AIBU to buy pushchair weight limit 2.4 stone, child is 3 stone but.....

[infinityforever]

Have already had to spend far too much time looking for a buggy.

Child has just turned 4 but will need a buggy for as long as poss as we go on massive trips and no car.

Been using a Maxi Cosi that i've only just realised he is 0.6 stone too heavy for. He's really cramped in it for lying down, a key feature for us. Mama's and Papa's Armadillo has loads of room but same weight restriction, WIBU unreasonable to buy it? I've heard that the US often certify pushchairs for much higher weights just because they have a better system for assessing them (or something?) than the UK has.
Please help, pushed for time!

Poor Op, she was just after push chair suggestions. This thread has totally derailed. Think a lot of people need to be a little less judgy Sorry op can’t help with suggestions, as we drive so not really an issue. We do how ever tell our 3 and a half year old when she is whinging at the end of a day out that ‘her legs are tired’ that she can either use her 18 month old sisters pushchair or walk (her sister is lighter to carry). Mostly she chooses to walk. Every person’s situation is different and every child is different.

My son is 2 and 8 months and very tall. I already get looks from people when he’s in his buggy because he looks older than he is 🙄

As previous posters have suggested is a bike or a scooter a possibility? Or getting him to push a toy buggy or something

Afraid i agree with the posters saying don’t buy. I started geocaching when my youngest was 2. We’d walk for hours. Miles. They get tired, you rest. By 4 they shouldn’t need something to recline for sleeping. Mine fall asleep in the car but if we weren’t in the car they wouldn’t sleep, it’s the motion that knocks them out. At 4 we were definitely past napping. We’ve done days out on the bus, the train, walking, taking scooters and bikes. I bought a side car type thing when my daughter was 3 and my younger was just born but she was too heavy. We sometimes took 2 buggies out. She sometimes used a buggy board as we got rid of the side car. She would fall asleep stood up over the pram. But when she was 3. Once she was 4 she didn’t. Although as a younger child she started school 3 weeks after turning 4. Even nursery would take them out on trips for a whole day and they would walk, round the woods, rest and picnic and walk.

And definitely don’t buy a special needs buggy. People will assume your child is disabled. Disabled children and parents already struggle. By the way I teach disabled children. Some have special needs buggies but more because they are at risk of running away and hurting themselves so they are sometimes used in certain situations but they are still often encouraged to walk. Unless they are wheelchair bound and not mobile at all.

People are being bizarrely sanctimonious about this. What's it to anyone else if you use a buggy with a four year old on long journeys? We still use a buggy with our three year old sometimes to save time or because she's tired/ hungry after nursery. Realistically we would end up driving more otherwise. I don't understand why it's acceptable for a child of that age to be sat on their arse in the car but not in a buggy for distances that they would struggle or be very slow to walk. Well done to all the people getting out and about on foot with young children. I hope you find what you're looking for OP.

QuiteTiredNeedSleep
I think there's some unpleasant comments, but ultimately any thread will get people talking and debating.
One of my friends, for example, has a great mini push bike that has a handle. It works really well for her (her words) diva of a 3.5 year old who has selective leg use . On a nice day, they can do family walks and it makes it a bit more fun for all involved, but if an event was pushing bedtime and involved a long, hilly walk in bad weather then they wouldn't be going out because it's a bit unnecessary.

Some people have an issue with buggies full stop, others are questioning whether instead of a buggy til they're school age you just alter the day (e.g. factor in the walk home as part of the day Vs have a longer play or outing and then say the buggy is needed because it's unfair to expect them to walk 2 miles from the train because it's close to bed and they'll be tired). For me, my parents very much had the view that transport was part of the day and that meant walking from the train station to the bus stand and then walking the other end from the bus to home, and if it didn't work then we didn't go. It was noticeable as a teen that I'd grown up walking places lots as a child compared to those who were chauffeured door to door.

The difference of opinion isn't always awful.

How about one of these?
www.fruugo.ie/homcom-2-in-1-multifunctional-bicycle-child-carrier-baby-trailer-stroller-jogger-kit-in-steel-frame-black-and-white/p-34606528-70654158?language=en&ac=croud&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4ujBnZyf5QIVD1XTCh0ikQcCEAQYBSABEgIEMfD_BwE

Sorry I don’t know how to add a shorter link. It has a dual purpose and can be attached to the back of an adult bicycle. They are very study, my two DDs had a wrestling match in one of these as I cycled along!

I’m almost to scared to comment on this thread.
Interesting to note the increase in the number of children who need BEAM!

No judgements - everyone is way to quick to judge! Just answer the question and move on.

Silver cross tested to. 25kg (apx weight of 7 year old) some joie strollers tested to 22 kg. Maclaren test to 25kg

What is BEAM?

Around here many folk have kids in buggies past 5yo. As did I. Nobody seems to care. Or if they do care, they are people whose opinions I have no respect for.

Only on MN did I even learn that buggies have weight limits.
I hope OP finds a good solution for herself.

OP. Do what is right for you and your child. Don't let posters who think you shouldn't walk in the rain past a certain time stop you 😕 they are not living YOUR life. Like I said before my son used a buggy untill he was 5, now age 11 he walks and bikes everywhere because I don't drive. He is by far much more active and fitter than his peer group who are driven everywhere. If you where driving your child everywhere (or using a bike carrier) it seems the world of aibu thinks that's ok, using a buggy is no different.

Also to tne poster who thinks everyone should make adjustments to avoid walking in tne rain after a certain time. Newsflash, life dosent stop just because you don't drive and want to go somewhere in the rain after a certain time. Do u even have kids?

