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?

I used the buggy until DD was 3. No particular issue with her - the issue was me. I was recovering from a nasty slipped disc and could not lift her - clearly I would have restrained her had she put herself in danger but at risk of serious relapse. Most parents who drop the buggy accept if their child runs out of puff they may be carrying them home. This was an impossibility for me, so buggy it was. There are a million reasons why a child may need a buggy.

Cars are pushchairs for adults. Do you not use one of those either?

Or do you perhaps use a car when

• you have to travel further/faster than you or your child can walk
• you have more shopping than you can carry in your hands
• you don't feel like walking

etc. etc. etc.

If you never, ever use a car (or bus or train) then YANBU :)

Much easier to ditch the buggy sooner if (a) you have an only child and/or (b) have a car.

My son hardly used his from being 2 but it suited me. I used to use a wrap or hipseat when I could. However I completely understand why you might use one for a 3-4 year old if you have to walk long distances, carry bags or be somewhere on time (school run). Friend with more than 1 child have all used the buggy for longer with no 2 and certainly well past 3 for the school run.

Oh OP, you have much to learn. Perhaps if you took your eldest out with you once in a while you might understand that pushchairs for older children can be worth their weight in gold.

CantBeBotheredThinking thanks for that, I'm definitely checking that out this weekend at Mothercare as it's got an offer on as well at present.

As other posters have noted it's really hard to drop the pushchair if you don't jave a car. Have you ever tried getting the shopping home with a toddler & no car, OP? Ever tried it without a pushchair? Even one small bag of perishables is a trial.

It is so true about shopping. I used to be able to hook 3-4 laden bags over the handles. Now I am limited by holding onto DS, and my bad back. I also used to be able to push the chair, and take the dogs for a walk at the same time. Much more difficult now, so that has really limited me too. Rather stupidly I gave my pushchair away as soon as DS started walking better.

My kids never had dummies but had loads of speech problems (sigh).

Oh damn, it was all the buggy rides wot don't it! How could I miss something so obvious?

Well I didn't drink e till Dd (ds2) was 3. I never had a double buggy. Ds was 2.6 when Dd was born. He had a likailke, nursery was 2 miles away. It is doable.If he couldn't ride he held onto dd's buggy, do parents not do that anymore ? I started walking him to the corner shop and play group at 11 m. It is possible. SN excepted obvs.

Didn't drive not drink !

Neither of mine walked until 15 months either. Maybe they could gave crawled to the corner shop? Would that have earned me my medal?

I think DS might have been out of the pushchair for good earlier if we'd stayed in London; with decent pavements a buggy board / scooter / balance bike would be possible, and the public transport would have meant we didn't have to walk such long distances. But instead we moved to a sprawling U.S. city with poorly maintained or non-existent sidewalks, rubbish public transport and fairly extreme weather conditions, so a big, all-terrain double stroller was one of the first things we bought.

He's just turned four and walks like a champ now. He's sensible, can keep up a decent pace and can go 3 or 4 miles without complaining. There's still no way I'm taking the bottom seat off yet though! I like him to have the option of hopping in when he's had enough, and otherwise it's great for carrying shopping / dry cleaning / library books etc.

Well pushing in is one thing and definitely not acceptable but it is really no one else's business if a child is using a pushchair at the age of 4.

There are far more important things to concern yourself with.

I started walking him to the corner shop and play group at 11 m. It is possible. SN excepted obvs

Ha Ha, dd1 walked at 16 months, dd2 at 22 months - neither of them have sn.

We walked miles, with our double buggy, they hopped in and out, napped in it, went under the rain cover when it was torrential or snowing. They are 7 and 8 now and run around like maniacs, play hockey and push their little brother (4 1/2) around in his buggy!

It's very odd, the things people get competitive about! What is the benefit to anyone of getting rid of the pushchair?

I think you get a badge

Like this!!

Oooooh, I WANT one! If only I'd made them crawl to the corner shop....

I'm thinking of getting a tshirt printed up with that on, so that I can just open up my coat and flash people, when they look down their noses at ds in his buggy or having a tantrum or screeching or, well, just being ds!

Still - my boys were walking at 15 months and 21 months. How the hell could I walk them to the shop at 11 months?

Hazeyjane I think you are on to a winner with that one!

Well fuck the lot of you,I need a big arse badge like that because my ovaries walked to the shop today