefit of the doubt as to why they are doing it. Much as I try to give all those people driving their kids half a mile to school the benefit of the doubt as to why they are doing that.

kaumana · 06/09/2011 22:55

TPS - "swivels jeans" thanks for the heads up but my tighty whities are still in place. Heads off to read a good book...

mothiman · 06/09/2011 22:57

Can honestly say I've never seen anyone over the age of 5 in a buggy in the UK. An 8 to 10 yr old? Are you serious? My DD could get out of the straps at 18 months. Must be a very different world in the USA.

LynetteScavo · 06/09/2011 23:02

I have never seen this phenomenon...only ever read about it on MN!

(But DS2 did used to jump in the bottom seat of the P&T when he was in reception. Blush Grin)

fatlazymummy · 06/09/2011 23:55

Why is carrying your child better than putting them in a buggy? I had a rule, they either walked or went in the buggy. No way would I ever carry them outside, I saw other kids being carried by their parents then demanding to be carried all the time.

TheLadyEvenstar · 07/09/2011 00:12

I am not able to carry DS2 he is a big lad and weighs 4st 2lb but is not yet 4 and he does get tired when walking a lot.

unpa1dcar3r · 07/09/2011 08:04

Can honestly say I've never seen anyone over the age of 5 in a buggy in the UK. An 8 to 10 yr old?

Oh goodie I hid us well! Wink

As I said before it depends on the child and their level of ability. Mine both SLD and in buggies way beyond what is considered 'reasonable' for various reasons- inability to walk til much later, then an ability to not only walk but run very fast, and an amazing ability to drop like stones to the ground (still do, one 13 one 14 and bigger than me) and absolutely no sense of danger!
Bloody nightmare pushing a double wheelchair buggy with 2 incredibly heavy 7/8 yr olds in but it was great for hanging spuds etc on the back cos it never tipped over and it spun on its own axel, full circle so no manouvering backwards n forwards. Every cloud...
Think me other 2 were out by the reason able age, can't really remember it was so long ago...about 3 I suppose.

madamarcati · 07/09/2011 09:00

My DS(6) developed rheumatism and could hardly walk for several weeks after getting scarlet fever. I had no choice but to put him in a pushchair for a while. I am guessing I would be one of the people you judged?

mumeeee · 07/09/2011 14:20

My Youngest is 19 and she still went in a buggy at 4 when I needed to get somewhere quickly. Particularly getting her older sisters to school.

onehellofaride · 07/09/2011 14:26

I generally agree with the OP. I know there are circumstances in which children look older, have had to walk far, are disabled etc however my friend works in a primary school and on numerous occasions has seen children from the school aged between 4 and 7 being pushed in a pushchair who she knows are perfectly capable of walking themselves.

Insomnia11 · 07/09/2011 14:28

I certainly remember going in a buggy when I started nursery school, and I was 3 then. Would have been quite a long walk for a 3 year old.