Newsflash, life dosent stop just because you don't drive and want to go somewhere in the rain after a certain time.
Life doesn't stop.
But common sense says walking miles and miles in the rain at night around bedtime is silly, especially for non essential outings.

Have you considered a trailer bike as an alternative (I don’t mean a bike trailer)? We had one called a tagalong for the school and kindergarten run. Idea is it is hitched to back of an adult bike and has one wheel and set of pedals. Adult controls steering and braking. Child can pedal or not as it chooses. Child gets used to the idea /feeling of riding a bike without having to make safety relevant decisions. Longer distances are possible because if small legs get tired, they can just stop pedaling. Obviously not an option for trains/buses but other activities etc? Also a whole lot easier and quicker for the parent :)

Who are you to judge what's essential and what's not? Also in reality lots of people do this everyday. Lots of us have older children in activity in the evening to walking home in tne rain late evening is a common occurence. Visiting family on tne evening, friend etc. Who are you to decide if these things are essential or not ? Like I said in reality young children are often out late in the evening and if a buggy helps so be it. It might not be a reality in your little bubble but that dosent mean it's not reality for others. PS doingredients this has had zero negative effects on my kids

Life also dosent stop because it's raining 😂

I'll be surprised if most evening activities are an hour's walk or more which seems to be one of the claims up thread.

I happen to think that the whole "we need it because it's pushing 10+ miles in bad weather up and down hills and it's close to bed time" is daft because what young child needs to be out that late in bad weather for something optional? (I feel the same when people act like it's essential to have their little one in a car for an hour an a half past their bed time because they 'need' some activity).
When people claimed "oh but nobody would think anything of a buggy to go to Disney because those people would be rich", I think that's a silly argument because common sense to me would be wait a year til they can manage instead of pushing a school aged child in a buggy around in order to be able to keep them out past bed time to make the most of it.
Then theres the claims that people who aren't 100% behind buggies at 4/5 must be people who don't walk anywhere and drive their cars door to door etc. As if people fall into two distinct camps.

If people want a buggy, great, go for it. It's not the norm anywhere I've lived or grown up, like I say, as a child we didn't make those plans that involved long bad weather walks at night. I just question whether some of the situations on here that seem to be used to 'justify' it are sensible.

@LolaSmiles But you have put that so reasonabley without judgement to either ‘debater’. Just accepted that each choice I valid for different people.

With a 1 year old and nearly 4 year old I have many a time been grateful that I’ve had my tandem pushchair or least a baby carrier so I can carry/push the biggest, particularly in a busy area, or after a sudden change of plans or after an overly ambitious day out.

I’ve been told airlines will allow a child up to the age of 6 to travel with a free pushchair, I for one will be taking advantage of that too! Busy airport with small children, a pushchair helps with safety! Lots of positives!

My 3 year old ds can't walk. It makes me sad to see able bodied children older than him and ring pushed around. I so desperately want him to walk and he can't. I'd give anything to get rid of his buggy.

But I understand if you're walking along way it is probably easier. But it's not a choice I would make if my child's legs worked.

Lolasmiles. Yes some activities are an hour ish walk, why should people stop indra kids activities because you think it's unnaceotable? You base all your points on what your parents did, do you base anything on the reality of living with your own children?

QuiteTiredNeedSleep
I think there's a difference between giving filthy looks (which someone has had on another thread)/ being awful and simply having a different view which is a product of our own experiences.

I find it odd that people would decide an hour plus walk in bad weather with a child out at/past their bedtime was a sensible plan of action, mainly because that's not an approach I grew up around. It's also not the norm anywhere I've lived.

It's not until coming on MN that I really came across the whole use buggies at school age thing and the get a buggy to do a holiday was definitely a new one on me because whilst I'm not at the going to Disney point, the typical age for that sort of holiday in my circles is 6-9ish. That's the beauty of MN.

Lola, would you agree that today's society is more car dependent than in your parents' day?

In my experience, I find that activities and events are organised assuming that attenders will be picking up and dropping off by car, and they prioritise car parking and so on when picking the location. As a knock-on effect, they don't think about walking access or bus links. In order for my children to have the same opportunities a child of my own generation had, I typically had to walk a bit further than my own parents would have done, and time it more precisely.

Lolasmiles. You are basing your opinion on the needs of one child. Like the above poster says activities are planned around parents who drive. For those of us who don't we do often have to walk in all weather's in all seasons because older children's activities run all year round. The younger child's needs do not trump tne needs of the older children ,and parents, esp single ones with no support have do juggle the needs of all of them. If this means using a buggy for a 5 year old then so be it.

Lolasmiles, I also would not walk for 12 miles in the rain (!) but there are sometimes essential activities which involve a lot of walking, especially when you have more than one child and wind up in a time crunch a lot of the time. I did not always have enough time to walk to the pace of a 4yo's legs, so it was useful to be able to have her sit in the buggy for a bit when we needed to really leg it.

Last Saturday we had to cram in the dentist (a 15min walk from the station) and the swimming lesson (15 minutes from a different station) and then get back to the house in time to Skype grandparents. It demanded loads of walking and we only have "certain" time slots that we can choose, so this is the way it was. If my child had been younger, I would have brought a pram to speed things up when she got tired, not because she would have to sit in there all the time.

If we didn't do this, I would just get judged by a different set of people for not taking my child to the dentist or teaching her to swim or facilitating her relationship with grandparents!

I sometimes had a five year old in a buggy with a three year old in his lap on the way home from school. I didn't feel judged and I don't care if I was. Not judging others and not caring if others judge you is a wonderful way to live. It's liberating.

A child in a pushchair at 4 years old is ridiculous op. Children go to school at this age.
If you really have to do it then get a buggy board and put all of your shopping in the buggy seat.