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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

age your dc stopped using a pushchair

114 replies

ambereeree · 12/09/2018 20:31

Really thinking of buying a double pushchair for siblings. One almost 3 other less than 6 months. I want to use it for going nursery playgroups etc as parking in my town is hard to find and expensive. Plus its exercise for me!! When did your dc stop using their pushchairs? I'm thinking its reasonable for up to 4 years old when you're walking more than half a mile with them.

OP posts:
SparkyBlue · 12/09/2018 22:20

OP I have an age gap similar to you and I got a double and it was a lifesaver. It totally depends on your own lifestyle. I walked a lot and sometimes if you just need to get milk or whatever from the shops you want to just get there and back in a hurry then the double is great.

wonkylegs · 12/09/2018 22:23

DS1 we stopped pretty much at 20months but he had started walking at 10months so thought he was more independent than most. DS2 still uses his occasionally at 2.5 but mainly only on days like today when he's really poorly and I have to still have to do the school run.

GorgonLondon · 12/09/2018 22:31

I don't drive and I find those who say they got rid of the buggy at 1/2 etc tend to. It's much easier to drop the pushchair when you can drive to the supermarket/playgroup /soft play etc

Nope, I'm a non-driver and still ditched the buggy at 2 for both kids .

annoyedofrichmond · 12/09/2018 22:39

About 2 and a half. He just refused one day to ever get in it again. If I’d needed a chair for a younger sibling though I would have got a buggy board as his legs would get achey so it was slow going. If we were going to or from nursery and he got really worn out (quite a trek) i’d carry him on my shoulders!

blackvelvetband · 12/09/2018 22:39

3.5
But only really for shopping centre visits because it's easier to control him and not have the stress of him running off. Also used it for airports / holidays this year for the same reasons, but he could have done without it for the past year or so

A friend of mine took her family on holiday last year and her DS 5 was in a pram!

cindersrella · 12/09/2018 22:42

I still put my daughter in the pushchair now. She is 4 and is a July baby so at school she is one of the youngest.. she has no road sense and is quicker than usain bolt! Plus her little legs get shattered so for longer walks we have the pushchair 😀

NanooCov · 12/09/2018 22:47

I still use our double buggy for nursery pick up with 3 year 9 month DS and 10 month DS (he hasn't started nursery yet but comes with me to pick up his brother). If it's chucking with rain I can get them home quickly and dry. DS1 is also a slow walker who likes to point out every leaf and crack in the pavement. A 15/20 minute walk would turn into 40/45 minutes if he walked the whole way. Most other journeys I use the buggy board for DS1.

yikesanotherbooboo · 13/09/2018 06:04

We had a double buggy for less than a year with 18 nth gap between children . It was awful . I would use other options eg sling+ buggy with your age gap while baby is tiny and then buggy and buggy board when older. D C2 was well and truly out of buggy at. 2 1/2 and DC3 was popping in if tired until 3 or so. DC1 was more about inclined to a rest and we often took back pack out when first two were small popping one or the other ( usually DC1) in if they see tired or too slow. She was 4.i can remember sitting in the buggy on way home from school when I was 5 with my younger sister skipping alongside.

truebluebaby · 13/09/2018 06:09

So many obedient two year olds Hmm

BarbarianMum · 13/09/2018 06:18

Forceably ejected from the day of their 3rd birthday. Had the occasional sticky situation thereafter when I wished wedkept it but they adapted quickly and we survived.

ArfArfBarf · 13/09/2018 06:27

Some parents love making life harder than it needs to be. My eldest two were both in the pushchair until past 3 and are now keen hikers and bikers. Ignore those suggesting that if you use a pushchair past 2 your kids will become fat, lazy slobs who can’t walk a mile!

megletthesecond · 13/09/2018 06:30

4.5.
I kept the pushchair until the spring before they started infant school. They alternated walking and sitting in it. It was handy for shopping too. But we walk a lot and I don't have much time (working LP) so dawdling wasn't much of an option.

toomanyeastereggsurghh · 13/09/2018 06:37

About 2.5. I bought a double buggy when I had my second when eldest had just turned 2 I got about 5/6 months use of it because she just refused to get in it anymore. No napping by that age and just wanted to walk everywhere. I’m always amazed when I see 4 or 5 year olds sitting in buggies. Mine could walk quite long distances by that age.

