Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Original poster

Older kids in pushchairs

114 replies

FlowersAndShit · 25/09/2015 17:42

I've just got back from Disney, almost died with the heat! It was very crowded, but mostly with pushchairs with kids far too big to be sitting in them. I'm talking 5/6/7/8 year olds being pushed around in a stroller. A pushchair was either being pushed into me from behind, sideways or towards me. Why the hell do parents do this? I'm not talking about kids who are ill or have a disability, but older kids who are capable of walking being treated like babies

OP posts:

Gunpowder · 25/09/2015 18:44

Obviously it's horrible having a buggy pushed into you whatever the age of the child riding it. Don't get why anyone gets wound up by other people's kids in pushchairs though.

Sparklingbrook · 25/09/2015 18:45

Some threads are best left as thoughts in your head.

Icouldbesogoodforyou · 25/09/2015 18:46

My average build male friend in his 30s just had a holiday in Disney Florida and went around on a mobility scooter which he got off frequently to go on rides or wander into a restaurant to eat.

Often, his 18 month old daughter was sat on his lap saying 'go Daddy!'.

He looks completely well and works full time in the UK. He has a congenital heart condition and it's likely his daughter will lose her Dad before she's 10.

He can't walk the distances of Disney because his heart doesn't work properly so he becomes breathless and exhausted. His holiday insurance was hundreds of pounds.

I bet loads of people wondered why he was on a scooter then jumping off to have fun.

You don't always know why any adult or child needs help getting around. You can't tell by looking.

Jasonandyawegunorts · 25/09/2015 18:46

Don't get why anyone gets wound up by other people's kids in pushchairs though.

Becuase they are people, HUMANS, who aren't living their lives the way the OP wants them to. It must be stamped out!

ghostspirit · 25/09/2015 18:49

unless the child/ren are being abused in some way what parents do with their kids has nothing to do with anyone else.

an older child was in a buggy shocking

HoneyDragon · 25/09/2015 18:52

On all the Disney shnizzle when you go they actively recommend hiring the pushchairs ..... I'm fairly certain they are good for up to age ten.

It's lost like they are aware thiat Disneyworld is huge, hot and busy and that children should be able to enjoy in safety and comfort. The bastards, neglecting children's Moral fibre by it making the little fuckers walk till they faint.

Gatehouse77 · 25/09/2015 18:52

At Disney I suspect it's due to the amount of walking, the wish for speed by parents, somewhere to put all their stuff, means you can do a full day and wheel your kids back to the car when they would be absolutely knackered and it's safer than having kids trailing behind, tempers fraying and them getting lost in the crowds.

For some situations, such as the above, perfectly acceptable.

Wind your neck in

BustyRino · 25/09/2015 18:54

School age kids in the baby swing so the actual babies can't get a shot.

You can't teach balance coordination to a child, it's something that happens, shockingly some "School age children" (4-5 year olds) do need these swings.

Sunshineandsilverbirch · 25/09/2015 18:55

I used to have the exact opposite problem to Kungfu

My twins were considerably different sizes at 2yo. I was upbraided by strangers several times for allowing my DS to be 'lazy' and use the buggy just because he had a younger sister.

Interestingly no one ever apologised when I explained that a) she was older by 10 minutes b) they were only just 2yo and therefore I considered using a buggy fairly reasonable and c) it wasn't their business.

Not one apology but they did all say 'well how was I to know?'

Which is rather the point- you don't know and it isn't your business.

merrymouse · 25/09/2015 18:55

No different to a golfer getting the golf buggy is it?

I think this sums it up.

SarfEast1cated · 25/09/2015 18:55

To be honest, I don't think it really matters does it? I'm sure it was annoying, but at least they saw everything in comfort? I'd be surprised if Disney didn't provide them for the comfort of their target audience.

fakenamefornow · 25/09/2015 18:56

YABVU op for going to, what must be hell on earth, otherwise known as Disneyland.

But I (partially) agree with you. I do think people baby their children too much, including putting them in pushchairs when they are perfectly capable of walking but just don't want to. Quite a few other posters have said that they would love to be pushed around in a push chair (as would I) but that doesn't mean we should be, it's just tough, we have to walk. I would be really interested to know if the average length of time a child uses a pushchair for has increased over the last thirty years. I suspect it has and children walking less is a bad thing imo.

