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!

We went to a lovely art event spread over lots of different venues right across the city, then all the last buses home were cancelled so had to walk all the way home too. True we could have just not gone at all, I'm not sure why you'd think that better than using a pushchair. I really don't understand what the objections actually are, it's not like he never walks he got out and walked lots of it.

So it's not a regular thing then?

I have a 4 year old and she would be outraged if she had to go in a buggy.....

@EatsFartsAndLeaves

Your tale is getting more incredulous with every post.

I really think you need to plan your journeys to include public transport. Where do you live that there are no bus / public transport routes easily available? Do you live rurally? I don't drive either and my kids have been walking from a young age too but stopped using their puchairs at 3.

I'm not more than 15 mins walk from a bus stop in either direction. You either need to learn how to drive, plan journeys better to include public transport or use uber/taxi or cycle/scoot. I wouldn't be traipsing around rainy streets at bedtime for social visits either.

What will you do if the pushchair frame breaks? What will you do if your child becomes lazy & refuses to walk anywhere because he's being pushed around in a pram. Also, think of the social implications for him using a pushchair aged 4/5/6 when all his friends are walking/scooting or riding a bike? Not nice.

I am confused, has he a physical disability? Could you put him on a trike? even a balance bike where pedalling action isn't needed but he can sit - why a buggy?

@infinityforever That's a shame, if you walk for miles it probably wouldn't be in issue to use one. It's the same as picking him up.

So many people wouldn't think twice about deciding to drive because the walk was going to be long or late and they have a four-year old, but are still quite happy to judge people whose only wheels are on a pushchair, even though the parent with the pushchair is essentially making exactly the same decision (opt for wheels over a certain distance or later on).

Four is exactly the borderline age when this sort of judgement happens and the reason not everyone agrees is because it is a borderline age, and the right decision for one four-year old won't necessarily be the right decision for another. Even amongst non-driving families - just because one four-year old is fine with the journeys the family makes on foot doesn't mean every four-year old will be.

How nice for parents who drive that no one looks at them, after they've driven two minutes to the nearest shop when they could perfectly well have walked, and judges them for not making their child walk (or walking themselves) - it's just seen as absolutely ordinary.

Why does it have to be all or nothing for a child that age? People with cars can take their kids to events that last all day and involve lots of walking, because they can drive home at the end, but people without cars should not because their child might be seen in a pushchair for the last leg? Seriously? That child should miss the event but children whose parents drive don't have to?

The four-year old who gets into the car tired at the end of that day is being coddled just as much as the four-year old who's allowed to sit in a stroller at the end of a long walk or a long day - it's just it's not seen as the child being coddled because the parents are coddling themselves too.

It's vanishingly unlikely to be necessary for most five and six year olds, and even quite a few four-year olds will be fine with the scooter option, but if a parent feels that it's useful for them to have a maclaren or whatever as a backup option for a four-year old, IMO that's their call.

Have a look at the Out N About Nipper single, it is for children up to 50lb’s in weight. I know you said you wouldn’t like a 3 wheeler but this truly is a brilliant buggy. We had both the single and the double and hands down was the best of all the many prams /buggies I tried before.
outnabout.com/nipper-single#video_single

Do his legs work ? If yes, let him use them, he is not a baby or a toddler.

Do what’s best for you, OP. It sounds like you and your child walk a lot! It’s easy for posters to judge you if they own a car, but not right for them to be doing so.

I’d be looking at getting him a scooter. Micro do great ones for his age group.

Unless your current one is broken, keep using it!
And yes, four is old to use a push chair but if you don't have a car then it is sometimes necessary. We had a maclaren quest. Last time it was used was when DS was nearly 5, ill and I needed to get him to the doctor.

Great post SpidersFrom Jars . Wtf would anyone care when families who drive everywhere stop using buggies? This situation is completely different, it isn’t fair to expect a 4 year old to walk 2 miles home from the nearest public transport stop after a long day out.

We use a Maclaren for my just turned 5 year old when we are on mammoth days out on public transport, no idea about the weight limit though.

I’m a bit at you going on play dates in other towns until bedtime when public transport is unreliable, is that necessary?
Travelling on train/buses with a tired grumpy 4 yr old at night when it could be avoided just seems daft just so he can see his ‘mates’ 🙄

My almost 3 year old has walked 5.5/6 miles on more than one occasion, been able to manage it from about 2.5. Bit tired by the end of it, but still going and quickly reciprocates and is full of beans at bedtime...! As has my almost 4 year old, who doesn't seem tired at all, she could easily do another 2+ miles. I cannot imagine putting either of them in a pushchair, they're perfectly healthy children. I've allowed them to walk for as long as they could since they started walking and it shows! You've said you catch the bus, the kid can sit down and have a rest and snack on the bus.

Unless they have SN, a 4 year old is far too old for a pushchair.

I am sure a scooter would suffice for most outings.

I am a bit about late night play dates and then a long trip back. And I note you wanted a lie flat option which seems very strange - you are not really suggesting a 4yo will "nap" I it are you?

My reception age children have sometimes cadged a lift on a siblings buggy but only in the sense of standing on the frame somewhere. They didn't get a seat, certainly not a lie down.

Ithink a scooter is the answer. I sometimes pul my 3yo if he is really tired.

What about one of those smart trikes or something that has one of those long handles attached? Not sure what age they go up to though.

I am sure a scooter would suffice for most outings.
A scooter only works if you a) have a child who can be trusted to stop b) decent pavements c) live somewhere reasonably flat d) are not going into a shop at some point.

Oh, and of course, willing to pay an extra bus fare to take it with you.

I didnt drive when my chidren were little and the pushchair was skipped when the youngest was 2 years and 5 months, we lived in a rural area and he had to walk. He is now nearly 30 and still walks the 3 miles to and from work, even at 2 in the morning in the winter

I've never paid extra for a scooter on a bus. Nor a pushchair?

A 4yo can be taught not to run into the road or do dangerous things surely?

It is fine to take a scooter into a shop. They jut get off and push them. Yes my 3yo knows this and does this without being told.

Some people really try to make everything difficult don't they?

I've just seen the comment about him being on play dates. So it's not even a solid stretch of walking? Bloody hell, just give him a snack to revive him if he needs it to walk the last 2 miles. It's not far!

Also I think you need to be leaving your play dates earlier! You get back right before bedtime? I think doing that on a regular basis must be somewhat unsettling, children take comfort in a proper routine. Occasionally, us included, you end up out from first thing until after bedtime(unplanned) and don't drive. It happens sometimes, you get caught up in something or something takes longer than expected. But this doesn't sound like a good regular routine to me.