Twotinydictators · 13/09/2018 06:37

My DD was an obedient 2 year old - would walk a mile to nursery at 3 no trouble, rarely used her buggy from 2.5 (maybe only on a whole day out somewhere if she needed a rest for a bit). DS on the other hand is a lazy boy, nearly 3 and still uses his buggy. Will ask to be carried if we go for a walk in the woods or something. They are all different - as long as they are generally active its not a problem. I would go for the buggy board option here...double buggys look hardwork to manage and it won't be used more than another year or so, I'd find it a waste of money.

Nomad86 · 13/09/2018 06:43

Dd was an early walker and dropped naps at 18m so we got rid of the pushchair before she was 2.
DS has just turned 2 and still uses it occasionally because I can't trust him not to run off as much.
Both DC could walk 2 or 3 miles at this age.

Like pp said, it depends on lifestyle. We don't have a car so DC are used to walking everywhere. Could you get a buggy board instead?

SoyDora · 13/09/2018 06:44

Some parents love making life harder than it needs to be

God no, making life harder than it needed to be would have been trying to force my very wilful 15 month old DD2 into a pushchair when she just screamed and climbed out as she wanted to walk like her sister! Letting her walk everywhere was by far the easier option.

LillianGish · 13/09/2018 06:53

DD until she was two when DS came along. We did have a double buggy, but it was far too cumbersome and she liked to walk. DS until he was 4 because I found the buggy so useful for transporting everything else as well - when it finally gave it up I got a trolley!

Fatted · 13/09/2018 07:02

Both stopped using it around 2.

I had a second hand double buggy when youngest was born and after a few months both of them hated it. Eldest refused to go in it, would kick his legs and bang etc. Youngest would cry when his brother was in it with him! So I used the single and eldest walked every where from then on!

With youngest we gradually used it less from 2 and by 2.5 he could comfortably walk on days out and long journeys. We threw it away last Xmas when he was 2.5.

mynameisnotmichaelcaine · 13/09/2018 07:10

Get a double, you can always sell it on. My elder two were both out by 3, but my youngest has just started school, and we took the pushchair to London with us this summer. When we go, we walk 15 miles per day (elder two are now teens). He just can't keep up with that. Gutted that next summer we'll have to lower our usual activity levels, because he'll not fit in the pushchair next August! In short, it totally depends on your lifestyle.

truebluebaby · 13/09/2018 07:12

Letting her walk everywhere was by far the easier option

Except you then have to factor in how small their legs are when it comes to walking anywhere and how much they dawdle and like to stop whenever they see something interesting. My 20 min walk into town would become an hour. I'm actually quite patient and we stroll into town a lot but sometimes you just need to get somewhere quickly!

silkpyjamasallday · 13/09/2018 07:15

DD is almost two and we haven't been using the buggy much at all since she was 18 months, we live in London though and I find it easier to get her to walk if we are getting the tube, I just carry her on my hip if she gets tired. She prefers to walk anyway, I doubt we will be using the buggy by 3, only use it now if we are going on very long walks, she won't nap in the buggy anymore either. But we have friends with reception age DC still in buggies, it just depends on the child.

DearTeddyRobinson · 13/09/2018 07:17

We had a buggy board /scooter combo, the scooter could fit under the buggy if the 3 year old got tired so he could hop on the buggy board. We ditched the buggy board around 4. DS was 3 when dc2 arrived and I didn't want the expense/hassle of a double when I knew he wouldn't be needing it for too long. We walked almost everywhere, car was for long journeys (I needed to tire him out!)

PoxAlert · 13/09/2018 07:18

About 3.5/4.

She's 5.5 and I've still not got rid of it as I love that bloody thing. (BJCM)

And there are still times (trips to Disneyland Paris mainly) where it's a saviour. But I do need to sell it. Also DD broke her arm at earlier in the year and it was great for the first couple of days as walking with the heavy first cast made her really miserable but she wanted to get out and about.

Equimum · 13/09/2018 07:20

I think it really depends on the individual children and the type of walking you do.

With DS1, he was largely out of he buggy by 2.5. We lived close to the town centre and he was always keen to walk. We still used the buggy if we went to the leisure centre, which was a 50minute walk away for an adult.

DS2 has just turned 3 and we still use he buggy for the afternoon school run. It’s only a fifteen minute walk, but we need to be there in time, and he is often tired. We ditched it a few months ago for everything else.

cmlover · 13/09/2018 07:35

ds was 3 and 2 months when ds2 came so 3

ds2 was also 3.. unless we went some where with a lot if walking ir London then it was 4

though by 2 they both did a lot of walking.