If length of time in a pushchair has increased because more disabled children are now out and about instead of shut away at home, and this is what's pushed up the average, then that can only be a good thing though. On an individual level, you just don't know what the child in the pushchair's issues are, and why they need it.

Anyway, imo a fit healthy school age child should not be in a pushchair.

Op, do you have school age children that you took with you to Disneyland? Because if you do I would also judge people who took their children out of school to go there, it's hardly educational it is.

tomatodizzymum · 25/09/2015 18:57

That's an outrage, I'd call Disney and complain. It must have been one of their offdays, usually in Florida it's so cold there's often a few feet of snow and given that Disney is not very popular there are rarely any people so you get hit with tumbleweed! Poor you OP!

Strollers are frequently used on days out in the USA. Especially when it's hot!

imip · 25/09/2015 18:58

Dd1 is almost 9. We have a 3yo and were recently on holiday in NYC with the buggy. By the end of everyday, dd was in the buggy because she has hypermobility and she just could not walk due to the pain in her ankles. She needs to be paced, and if we wanted her to walk for half the following day, she needed to rest, but dammit, we were in NyC and I wanted to spend everyday sight seeing, funnily enough. I got heaps of stares, poor dd is upset enough to be in the buggy, but why should she miss out. Do I win points because my 7, 5 and 3 yo walked?

You would never pick dd as having such a chronic condition, she can start the first couple of hours out skipping, hopping and cartwheeling.... And dd2 is currently being diagnosed with autism, so these trips are very once-in-a-lifetime for us, as I am sure Disneyland is for many.

PandasRock · 25/09/2015 18:58

We have a holiday booked to Disney for next Feb. our third trip. We will be taking our buggy with us. It's a disability one, but looks just like a slightly larger generic 3 wheeler buggy. All 3 dc will take it in turns to hop in for a rest - they are 11, 8 and 3.

Apart from that, it is bloody ace to have somewhere to store all the crap you need - drinks, wipes (and medical kit and change kit/spare clothes for us) - it's great not having to carry bags for hours on end round big theme parks.

None of my dc look disabled, but they all need the buggy on days out, for differing reasons.

IdaClair · 25/09/2015 19:00

Children sit in chairs.

Does it matter if they sit in ones with wheels on to have a rest or are the stationary kind morally superior?

DisappointedOne · 25/09/2015 19:03

DLP is the only reason we still have a buggy. Will be taking notifier 5 year old DD next spring. No way could she walk the 14 miles a day x4 we average!

Piratejones · 25/09/2015 19:04

I squeeze my 7 year old into a buggy for the sole reason of annoying people like you OP. and you know what, it works.

Dawndonnaagain · 25/09/2015 19:05

OP suggest you fuck off before one of my dds gets on here and rips you a new one.

CheesyNachos · 25/09/2015 19:05

I actually gave my buggy away and on a recent trip to Brighton with DS regretted it deeply.

Mrsfrumble · 25/09/2015 19:06

Everyone walks much less than they did 30 years ago though. Slightly older children occasionally riding in pushchairs is like a drop in the ocean when it comes to our increasingly sedentary lifestyles.

I've said on here, many times before that a 4 or 5 year old (or older at theme park or attraction) having the occasional ride is not the same as never letting them or encouraging them to walk anywhere, and might enable a family to go somewhere or do something they otherwise couldn't. And is no one else's business.

CheesyNachos · 25/09/2015 19:06

(I also regretted vsiting Brighton but that is another story.... )

The whole day was crap and alot of it was because DS could not actually cope with the train and walking and doing what we were doing.

CheesyNachos · 25/09/2015 19:08

Also,DS is 5 and until about 6 months ago could not be relied upon to walk with me safely. I used a buggy for his safety.

SenecaFalls · 25/09/2015 19:09

it's hardly educational it is

Well, it is another country. That should have some educational value.

greenfolder · 25/09/2015 19:12

For gods sake
My Dd1 is now 21 and dd2 18. They are fit and healthy individuals. When they were 6 and 8 we went to Disneyland Florida for the first time. The heat, humidity, burning sun and distances involved meant we hired a double buggy. Best fifteen dollars we spent. We recently went back with dd3 who is six and looks like 9, got her one too! Luckily I could not care less what anyone thinks!

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Swipe left for the next trending thread