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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think a 2.5 year old doesn't need a pram?

200 replies

Sissynova · 05/07/2023 09:02

Will have two months less than a 2.5 year age gap, nursery is a mile walk 5 days a week and we do all the usual days out on the weekend.
Would you just use the pram for the baby when you didn't want to carry them all day?
Is 2.5 too young to sit properly on a buggy board or walk 2 miles a day??Would a 2.5 year old need a pram to nap if you are out of the house all day?

OP posts:
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5
3WildOnes · 05/07/2023 09:19

One of mine had stopped having naps by 2.5 and could walk for miles so we didn't need the buggy beyond 2.5. My other two didn't stop napping until 3 and couldn't walk as far so I was still using the buggy until closer to 4.

TeaKitten · 05/07/2023 09:20

Sissynova · 05/07/2023 09:17

Sling doesn't really give options as that is just committing to toddler in pram and having to carry baby 100% of the time as it would need to be set up for either a baby or older child seat.

Show quote history

Leave buggy set up for toddler and carry baby in sling, sometimes if toddler wants to walk you will be pushing an empty buggy but so what. 2.5 year old will be too tired to do all that walking 5 days a week, and at some point baby will be fussing too/itl be raining etc, and you will want to get home quicker.

Hazelnuttella · 05/07/2023 09:20

Following with interest. My DS will be 2yr 9 months but I hate slings so baby will need to be in a pram. Not convinced my DS will stand on a buggy board for long periods.

TeaKitten · 05/07/2023 09:21

I’m sure you can get buggy board seats though?

DappledThings · 05/07/2023 09:22

Would a 2.5 year old need a pram to nap if you are out of the house all day?
That's the crucial question. Mine did. I had a 22 month gap and wouldn't have been without my double. There were times baby was in a sling and toddler walking and I was pushing an empty double but there were also plenty of times I was pushing it with with both fast asleep so I could stop and get a cup.of tea unhindered.

We used the double for over a year because toddler still napped. Would probably have been longer but covid lockdown stopped us leaving the house.

SunSurfSand · 05/07/2023 09:22

Get a double or you will end up carrying the 2.5 year old.

Nottodaythx · 05/07/2023 09:23

Had similar age go with mine and used a double
city jogger. I walk a fair bit tho (4-5 miles) as I prefer to walk than take the car.

TeaKitten · 05/07/2023 09:23

Would work for naps on days out, but for a mile walk home maybe the seat is a good option?

AIBU to think a 2.5 year old doesn't need a pram?
TeaKitten · 05/07/2023 09:24

*wouldnt work for naps on days out

1992H · 05/07/2023 09:24

There was a two year gap between mine. I wasn’t going to bother with a double. In the end I brought a £50 marketplace used mountain buggy duet and it saved my sanity.
was handy for getting out for a long walk on a tantrum filled day and I could get so much shopping underneath! And it was wide enough I could bungee cord my eldests balance bike to it when he wanted a rest.

I then resold it for what I paid when we had done with it.

I wouldn’t pay out for a new one but I’d seriously keep an eye out for a second hand one, you won’t always need it but it’ll be handy to have on the rough days!

Spendonsend · 05/07/2023 09:25

I had a 2 years and 4 months age gap and used a double buggy for a good 6 months. It depends a bit how much walking you do and how tired your child gets and how much time you have.

I used a sling too like others suggested.

Flaskfan · 05/07/2023 09:25

I had 2 year gap. I let older dc walk for time wasting walks, but even though dc are now teens, I'm still a faster walker than them. Tried a buggy board, but it's a killer if you're tall. Sling and buggy all the way. Dc1 then had the option to walk or ride when tired.

Pandabear33 · 05/07/2023 09:25

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Original poster
Sissynova · 05/07/2023 09:25

ZacharinaQuack · 05/07/2023 09:12

I will have the same age gap but baby is not due till December and I think I just have to wait and see. I normally like to have everything prepared in advance, and 2-year-old is a great walker, but there are loads of variables and toddlers change so much in a few months. E.g. toddler might still be napping (+1 for buggy) or might not. People always say 'use a sling for baby', which is great in theory but you don't know how recovery from the birth will go and whether you'll be able to.

Recovery is a good point as I will be having a section so can't carry baby for a few weeks initially.

