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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

320 replies

infinityforever · 13/10/2019 22:52

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!

OP posts:
Zeldasmagicwand · 14/10/2019 10:33

So, many of you on here think the OP should take shorter journeys and can't possibly imagine why you'd need to walk 10 plus miles a day?
Public transport?
That's fine for most of the UK, but not everywhere.
I realise that most of you live in highly populated towns and some live in villages that aren't far from a main town/city in the UK. But your narrow experience of rural living isn't everyone else's. Hmm

Here in rural Ireland, it's very different.

I live next door to a primary school and a church, but that's it. There's no other shops or amenities as the school serves several surrounding townlands and there's a school bus service for some of the children but the majority of children are ferried in by car. We are THE ONLY FAMILY that live near enough and walk to this school.

Our nearest town is 6 miles away and we don't have a rural bus service and the local taxi firm is based in the next town, another 25 mins drive away. There is a dial a ride service for the elderly and disabled that runs on certain days. There's also a community car service where kindly locals ferry neighbours to the city hospital 90 mins drive away and can apply to a charitable fund for help towards petrol costs. The service runs on the goodwill of neighbours.

Plenty of people still walk along the rural windy roads to shop in the town because there isn't another option if you don't drive.

Brown76 · 14/10/2019 10:58

Haven't read the full thread but what's the difference between a child sitting on a bus, sitting on a bike seat (on parents bike), sitting in a car and sitting in a buggy - if it's too far for them to walk?

JamieVardysHavingAParty · 14/10/2019 11:16

Brown76

I'll save you the trouble. The difference is "just because". As usual. With a surprise observation that walking-with-a-buggy takes longer than driving.

Gawd, I don't know how people manage to make driving the distance that another adult walked (while pushing a buggy!) into a moral virtue, but they do.

MustardScreams · 14/10/2019 11:17

@Brown76 god I feel like a judgemental bellend now. What IS the difference?! There is none.

Op sorry for being a judgy knob, and anyone else. It doesn’t affect me what others do so no idea why I felt the need to be a twat about it.

GrumpyHoonMain · 14/10/2019 11:20

Honestly if you live in an area without regular public transport then the easiest thing to do long term is make your 4 yo walk. Putting him in a pushchair at that age is just going to make things worse when he starts school properly

SarahTancredi · 14/10/2019 11:32

He already walks to nursery school though.

Sure he will cope just fine.

Theres a huge difference between shoving a child who can walk in a buggy constantly when you are never more than 15 mins from a bus stop or a school and a 6 mile round trip which many adults dont even bother doing.

Yummymummy2020 · 14/10/2019 11:42

Chances are the buggy will be ok, but if it does break they will know by it that too heavy a load was in it If it’s not suitable for that weight and your warranty will be void then which might be an issue for you as you would need to buy another then! But if you go second hand you won’t have a warranty anyway! You are right, some prams and buggy’s are tested differently in the us to a higher weight load, it’s literally just the warranty thing will come into play by Uk standards. The bigger brands tend to be pretty safe for heavier loads but some of the cheaper buggies would buckle, generally you can judge by looking at them how sturdy they are! I second the city mini or if you could get a Phil and teds they have a great weight limit on them, you might get a cheap one second hand!!!

Rainwilds · 14/10/2019 11:56

Phil and teds buggies are fab. High weight limit, easy to manoeuvre and hard wearing xx

goose1964 · 14/10/2019 12:05

We have no car and my nearly 3 year old grandson walks everywhere. The last time he went in a pushchair was because his cousin was in the other side and they were being silly in it.

Pinkkahori · 14/10/2019 12:16

hopityhopity I'm seriously impressed with a 2 year old walking 5 or 6 miles. How long does that even take? My kids are older now but sometimes I look after a 2.5 year old. She is very active but her legs are short and her attention span even shorter. I can imagine a walk of that length taking all day.

PleasePassTheCoffeeThanks · 14/10/2019 12:31

Just get him a scooter!
4yo NT ... no reason to be in a buggy!
He is not a toddler anymore. And I say this as someone from a car-free household and a parent of twins.

GymNovice · 14/10/2019 12:37

Honestly if you live in an area without regular public transport then the easiest thing to do long term is make your 4 yo walk.

No, it's not. If you start to turn every trip into a horror trip or end up with tantrums and refusal before you even leave the house. Every. Single. Time. If they know they have the possibility to have a rest when they need it, they are much more compliant about going out and about for boring, mundane trips.

