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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

How far do you make your 3 and a bit year old walk?

29 replies

rednellie · 23/04/2013 15:51

Just wanted a straw poll as my DD (3.3) is a very reluctant walker and I'm trying to get her to do more and she is having none of it.

I know some people say you just have to not engage and carry on, but she totally loses it. I've got 1 year old twins, so sometimes it is just easier to stick her on the buggy board/sling/front of buggy then have a half hour melt down in the middle of the pavement.

I was just interested if I'm being a bit unreasonable expecting her to walk more, or if everyone's 3 year old is actually galloping everywhere.

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ShowMeTheYoni · 23/04/2013 15:53

My three year old walks about 5 miles a day. And moans about it. Why not use the buggy board? If its easier I don't see the problem. Ds has walked at least 5 miles a day since 3 and now age 6 walks many more miles. But he doesn't moan

FunnysInLaJardin · 23/04/2013 15:56

if it's an issue I wouldn't make her walk. DS2 is 3.2 and will walk for as long as we need him to. Miles and miles if necessary, but on a daily basis it isn't as we drive a fair bit. If you have a buggy board I'm not surprised that she wants to stand on it tbh

kelda · 23/04/2013 15:59

Ha! I just knew there would be someone who comes out with 'my three year old walks 5 miles a day' or something similar!

OP all my children are good walkers, but I have realistic expectations of how far they walk ( and it is NOT five miles a day, every day at age barely three!)

My ds is four and a half and walks one and a half miles a day, since the age of three. I know this, because I have measured the distance on google maps.

He gets tired and often wants me to pick him up. A recent physio thearpist assessment suggested that walking is more tiring for him because his feet turn inwards.

Not all children all the same. Do whatever is easist for you, and ignore those on mumsnet that insist their toddlers can climb Everest.

CockyFox · 23/04/2013 16:03

DD is 3 and 5 months and has been walking 2 and 1/2 miles a day on the school run and wherever else since last summer. The pushchair fell apart and as she was already over 2 and a half I didn't wabt to replace it for the sake of 6 months, she is lazy though and woukd much prefer to use the pushchair if we still had one. DS did the same distances at age three because he had started nursery class and I didn't want to have hin in a pushchair wearing school uniform

Original poster

rednellie · 23/04/2013 16:26

Thanks kelda, that's very kind of you!

I do realise she will want to use the pushchair/buggy board etc if it's there that's why I was asking how far or how often other 3 year olds walk. I can't get rid of the pushchair as then I'd have two one year old boys to carry .

So I guess we continue with her being a bit lazy. I am in awe of any child of that age walking 5 miles though, that seems a mammoth distance - do they not complain? What do you do when they just stop? Or do they not do that? My DD is rather insistent when she wants to be...

OP posts:

Original poster

rednellie · 23/04/2013 16:28

Oh and she doesn't really want to stand on the buggy board, she only does that when I force her. She'd much rather sit on the front of the buggy, but now the weight of the 3 of them plus the buggy is something like 40-50kg so I'm not that keen on pushing them all around for much longer...

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radicalsubstitution · 23/04/2013 16:51

I stopped using the buggy with DD when she was just 3, for several reasons:

she refused to walk anywhere and would insist on being in the buggy/being carried.
she had zero appetite, and hardly ate anything. On the other hand, her height centile to weight centile comparison were not encouraging.
she had very little stamina when climbing/playing.
I was so fed up with battling to find a buggy spot on the bus.

Instead, we invested in a three-wheeler scooter and got her using that. It was a serious battle at first, but she finally got the hang of it when we took her away to Butlins which is really flat, paved and pedestrianised.

She still needs the odd 'tow' (we have a scooter strap) up hills, which I'm not sure how you would manage with another buggy, but the buggy is gone.

Her appetite and stamina are considerably better.

BTW, DS has always been a fantastic walker but, at 6, I don't think he could cope with 5 mies every day.

It's a battle you must face in your own time!

Mandy21 · 23/04/2013 16:57

Crikey, with 1 year old twins too, you're doing brilliantly however you transport all 3!

I have a 3 and a bit year old, she walked all over London at the weekend but she needed to be "entertained" to take her mind off the task on several occasions - normally I'd say 30 minutes in a stretch is about as much as she'll do before having a melt down!

Obviously it would be easier for you if she walked given the weight of the buggy but can you do it gradually? Get her to walk a couple more minutes each time? Do it a bit like a "I bet you can't get as far as X today" - more of a challenge for her.

I have twins and then a younger one and think thats much easier than an older one then twins. Respect to you

Original poster

rednellie · 23/04/2013 17:01

Ah thanks Mandy21, that's very nice of you to say. I think it's all hard (and lovely)! And good tips. I'll try some of that.

Interesting what you said radicalsubstitution about apetite and getting them moving. DD is quite small (me and DH are very tall so it's always a bit of a shock how she's not) and not a great eater and funnily enough we have started trying to get her on the scooter. Maybe we should focus on that - I'm just a bit terrified when I've got my hands full with the double buggy she'll go flying off somewhere...but there's always risks aren't there?

