when can they walk with you?

[mrsflux]

ds is 15mo and a great walker. he will roam around as he pleases for ages before his little legs give out.

however walking with mummy/ daddy/ on reins is not happening yet. you get either

• walking where he wants - not where you need to go
• sitting down/ lying down
• arms in the air for a carry

i'm quite happy with him in the buggy (he is usually if you keep moving) but was wondering what age they actually walk with you/ hold hands walking. (i think i'm probably being over ambitious)

ps he's one of those boys who doesn't care if you walk away/ he goes in opposite direction. think he thinks its an adventure!

Oh dear, you have more of an explorer than we have!

It?s probably a case of YMMV Our DS is just short of 16mo, started walking just after 11mo ? so he is pretty accomplished now.

He has been regularly going out for a play/walk with me after I get home from work for the past month or so.

Walkies is generally he goes, I follow and not him following me. He can hold hands and walk, but not for long. We have had him on reins for short distances/durations only before he gets annoyed with them (we steer by lightly tugging one side of the rein or the other).

Trying to walk him in a particular direction is a challenge, especially if he sees something else he wants to look at in another direction (cue temper tantrum).

Started doing short journeys with DS somewhere between 2 and 2.5 yrs. He was reliably out of the buggy by his third birthday as his birthday present was a scooter. Now he scoots ahead and I trot along behind with 19mo DD in the buggy (she is still a wanderer and does not want to hold hands). Reins can be useful things...

dd2 is almost 3 now and still gets "tired" which she deals with by running off as fast as possible in the other direction. She didn't walk until well over 18 months so it has been advantageous that her speech was fairly good by the time she was able to walk competently. Also we have to resort to the buggy still on days out as she gets genuinely tired in the afternoon and if she can't have a short rest/sit down then we sometimes have to leave early.

I resort to making up various fake reasons/excuses why she has to go in the buggy sometimes. (today I needed to go to Boots for a couple of things, not a mega shopping trip, but ime a free range 2 year old can cause quite a lot of grief in a shop like that in just 2 minutes!)

Anyway, she was due a snack so I said that she could eat it sitting in the buggy. Quick as a flash she said she would prefer to eat it walking round but when she saw it (Milky Way ) she agreed with me!

It also depends how far you walk, I don't have a car so prob kept using the buggy for longer as for example; 2 miles there and 2 miles back with an activity in the middle is a bit much for a toddler.