To take my six year old on a nightly walk?

[AddisonM]

I need to lose some weight. I’ve been struggling with undiagnosed depression and I’m trying to dig my way out. I have been following a friend on Facebook who has dropped three stone since January just by walking. She walks every single night for miles. She looks fab.

I used to run and go to the gym but I can’t seem to muster the energy or confidence right now. So maybe a long evening walk is the way forward.

My six year old daughter is a bit prone to laziness and doesn’t really do much exercise. She’s not keen on it and I find this a bit difficult to accept, tbh (I mean I get that she doesn’t like it but it’s important to be healthy and she has couch potato tendencies). I’m thinking about taking her with me on these walks. I don’t know how up for it she will be but she’s quite clingy with me just now so she may come along just to be with me. I thought it would be nice. We could chat. We walk to school every day and I quite enjoy it.

Husband not keen on the idea (he would be at home with three year old, who wouldn’t walk far enough). Says it’s up to me, but thinks it’s a bit dark and cold and that she wouldn’t enjoy it.

Has anyone else done this?

I think this is a bit of a naff idea really (sorry!) Its dark and cold ,also she may be tired after School and also not keen on the dark. Depending when you went out and came back indoors how would she eat her Supper and have her bath/bedtime story? Also some stories on here about being followed by men in the dark! Maybe try weekend afternoons ?

Great idea but I would offer scooter/bike. She might like Pokemon go for an incentive?

God @dottiedodah you’ve absolutely wrung the joy out of it with that gloomy post
All the what ifs and cautions
how would she eat her Supper and have her bath/bedtime story? after a walk she’ll refreshed and hungry. Perfectly ready for tea and a bath

Also some stories on here about being followed by men in the dark! So are you suggesting women & children don’t go out in dark..just in case
Maybe try weekend afternoons? Why?

As long as she is well wrapped up then she should be ok. Argos sell head torches for £7.50 that are elasticated and can fit a small child as a chest torch. Have fun looking at the xmas decs !

Even if you don't lose weight with the walks it's still a lovely idea. It's good for your daughter to have time with you alone.

And if it increases your feeling of wellbeing you are more likely to want to eat better and exercise more at other times.

It can't do any harm and is worth a try.

Nice idea to do the mixture of some walks with DD. You know your streets and how practical it is to walk at 6pm. It’s dark here with not many street lights.
Would it be easier to say when you go to the park that you can spend x minutes on the swing then we’ll walk for a bit amc swing again?

Haven't read the full thread, but great idea I think. I've started doing a walking at home programme, which is great too. I've lost a stone since starting. Look up Leslie Sansone Walk at Home on YouTube if you're interested. It's great for days when the weather is too rubbish to go out. I have a dog I take for walks too, but he's SO LAZY (lovely but lazy) and his walks are toddle 'n sniffs. My DD calls them "sniffaris"

@HeelsHandbagPerfumeCoffee it depends on her DD's routine doesn't it? At 6 DD needed to be asleep by 7:30 at the latest. On a school night she was actually in bed at 7.
OP suggested a 6:30 walk. That wouldn't have worked at all with DD even if the walk was only 10 minutes long. While doable it would have affected her routine,unwind time etc.

Let’s credit the op with enough common sense to plan a walk & feed a child
A minor change to schedule shouldn’t render the child hungry or unsettled

[quote AccidentallyOnPurpose]@HeelsHandbagPerfumeCoffee it depends on her DD's routine doesn't it? At 6 DD needed to be asleep by 7:30 at the latest. On a school night she was actually in bed at 7.
OP suggested a 6:30 walk. That wouldn't have worked at all with DD even if the walk was only 10 minutes long. While doable it would have affected her routine,unwind time etc.[/quote]
But the OP isn't taking your daughter out, she's taking her own daughter so I'm sure she knows her own child's routine well enough to know what time she can go out.

I take my 2 year old on little walks after tea as she likes looking for Christmas lights at the moment, so I think its fine for a 6 year old. Maybe some fun short dance type YouTube videos could be good on rainy evenings, or mr motivator or Joe wicks that she can join in with if she wants to.

