4yr olds in pushchairs

[SEH23]

aaaaahhh!!! i made my annual trip into the town shopping centre for christmas shopping today with my 5 month old DD.

LIFTS!! wow i hate them more than ever. waiting alongside 4 other pushchairs and then the mom with her 3-4yr old in pushchair pushes infront of me... WHAT?!?

a) wait your fucking turn
b) do you really need a buggy for children that old?

i hate my pushchair and can't wait for my DD to start walking so i can leave it behind. absolutely acknowledge shopping centres are busy etc but this child looked miserable, had a dummy stuck in his mouth and could be on reigns? surely?

When my DD started school it took her a while to get used to the 25 minute walk. She'd start moaning about tired legs by the end of our road. I used to bung her in her wee sister's pram, sister on her lap, harness closed and we'd get to school in half the time. I'd let her out before we reached the school gate.

I lost about 3/4 of a stone in that period. Do I get a prize?

Have I missed something?? Did this turn into a pushchair on the bus thread when I was scan reading and missed it??

Rudeness and pushing in should not be tolerated, but I thought this was pushing in front on lifts, and then judging over an older child in a pushchair, with a dummy, and is a friend of a friend of a sister of a friend (or similar) and so she KNOWS their is NO SN, it is all lazy parenting.... ergo, judging and flaming and norks being hoisted etc etc (in the very best MN fashion ).

I have never used a pushchair and didn't learn to drive until my youngest was nearly 2.

So I win the thread, the internet and a large cake.

I can actually see how "confined to buggy to avoid interaction" thing might be a safeguarding issue as one example within a wider set of concerns, but using it in isolation to judge complete strangers just going about their business in a shopping centre is really OTT and irresponsible!

The bit in the safeguarding training about buggies (and high chairs) is intended to be used to inform professionals that have Regular HOME or play Center type contact with a family that a otherwise able bodied child being left for ages in a inappropriate setting for example a stay and play setting or living room stuck in a buggy or highchair could be a indicator that a parent is struggling.

Not that a child in a appropriate setting in one is an issue

or living room stuck in a buggy this always reminds me of baby P, and him stuck in his buggy, also saw tv program about couples with babies and one couple always had child in buggy in living room, that seemed so odd.

Pat, there is so much to feel sad and enraged about in the world, and yet you decide to funnel it at able bodied toddlers in pushchairs. The mind boggles at your pettiness and small minded ness.

I would love you to take my toddler to the shops and try and ignore her in her pushchair . I might even give you a medal and polish it.

Dd2 was big for her age. I had someone come up to me when she was 15 months old saying "Oh get her out of that buggy, she should be walking by now." I looked around and behind me in faux confusion and said "Who should? My one year old?!" :o She did look a bit embarrassed as she shuffled off.

To clarify lots of people use buggies in the house for many reasons I am not saying this is an issue the issue is when the child is awake and its a regular restraint for no reason other than restraint

Shopping at this time of year with tiddlers walking is down right dangerous, IMO, as most (adults) don't look where they are going and are so absorbed in what they are doing they could knock a small child over. My nearly 4 yo is in the buggy for all big shopping trips at the mo. I am at home without DH in the day and unless my Dad is teaching them both, which is not always if he is doing core skills with DS 1, who is nearly 6, I will not risk DS 2 safety by dragging him through crowds on foot. He is weeny for his age, but too big to be in a pushchair by your standards. I'll do it my way, you yours. YABU

Pat, did the people running the course consider that, in safeguarding terms, a 7 year old in a buggy is a lot safer than one running in the road, unable to be contained without a physically stressful (and painful for both of us) struggle on the part of the parent?

DS2 is technically able bodied (despite hypermobility making him tire more easily) and capable of legging it far faster than I can manage to keep up with (hypermobility untreated, several decades on) and is too heavy and strong for me to pick him up and carry him to safety, when he goes off on one. That buggy got us through a very difficult phase, after just over a year without needing it unless he was ill. He finally rejected the buggy on his own, but by the point, his understanding had moved on sufficiently for me to work on some behavioural approaches to his random sitting down and walking off, with the support of a LD nurse.

TBH, Pat, a parent so detached they didn't want to deal with their child would probably just leave them at home or with a random adult. Pushing a big kid in a buggy is hard work.

I can see how a child being strapped into a pushchair ALL DAY EVERY DAY might be a neglect signifier, but hardly a child just being in a pushchair to get from A to B or for a shopping trip.

(also had a frankly enormous 2 year old who looked about 4 in a pushchair because, yes, I walked everywhere and didn't have a car, just waiting for DS2 to get to judgable size...)

Blimey, MrsDV, DS meets 4 out of those 5!

Good luck with that

My nearly 3 year old weighs 18 kg. when he gets tired he wants to be carried. My back can't take it so I use a buggy.

My oldest walked everywhere by 2.5 (when his brother arrived and he no longer had the option!) they are all different!

Ah well, if they think his un-combed hair is an issue I'll happily hand over the comb.
I'm sure it will cease to be of such great importance very quickly

Oh yes, MrsDV - DS1's hair was brushed for the first time in a couple of weeks, on Friday, when I grabbed him in an arm lock and introduced him to the tangle teaser! He was completely out of a buggy by 3, though, so we're all right there. Phew

My dd still doesn't have enough hair to brush.

.

Phew indeed. You side-stepped that landmine!
DS has gone to bed in a bobble hat tonight, that'd get 'em frothing

Maybe you should shop online.