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?

[hiccupgirl]

Good for you that your older child was willing to walk anywhere by 2 so you could lose the buggy. Not everyone is that lucky. You might find your 5 month old isn't so co-operative with the whole walking everywhere thing.

My DS refused point blank to walk any distance when he was 2 to 3.5. He also had spectacular tantrums that lasted hours. It was hard enough getting him out of the house without then adding to my torture by dragging him along screaming instead of getting the buggy out.

There are lots of reasons why a child who appears to 3-4 might be in a buggy still with a dummy. Yes one of those reasons could be a mum who just doesn't care less but there are loads of other reasons that aren't.

Still she was rude to push in

[usualsuspect333]

You don't sound like a very nice person, OP.

You sound a bit like you are on a wind up.

[slightlyconfused85]

Yabvu. The child may have been much younger than 4; my DD is 2 but is very tall and is easily mistaken for a 3 year old. She probably looks like a 3-4 year old in a pushchair. If he had a dummy then that makes this even more likely. The child may have walked a long way already, might be ill or under the weather, might be recovering from illness, may have hurt herself.

She was being unreasonable to push in front of you. Otherwise, it is you that is being unreasonable. Good luck leaving your pushchair behind as soon as your DD starts walking...I made this mistake once and ended up doing a lot of carrying.

[RandallFloyd]

You missed a trick there, Ouryve.
You're meant to make them ring their bell.

[BuckskinnedAstronaut]

I'm on DC3 who is 3.9. Virtually never used a pushchair with DC1 or DC2, but for some journeys will strongly encourage DC3 into one:

(a) because she's a bolter and when I have three to keep an eye on having her strapped down is an advantage
(b) because some days I have a schedule like a military operation. When it was just DC1 I was happy to spend 30 minutes looking at every stick or stone on what should be a 5 minute walk, but when I have to pick up DC2 at a particular time and then pick up DC1 ten minutes' walk away ten minutes afterwards a pushchair is handy.
(c) because it stops her poking/grabbing things in shops

Fortunately she's small for her age and mostly non-verbal so I don't get judgy stares. Unfortunately she's generally not massively keen on the pushchair now so its days are numbered.

It's lovely that you have the choice to leave your 2.7 year old elsewhere when you go shopping, though. Well done.

[fluffymouse]

1. how do you know said child was 3-4? My dad is very tall so people usually assume she is older.
   
   
2. as lots of people have pointed out it is really none of your business. The child may have special needs.
   I could equally say why didn't you have your 5 month old in a sling, like I did with my dad at that age, but its not my place.

[Nancyclancy]

Just mind your own business. Fair enough it's rude to push in but you have no right to judge whether someone else's child should be in a pushchair or not.
My dd is 3 yrs and 5 months and still uses her pushchair when we're out shopping. It means I can concentrate and get things done quicker without having to worry about her getting lost or in people's way.
She's happy, I'm happy so why should it affect anyone else!!!

[Quenna]

I bloody loved dummies and buggies when mine were small.

Had an especially nice holiday in a big city (with our two much older children)where we walked all day and into the evening with our youngest able to hop in buggy, eat snack, have drink, snooze, watch the world going by, whilst he was snugly, safe and happy. No whining or running off (he was a terror for bolting, and flipping fast).

He was at least 4.

Don't get rid of your buggy too soon...they always come in handy for poorly or tired DC, (or indeed poorly or tired parents who need a stress free trip to the shops/school run)

[TagineKaput]

My 3yo is in a pushchair because he cannot walk at all. It's not nice to think we may be being judged by some people who think he ought to be walking / it's lazy parenting to put him in the pushchair.

[morbihan]

Why were you late getting to preschool OP?

Bet it was because you were sat at home watching Jeremy Kyle

Can't stand lazy parents like you

[IHopeYouStepOnALegoPiece]

Who gives a shit what someone else does with their child...you sound like a judgemental bitch

[Rumandcokeplease]

You wait until your child can walk, run off, take things off shelves, walk so slowly you can't get any shopping done .....
My two are only 2.5 and 1 but I take my double buggy with me if I'm going to a shopping centre, they are a liability if they're left to their own devices!

[Sirzy]

DS used a buggy occasionally when he was older. His health problems make walking harder for him than for most of his age when he is bad. You could never tell by looking at him though. Now he is 5 and when we have a big day out or something we have to hire a wheelchair for him instead.

Lucky you being able to only go shopping without children, not all of us have lives which allow this!

[CantBeBotheredThinking]

Thing is we aren't all in the same situation I live in the middle of nowhere, roughly equal travelling time between 3 cities but you are talking 2 hours each way. I don't have a decent choice of shops any closer all the more local towns are very limited or they have out of town retail parks which are not accessible by public transport. I also don't have anyone to leave my dd with when I am out shopping, my parents are in another country and my siblings are at the other end of this one. I do what works best for us

[foreverdepressed]

YANBU. IMO most kids in a buggy at this age are simply there for parent's convenience. The dummy confirms probable lazy parenting in this case. The average 4 y/o is capable of walking and should be encouraged to do so.

[Thurlow]

Some other child doesn't do exactly what my child does, and - gasp - other families live their lives differently from me?



My way is the right way.

[raltheraffe]

I am with MrsDeVere, funny how you did not mention in the first post that you know the mum and the child is not SN.
My ds is very tall for 3 and most people think he is 4 or 5. I am saddened that people like you are judging my blind DH as lazy when he pushes the pram about.

[waithorse]

YANBU about the pushing in, that's just rude.

YABU about 3/4 year olds in pushchairs. I still don't understand why people give a fuck how other people transport there children. Mind your own business.

[NellysKnickers]

I'm guessing your 5 month old is your first and only dc......... She was rude to push in front of you but don't judge the child in the pushchair, she could have been a tall 2 year old, tired, a runner........

[Thurlow]

I'm getting a bit misty eyed about the thought of a life where there were no deadlines for getting the world's slowest toddler to a particular place at a particular time, and no having to take the toddler shopping because there's someone else to look after her.

Anyone else imagining a life where you can spend three hours "kicking the leaves at the park" and having philosophical conversations about "why is a snail?"

[fourwoodenchairs]

I think you've embellished this story, so YABU.

[Trumpity]

Don't judge.

My DD is 3, so usually on a buggy board. But she's in clothes aged 5-6 because she's so tall.

My 8 month old is in 12-18 month (sometimes bigger) for the same reason.

Do you know their circumstances? No? So mind your own.

[Trumpity]

Sorry if Im repeating- the site doesn't seem to want to load for me!

[LadyIsabellaWrotham]

I occasionally took DC to school in pushchairs up to the age of 6 if they were too poorly to walk far and I had to drop their sibling off. If I really needed to go to the shops on that day then I'd probably have done that too.

OTOH I rarely push in in queues.