This thread has inspired me to take the children out for a walk to look at Christmas lights after they've finished their tea. Let's hope the police don't report me...

You’ll be getting a knock on the door with such undertakings @NerrSnerr
Police will save the dubious practice on file. Just in case
Social services will be around chapping the door quizzing the child

People need to get off their sofas seriously. Of course its fine. For goodness sake.

My 7 year old has just walked continuously for 4 hours and my just gone 3 year old did just over 2 hours before being put in the carrier so we could pick up the pace. My 7 year old can pretty much keep pace with me and dh.

If I didn't work so late I'd do more week day walks with the kids.

Oh and by the way I'm a children's social worker and I'd happily take my kids out for night walks... Shock horror

I do this with my 7yo, started when she was 6. She loves it, for her there's something exciting about going out for a walk when it's dark, especially just now when the Christmas lights are up. On clear nights we like to look up at the stars, and as we live in a coastal town, we quite often see a heron on the shore. I think it's a lovely thing to do, and great for one-to-one time we are usually out for about 40mins and she sleeps no problem afterwards.

I honestly don't know how some posters on here cope with everyday life.

Havenly I think your maths may be off.

Average calories per mile for 150lb person is about 100-150. Average walking speed about 4 miles per hour. Average calories per pound about 3,500. So that's more like 1-1.5 hours per day for a pound per week (if overweight to start with you burn more per mile).

Since I started walking more often I find my inclination to snack aimlessly has diminished so, for me at least, walking tends to make me eat less. Going to the gym or swimming otoh makes me hungry.

I was brought up on evening walks from a young age. Some children attend youth groups at that age, and they walk there. Do it. There might be some initial moaning, but do it anyway. I sleep better if I walk in the evening.

A great idea, with some adequate warm clothes and footwear. Make it a fun time, as in do some hopscotch along the way, if you come across any paving slabs, or do some eye spy stuff. I used to do things like this with my daughter when she was a youngie., she is 45 now, but still into walking and gym stuff etc.

Could you do a loop walk that way you could maybe do 2 or 3 loops and she can join you for one and you can run or fast walk the other 2 if she doesn't want to join you? Also I have a walking machine (it doesn't go fast enough to run. I got in second hand. Could you get one and set a family challenge of walking x miles? Would she do kids park run?

I think it's a nice idea, actually. My husband's family all go walking with their kids regularly and they really like it and grow up enjoying exercise for the sake of it. My family went everywhere by car and hated walking and I have learned to love it through spending time with my in laws. But I think probably I would do a shorter walk with her first then drop her back to your husband and do a longer walk for you.

@Crystal90567

I think its awful idea. And very cruel. If you want your daughter to do an evening activity try football or ballet or swimming club or any organised club. I recommend you keep your dark cold wet dangerous walks to yourself. (Or start a class yourself eg Zumba) If police saw you taking a 6yo on a long night walk your be reported to SS. Id report it personally too.

You utter dipshit.

I thought going for at least one walk a day with your children was a perfectly normal part of parenting, on par with "feeding them" or "talking to them." It's not something you have to overthink or ask your weird DH about.

Jesus Christ, threads like this.

"Your dark, cold, wet, dangerous walks." "You should send her to ballet instead."

I pity your daughters being brought up by such sissy, old-fashioned, sexist cowards. Posters like "Crystal" must live in such a miserable, pink fluffy little bubble.

@Duanphen

Jesus Christ, threads like this.

"Your dark, cold, wet, dangerous walks." "You should send her to ballet instead."

I pity your daughters being brought up by such sissy, old-fashioned, sexist cowards. Posters like "Crystal" must live in such a miserable, pink fluffy little bubble.

I don't think that girls should necessarily be doing something dainty and traditionally girly..but a walk in the cold and dark just sounds really joyless and boring.

I don't get the obsession with walks on here...we go on walks at the moment because of lockdown and there's not much to do but generally I'd rather sit on the sofa in the warm and read a book.