OP posts:
gastin · 05/07/2023 09:26

I got a cheap Phil and Ted's from ebay and it made life so much easier, sometimes my eldest would still nap in there, I could keep them both dry in the rain and it was nicer for long walks than pushing a buggy board, and more comfortable than a buggy board seat for dc. And it doesn't take up more space than a normal large buggy. We could have managed with the sling and one buggy but I think we wouldn't have gone to as many places otherwise so it would have really restricted us.

Peony654 · 05/07/2023 09:27

Can toddler go on balance bike/trike/scooter?

LuvSmallDogs · 05/07/2023 09:27

Buggy boards are usually recommended 3+, but we managed to get our then 2 year old to use one with a bit of practise. I would definitely practise before needing them to be good on it because you're rushing somewhere.

As buggy boards are nice and easy for a child to hop on and off, it helps build them up to bigger walks IMO.

redskytwonight · 05/07/2023 09:28

Sissynova · 05/07/2023 09:16

They can walk it now at almost 2 but not every day and it obviously takes FOREVER. Hard to gauge how it will be in 6 months time.

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We basically made DS (with a 2 year age gap) walk as pushing a double buggy was just too much hard work. We just accepted that we slow walked everywhere and allowed plenty of time to do things. It's very rarely you need to rush anywhere on maternity leave.

stealthbanana · 05/07/2023 09:28

Scooter for toddler on way back from
nursery

we had a buggy Board - handy to have it. I always found double prams too bulky and heavy so never had one but we are in london where you can barely get a double into a shop doorway so it wasn’t convenient for us

Saschka · 05/07/2023 09:28

We had DS in a sling until about 3, so that is always an option! (We lived in places where we were reliant on public transport, which had a lot of steps to access it, so a pushchair wasn’t really useful).

Otherwise yes, buggy board.

x2boys · 05/07/2023 09:30

Obviously depends in your child but at that age both mine would have trying ti.get me to.carry them if I didn't take a buggie.

1400spincycle · 05/07/2023 09:31

As a previous poster said get a Phil and teds on eBay! I had this age gap and it worked brilliantly. For the first few months the baby can go in the carrycot underneath. ( and is easily transferred when asleep or when you can’t take the pushchair in) the toddler can go in the front seat.

Once the baby outgrows the carrycot they transfer to the front and the toddler has the seat underneath. - they are mostly walking by then but it’s a godsend when they are tired or grumpy… most of the time it got used as a space for all the extra stuff you need to cart about with 2 kids!

I found the navigator 2 great. The break is on the handle and has a safety release which was great if you needed to rush after a toddler as the break came on automatically so the baby didn’t roll away.

it fitted through doors, narrow pavements and on the bus too. I had a CS and a bad back so the carrier buggy option would have been a nightmare.

Babdoc · 05/07/2023 09:31

16 months between my two. Second DD was too heavy for a sling to be comfortable for petite me for more than a few weeks (8lbs 10oz at birth, grew rapidly!).
I just put my 16 month old on toddler reins and put the baby in the buggy. Never bought a double buggy. Wouldn’t have been practical in a Scottish village, where most of the country roads outside don’t even have pavements. Either I, or the nanny on my working days, took both DDs out for a daily walk. They were soon zooming up the local hills.

SparklyShoesandTutus · 05/07/2023 09:31

Really depends on the child. We had a 2.5 year age gap and never had a double. I did what many others have suggested and had a buggy board and baby carrier. If the eldest needed to go in the buggy then I'd carry the baby. The rest of the time they walked or jumped on the buggy board.
They were a confident walker though and rarely used the buggy before the second was born unless we had been out on long walks/days and were tired. I've a friend with 2 very similar ages to mine and she did have a double as her eldest wasn't a confident walker and was still using the buggy a lot when 2nd was born.

minipie · 05/07/2023 09:33

Honestly, your life will be so much easier with a decent double buggy. I got a cheap secondhand 360 nipper and it was a lifesaver for the first 6 months or so. (First tried a Phil & Teds navigator but sold it on very fast, it was a PITA to push, the nipper is fab).

We did have a buggyboard on our old single, but used the double much more for the first 6 months and definitely for any longer walks or across naptime or at the end of the day… so most of the time! Once the baby was 6 months+ it was a lovely set up to have baby rear facing towards buggyboard, they used to make each other laugh a lot 😊

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