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

[Sissynova]

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?

Get a double. It's not unusual for the older child to regress and want to be babied when a new sibling arrives. Plus if you plan to go shopping it keeps the older one contained and makes life easier.

Get a Phil and Ted (or similar). Life is too short and busy to wait for a dawdling, ratty toddler.
Doubles are amazing for shopping and days out too.

This! My kids are 3 years apart and I really wish we'd got a double buggy. We would have used it so much for probably a year. My 3yo is very good at walking but she does get tired and sometimes just needs a bit of a rest. We used a buggy board which was fine but for my own fitness we would have gone on more walks if I didn't have to rely on toddler compliance. I'd get a good one second hand if I could do it over.

It depends really on how much tolerance you have for walking at toddler pace. Personally I would not want to do two miles a day at the same pace as a 2.5 year old. Especially not with a baby as well.

We had a similar age gap and had a pram for the baby, a buggy for the toddler and a sling. In practice, I usually did buggy and sling when on my own with both. When we went out all four of us, we often took the pram and the buggy

Depends on the child. DD was fine doing lost distances at a reasonable pace, DS is still in the buggy a lot. Partly because we often need to get places quickly (like doing the school run) and partly because he is a lazy sausage.

We moved a mile away from school when my ds just turned 4 and he would whinge soo bad about the walk. It was a very steep and consistent hill in fairness but there was many times I had to carry him quite a bit especially when the rain was sideways and the wind 25mph, basically the entire winter! When he got closer to 5 it got easier for him thankfully. I'd do a buggy and baby in a sling then put baby in the buggy and a buggy board once the baby in the sling gets too heavy.

*long distances not lost distances

I had a single mclaren buggy and a double icandy peach - that was crap sold it on, then got the baby jogger city double was great older one could get out and walk if he wanted but when tired or having a moment he could go back in, handy for when I fed baby out and about he couldn’t wander off shopping could go underneath etc sold on too once I just needed a single. My older lad didn’t walk independently until 19 months so was not ready to ‘walk’ any distance at 2.5 he would also nap after lunch, I’d get a double and then move on once your older child is ready.

22months between my two eldest . Used a double buggy for at least 18 months which could lie flat for the baby. It was absolutely perfect…couldn’t be arsed with faffing with sling, scooter also think you need both hands free for toddler on scooter .

Buggy board fine for most things e.g. nursery run but I’d still want an occasional use double for when out all day because mine were still napping. Sling + pram is always suggested on here but I don’t know how that’s supposed to work practically when the pram is set up for a newborn with bassinet or a toddler with the seat not to mention the toll on your back.

PITA to push though. I'd get a double.

Forgot to add mine were 16 months gap and I couldn’t use a sling for long so the double suited us well until my older son was more independent with his walking and not napping so much, also had 4 year old so he held on to the side.

I agree that a double is better for parent fitness. You can walk faster and do more on foot.

2yr 3m age gap here and the double was invaluable. Just because a toddler can walk doesn't mean they will. Much easier to just have the double and have the flexibility. Means you can be out and about for longer as well.

Buy a second hand one and sell it on later.

Surely you get a straightforward lie flat pushchair, down for baby up for toddler. They don't need a separate seat.

We got a second hand double buggy you can use from birth and it was invaluable! Then we sold it on, so it didn’t cost us much and was just so helpful. Think it was an out and about nipper.

I already have a pushchair which toddler uses now. No point buying another single pushchair which would still be limiting. Personally I would not put a baby in a forward facing sit up buggy until at least 5 months. 'Lie flat' in a soft buggy which is never fully flat isn't as good for a newborns back as a bassinet.

Will you have to do this walk while recovering from the C section for the first 4 weeks or will you have help? I really wouldn’t attempt it if you can avoid it. I overdid it after a C section and got a nasty infection.

After the 4 weeks recovery I would just carry the baby in a sling and have the buggy for the toddler.

Or have the pram and a buggy board. my worry with that is the toddler running off or not wanting to stand. Can you test it out before the baby comes?

Of course the ideal solution is a double buggy with a pram. Can you afford one?

I’d get a double too, was just trying to provide an alternative cos OP doesn’t want a double.

I had the same age gap and a similar walk (slightly shorter). It didn’t take me too long (about 10 weeks) to realise that I would struggle without a double. He’s just turned 5 and honestly we don’t use it often now but we do still take it when we go on big days out (zoo type days with lots of walking). After running around all day it is helpful. So you could maybe try it without and figure out if you would need one. I picked mine up on marketplace for about 120 for a city jogger double.

Depends on the 2.5 yo, but personally, I’d get a cheap double. Buggy board wasn’t always effective for us as kid would just leap off, even at 3ish. Plus my middle one wanted to stay in the buggy for longer to copy his younger sibling. I didn’t anticipate this as my oldest was happily walking at a very young age (but then, he didn’t have a baby sibling to copy).

I find buggy board did my back in as it means you’re pushing buggy at such an odd angle.

Well my almost four yr old still naps if he's had a big day and seems to tire easily so we have a double buggy nd honestly it's worth its weight in gold.
The little one is actually more of a walker than the eldest ever was!

When he was 2.5 there's no way he'd have walked the amount I did with the baby around.

Not the point of the post but of course you can carry a baby in a carrier after a straightforward csection.

We got a Phil and Ted's in the end and it was so handy to be able tuck the toddler in the lower seat when it was raining and they were tired or cross. When you have dropped them off at nursery there is a lot of space for shopping to go underneath.