AIBU to keep the buggie for 4year old DS?

[floppyfanjo]

Off to the tip this weekend and was wondering if The pushchair should now go in the "going" pile ?

I've kept it up until now for emergency use eg if Ds is poorly and I need to get him to the Doc's etc.

Anyway we are off to Turkey in July (DS will be 4.6) and I'm thinking it may be useful in an evening or if we've got a long walk back from the beach etc.

DP thinks it should go and we wont end up using it anyway.

Would you keep it until after the holiday ?

15 minute walk is not a few miles, unless you truly are super woman

Take the buggy.

I put my nearly 6 year old in the buggy a few weeks ago. He has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and sensory issues and was having a meltdown because the nurse wanted to swab his eye infection. Feel free to judge, I don't care.

However don't judge me for bottlefeeding my DS4 from birth. I already feel guilty about that and it's not like I had a choice.

Sorry, I meant my dd's school run. We're in London so most primaries are pretty close, I do realise it's not like this everywhere.
I don't even care that much in real life about this, but yeah I guess I am judgemental.

Hilariously judgey posts on here.

Someone in a shop once advised me to get a buggy for a child with special needs if I wanted to put a four year old in a "normal" buggy. She was appalled that I even thought to do this.

Yet i have to walk our dogs several miles a day and a buggy is a life saver for when my child is tired. Far better she walks some of the way then gets fresh air than not coming out at all.

Do whatever works for you. Some kids are better walkers than others.

Make sure you tell the judgey ones to sod off!!

Ellie I can't imagine anyone would judge either of your situations. They would have serious issues if they did.

Surely nobody would stop using a buggy if it made their life easier, just because they thought their child had reached some arbitrary age cut off.

People usually stop because they don't need them any more, or because they are no longer convenient - we stopped because I was growing weary of trying to get them to sit in it without complaint, and also because our local station has no lifts and lots of steps, so taking the buggy was often more bother than leaving it at home. I'm lucky to have good walkers - I'm one of those rare buggy-ditchers who doesn't have a car either.

Other people carry on using them because they are still convenient for them.

It's not a race. I am actually glad not to have to lug the buggy around any more, but if I still needed it, of course I would still use it. Why would anyone deliberately set out to make their life harder than it needed to be?

Take it on holiday, sounds like you will benefit from it.

And screw what everyone else thinks tbh.

It's odd to be judgemental of something you have no experience of though isnt it? Try and put yourself in someone else's shoes, are you seriously claiming your DD could walk for miles each day if necessary?

lol at the posters with wedgies from their judgy knickers.My dc is nearly 5 and still occasionally uses a buggy.He is very small for his.age and sometimes I am in a hurry.Will I be put on some bad mummy list if I carry on using it past the age of 5?

IME people who stop using their buggy at age 2 do very little walking and generally drive everywhere.

A three or four year old probably won't need a buggy for wandering around the shops for half an hour. A three or four year old might well need a buggy if you are walking fast for a couple of hours a day and need to get to places on time.

I'd take it.
We had to visit London from Scotland when my dd was 5.
We went overnight on the sleeper (she didn't sleep at ALL...)
then across London, then hot hospital long appointment.
It was hot, she was incredibly tired.
She fell asleep in the buggy.
It was a godsend.

We haven't used it since and am about to pass it onto a friends dd but I am glad we had it with us. Happy for anyone to judge me!

Great to cart stuff about in, even if your dd doesn't actually use it...

I would keep it. I still use ours for dd who was three in Dec. It's a two mile walk to school, we go three times a day some days. So that is 12miles! I am guessing even at four I will still use the buggy sometimes depending on weather, if she is tired or Ill etc.

We walk everywhere as I don't drive or we cycle or the kids scooter but on the school run I am limited by time etc so need the buggy.

My friends four year old still goes in the buggy sometimes as she has asthma and it plays up in the cold weather.

I got rid of the buggy early on when I just had ds1 but once you have more than one child and school runs and pre school runs etc they cam be a life saver!

You judge people in a negative way if you feel superior to them,

Why on earth would someone be so lacking in their own life skills that their barometer is set at buggy usage

A 15 min walk is fine, a 45-50min walk up to 8 times a day is too much for a lot of three/four year olds.

On holiday last year our 4 yr old sat in her sister's pram sometimes. She's tall and we did get some funny looks! I'd take it on holiday and if you don't use it then give it away.

Youngest dd is now 3 and we still use the pram walking to town as it is 1.5 miles away and the way home is all uphill. She can just about walk it there and back but I like to be able to stick the shopping in it!

The poster who asked whether she's need a double pram.. There is 2.2 yes between mine and we needed one. It depends on how far you walk and if you have a car. I didn't get a double until I found how hard it was to wrestle a uncooperative child into a pram while wearing a sling.

A 3 year old and a 4 year old are very different though, in my opinion.
I was replying to OP - I don't think a practically 5 year old needs a buggy on holiday, or at all, in my opinion, based on my own experience of going abroad with my own child.
I can't help it, I think it's vaguely odd, to have an able-bodied 4.6 year old in a buggy. And most children I know wouldn't want to sit in a buggy at that age.
Regardless, people judge all kinds of things that are very strange to me, eg it wouldn't occur to me to be bothered about a bottle-fed baby but on this site it provokes some very strange reactions. C'est la vie. Judge away at my judginess, I honestly couldn't give a toss .

Purple - if your only investment between now and then is a sling, then maybe wait until your eldest is nearly 2 before deciding whether a buggy board would be enough or a double buggy is needed.

It only grates as your unsubstantiated judginess is upsetting people that don't have choice, but you'll never get it so whats the point.

thegreathunt, I actually just sold my car the other day because we walk everywhere anyway.

If I lived in London I wouldn't use a buggy, intact I don't when we visit, but then it's easy to walk or hop on the tube or bus.

Bit different in Norfolk where school is 2 miles walk and buses are infrequent, intact there are no bus routes that would get us to School.

Some people give up the buggy too soon, we had a two year old run off into a main road on the school run the other day

I don't get why someone having a different opinion is judging. I can see why people think it's unnecessary at that age. I can see why some parents find it easier.

I wouldn't want DD in a buggy, as said in PP we have used it once in 6 months (she's 2.5) I'm not smug about it, it's just what's worked for us.

Depends how much you walk. I seem to see lots of judgy threads where people comment unfavourably on buggy use after about 2, but I bet these people don't have to walk miles day in day out! I have a just turned 3 year old and mine is staying for a while. He weighs 2 and 1/2 stone - not a chance I am carrying him!!

5madthings has hit the nail on the head, as have a few others. We live in london. DD aged 3 is buggy free. Why? We can get the bus a few stops to the park, she can scoot around, then come back on the bus. If we go to the library, the zoo, anywhere, we can go by bus. Admittedly she did walk/scoot around the zoo for 4 hours recently.

If we lived somewhere with poorer transport options i'm sure i'd still be pushing her about as the other option is to carry and god knows i'm not strong enough for that!!

Someone saying they are judgemental of it is judging