3 and a half year old in a pushchair?

[SecondtimeMama29]

Is this acceptable? Especially on holiday? At what age do kids not have a pushchair. My son hates walking and always wants to be carried 😩

Going camping in a few months via public transport with my 3.5 yo, 2yo and my beloved double buggy

If I was told at the station the train had run out of space and choose between taking the buggy or my suitcase, there would be a week's worth of women's clothing abandoned on the platform

Take the buggy. Fuck what anyone else thinks. Have a lovely holiday. My 3.5 yo will even nap in it (another thing I'm judged on) after a busy morning. Fabulous

It’s fine, especially for a holiday. In fact, you may regret not having one as it limits you. Also very useful if you want to be out late having dinner and or whatever and they get tired.

Yup they still have little legs at that age and get tired easily.

I don’t drive and we get the bus and do a lot of walking to get around.
We’ve done a few trips out without the stroller but on the way home he gets tired.

We had a trike but once he learnt to ride a bike the trike was a nightmare so now we have a bike with a handle for some nursery walks when I work from home otherwise it’s the stroller because a 10 min walk would take ages with him getting distracted.

It’s also a safety issue, we live it a built up area so I’m worried about those that drive like lunatics.

I was tempted not to take it on a day out over the weekend… I’m glad I did because he fell asleep as soon as we left to go home… for an hour. No way I could have carried him!

Do whatever you need to do to keep hold of your sanity and mostly have a good time!! 😂😂😂 my son is 18m and huge to the point of almost not fitting in the ‘up to 4 years old’ babyzen yo-yo. I am dreading what I will do when he is 3!!! Good luck and who cares I don’t think anyone will bat an eyelid! X

My dd is same age and fully stopped in her pushchair 7/8 month ago and I wish she hadn't! We can't do big walks anymore because she gets too distracted and takes forever
I miss it tbh and felt like she's stopped too young so id carry on as long as possible.

We use the buggy most days in the week for our 2.5 yr old. For instance, it's a 3 mile round trip to the swimming pool and back and there is no way I'm walking that route at toddler pace and then doing a swimming lesson on top! Not to mention that we often go round town afterwards.

I could drive, but I like the walk and chatting away to DC en-route about the various vehicles, flowers, dogs etc that we see. It also keeps me active! I used to be really into fitness but obviously cannot commit to even half as much as I could pre-DC, especially not now I'm 23 weeks pregnant.

We also have a scooter and balance bike that we use for shorter trips to a local park etc. I think as long as they have opportunities to be active then it's absolutely fine.

Whatever makes your life as a mum easier.....I know children in reception in go back in buggy for first time as they exhausted.... honestly don't worry. If 13 and in buggy that's when you worry.....

It’s fine. I plan to use it for as long as mine will go along with it. I think my last was in it until over 3

How about a 5 year old?

We took DS to Disney for his fourth birthday and thank god we took a pushchair,. It was great for when he got tired on the long days, my mother used it as a walker and it was great for our baggage

DS was a very tiny child, so probably looked like a two year old anyway, but I wouldn't of cared anyway

Nothing wrong with a 5 year old in a pushchair either.

For me, I think walking for most things such as errands, short trips, going to the park, but for longer walks, days out and holidays where they're likely to get tired legs then the pram is a useful back up.

I'd only think buggy use was unreasonable in situations where, SEN and medical excluded, a 3 year old never wanted to walk so was always carried/pushed. That's purely because they're not going to gain any fitness and stamina by not walking.

Do.whatever.is.best.for.your.family

happy holidays

Don’t see a difference between a car seat and a buggy, especially for long days and distance.
DD was in a buggy on longer trips out until she started school

My two were 4 when they stopped hopping in and out of the buggy/ cariers. It turns out DS1 has some hypermobility so it's taken him longer to build stamina and strength. My biggest problem now is the arms length rule at parkrun because they're too fast for me, so no lasting damage done!

It was better to have the back up and not turn walking into an unnecessary ordeal for the sake of it. Or drive everywhere. They're used to walking as a form of transport.

My DS2 was in his buggy until 3.9
He only stopped when DS3 was born as I didn't want a double buggy
He didn't walk until 19 months though
I say whatever makes your life easier is fine

Absolutely fine. The only people who say otherwise funnily enough seem to drive their children everywhere.

Bollocks they do. Loads of 3 & 4 year olds ride scooters, bike or walk decent distances. Mines not 4 yet & rides a proper pedal bike, she covers miles on it.

Where did I say children of this age don't use bikes, trikes or scooters? Of course they do but that doesn't also mean they don't use pushchairs too.

I stand by my statement that the only people who say it's unreasonable for a child of 3 or older to being a pushchair drive everywhere and consequently their child was out of the pushchair much earlier which is obviously possible if they've only got to walk the 10 steps from the car to their destination.

I think its unreasonable and i don't drive everywhere.

I also plan journeys that are reasonable in distance for a young child to walk so no, i don't spend hours and hours walking pushing a pram, because thats exercise for me, not the child. I'll use transport etc for part of a journey and walk part etc.

The difference between a car/bus etc and a pram is time.

A child who spends 10 mins travelling 4 miles in a car seat or on a bus, then 50 mins running around in a garden, is likely healthier than a child who spends an hour strapped into a pram being pushed 4 miles.

An occasional use on a holiday or if poorly, yes. Assuming no SEN/disability, a pram for a regular school run? No. The statutory walking distance for primary schools is only 2 miles, children aged 5-8 living further get offered free transport to their nearest school. A 5 year old with no disabilities should be able to walk 2 miles!

I don't know how you rise above comments like that. More important things on your mind than ignorance I suppose

My pushchair is up to 25kg per child so I'd say their weight and height are the only issues, nothing to do with age.

We got our then 3 year old a micro scooter and that worked really well. Her walking was quite laboured and slow and it meant we could get to places quicker without the buggy. (Kept getting them stolen but that's a different story ....and all our fault)

Yes yes, all the parents with cars all let their children go on scooters to school instead of putting them in the car most definitely.

I stand by my statement that the only people who say it's unreasonable for a child of 3 or older to being a pushchair drive everywhere and consequently their child was out of the pushchair much earlier which is obviously possible if they've only got to walk the 10 steps from the car to their destination.

Spot on. Some people are completely clueless and just don’t get it.

My son was in a buggy at that age. His sister is just a year older and the school run was far easier with him strapped in!