For those who think it's teaching the child to be lazy, I would disagree with that. A child who is brought up to take part in activities, no matter how far, crappy weather, or unorthodox methods used to get there, is likely to be more active than one whose parents shove them in the car or who refuse to go out that day because it's raining.

There is a huge difference in going out on a long walk with a four year old once in a blue moon and having to go out on a long walk every time you want to go somewhere and get something done.

If they were tired we'd use the metro or bus 🤣🤣🤣🤣

TheJoxter · 14/10/2019 12:44

Could you get one of those pull along wagons like people use at festivals? You can fit loads of shopping etc on them too and get rain canopies

Molly2017 · 14/10/2019 12:49

My DD started reception in September. There is more then one parent who uses a pushchair. One even squashes their child into an I Candy. It’s ridiculous. We walked in with one and they quickly explained they used it because their child’s legs are tired (I didn’t ask). This was on the way into school in the morning and we live further.
I don’t think it does the child any favours.

Evilmorty · 14/10/2019 12:50

Don’t go over the weight limit. It may fold while the child is in it.

Spudlet · 14/10/2019 12:54

We had a Silvercross Zest for DS, which was ok although it was killed by cobbled streets on holiday, so definitely a nice flat pavement buggy only. We did get it secondhand, so that may not have helped.

DS balance bikes pretty well these days but it’s hard and I do end up running alongside him at times as he has no road-sense. Currently nursing a sprained foot from his last escapade (and sneerers of MN can do one, I am in fact a runner, but I wasn’t wearing my proper trainers on this occasion).

Thank you sooooooo much to the super helpful poster who takes the Metro though, why didn’t I think of that! However since my nearest station is 64 miles away, it may make our trip to playgroup quite lengthy 🙄 Not everyone lives in a city with lots of public transport and even if you do have a bus service it’s not always cheap - I took a bus in my hometown last week and it cost £4.30 for a twenty minute trip in each direction. Daylight robbery!

SoftSheen · 14/10/2019 12:59

Get a scooter instead. 4 year olds (assuming no disability) can walk for miles. (I don't drive, walk everywhere, and have a 4 year old right now, so I do know...).

GymNovice · 14/10/2019 13:27

Get a scooter instead. 4 year olds (assuming no disability) can walk for miles when they want to. (I don't drive, walk everywhere, and have a 4 year old right now, so I do know...).

Fixed that for you!

Kokeshi123 · 14/10/2019 13:37

Sorry, but no way would I want a 4yo zipping around in a scooter while walking one pavements near busy roads. I have seen excited kids go SHOOTING off the edge of the pavement into the road in those things. It's dangerous. Also, mine could not use a scooter at that age. We did try. We kept a buggy with us on LONG days out until she was 4.5. Not because she was sitting it in all day but because she could crash there when she was really tired.

DtPeabodysLoosePants · 14/10/2019 13:40

Bugger, my baby jogger versa says up to 15kg not much considering how big some two year olds are. Ds is quite skinny at 16kg at 4 and three quarters. He's still in his full harness child seat, not a high backed booster although he could go in it now.

megletthesecond · 14/10/2019 13:46

4 year olds can walk for miles when they want to at their pace.

Adult life needs to be walked fairly quickly day in, day out.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 14/10/2019 14:05

Adult life needs to be walked fairly quickly day in, day out.

So many people seem to make no concessions/changes to their lives to accommodate children. Sometimes you can't always do things in the way you did pre kids, it's not fair on them and sometimes you have to put their needs first.

E.g. you can't walk for 12 miles around an art thing across a whole city after a child is already tired from school (As an earlier poster on the thread described). Its just not an appropriate activity with a tired young child that needs to go home, do their reading book, eat their tea and get to bed.

And if such occasions are a one off, get a taxi home when the buses are cancelled!

SarahTancredi · 14/10/2019 14:09

And if such occasions are a one off, get a taxi home when the buses are cancelled!

What difference would that make ffs. Not walking in.a buggy vs not walking in a taxiHmm

Just cos it's a one off doeant make it ok to waste 30 quid on a taxi.

The way some.taxi drivers drive its much safer in the.buggy anyway

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 14/10/2019 14:11

Sarahtancredi

Time! A 12 mile walk with a pushchair is 2.5 to 3 HOURS, before a young child after school gets home. 12miles a cab is half an hour

megletthesecond · 14/10/2019 14:17

no. I'm a working LP. My DC's have to fit in around what I need to do 90% of the time.

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