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EssieW · 23/04/2013 17:03

My 3 year old walks between 3-4 km per day on school run. More sometimes if we are also out for the day.

She can walk better than her 6 years old brother sometimes

EssieW · 23/04/2013 17:04

I probably ought to add the she is unusual where we lives. Most other children her age don't walk as much as she does

nannyof3 · 23/04/2013 17:07

I walked 5 miles with lo 2.5 years on the weekend

lljkk · 23/04/2013 17:11

Sometimes mine could walk a few miles but mostly they were very very unreliable; I could never expect much of them. It was way too much stress for me to expect them to walk far.

DS is 5yo & wouldn't easily walk 5 miles.

Getting about with twins sounds extra challenging. Do what you need to do, principles need not apply.

radicalsubstitution · 23/04/2013 17:58

rednellie, getting her on the scooter was not easy, but she got there in the end.

We bought the Micro scooter tow strap for about a fiver which helped keep her under control and stopped her 'hurtling down hills' at first.

we are lucky that we live in a boring and 'designed' new town where many footpaths are totally separate from the roads, so we don't have to contend with her scooting off into oncoming traffic.

Highschoolsweetheart · 23/04/2013 18:07

My 3.4 yo WILL NOT walk to the end of the street, never mind any other distance. But we got her a scooter a couple of weeks ago and she will scoot to pre school, or the library or anywhere else now. However when we went to the city centre on Saturday she went in her stroller as it's just too busy for a scooter.

Original poster

rednellie · 23/04/2013 18:29

It's funny how much variation there is. Apparently my brother would walk for miles with no problem whereas I had to be cajoled.

I think we'll carry on muddling along with a mix of walking/scooter/buggy board and see if we can extend the walking bits.

Thanks for all the input!

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Exhaustipated · 23/04/2013 18:44

Yep, to buck the trend my DS (3.4) is often a very reluctant walker. He gets plenty of exercise though (we go to huge park every day and he plays outside at nursery) so I don't worry about it.

MsPickle · 23/04/2013 19:06

Does she have comfortable shoes? I'm not suggesting that you have ill shod your child but I have wondered in the past whether my ds walks further happily than a friends dd because boys shoes have more 'bounce'? I know I can't go for miles unless I've trainers/good boots/comfortable shoes but mang girls shoes I've seen are less stout.

Btw ds had a backpack with a rein pretty much from when he was on his feet and I got rid if regular buggy usage as fast as I could, we live in London so if worse comes to worst there'll be a bus along. We had a buggy board when our childminder used our buggy and he'd ask to be pushed in that when I was pushing the buggy to her house. Things came to a head one memorable, dark, wet night on the way home when he and friend both wanted to sit in it, the board wasn't one, I was 8 months pregnant and he lay down next to a main road throwing a mammoth strop. The next day, going up a hill I stopped, let him see me out of puff and simply said I couldn't push him anymore. He helped me push from then. (I probably looked like I was about to expire!). We've not moved the board onto dd's pram and today was the first time I wished we had as he was under the weather and tired so I ended up with him on my shoulders and pushing! (Dd still in pram top).

All that said, I suspect there are many along our road who've laughed at me dealing with Mexican stand offs about the fact we're walking and I'm not going back for the buggy over the last 2 years! Distraction has been key!

ShowMeTheYoni · 23/04/2013 19:42

Cheers kelda I was saying to the OP that it doesn't matter if her 3 year old used a buggy board if that's what they need to do. She asked how far other people's 3 year olds walk. I told her. I have measured too as if it makes a difference because I wasn't aware it did

Op we sometimes stop. I am a walker and frequently take jaunts with my DS. Dd has been building up to this over time. Ie has been walking the 3 mile round trip to school (this is spread over drop off and pick up) for 18 months. So adding an extra 2 miles to this(such as walking to an after school acticity) has been a natural progression. We do use scooters and bikes too. We live right on the edge of town and its a good 2 miles to the centre and we often walk there and back. If they complain, we stop for snacks. Do what works for you. It isn't a competition.

Original poster

rednellie · 24/04/2013 07:31

MsPickle - good point about shoes but I've always hated the girls shoes so DD has very stout desert boots.

Showmetheyoni - I know it's not a competition and thank you for letting me know about yours. DD is definitely capable of walking its just whether I have the energy for the battle and sometimes I think 3 is still very young...

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ConstantCraving · 24/04/2013 21:17

Hmm - my DD would happily walk 2 miles or so at 2.5 years and i was SO smug, and got rid of her buggy - now a year on she will barely walk 100 yards without wanting a carry... not sure what went wrong there!

TheChaoGoesMu · 24/04/2013 21:28

Ds age 3 can walk for miles, he's pretty hardy. Dd age 5 however gets tired very quickly and demands to be carried. (which is impossible, she's too heavy). Its not about the shoes for them, both have the same, really good walking boots. Theres no harm in using the buggy board though, why make life harder for yourself.

TheChaoGoesMu · 24/04/2013 21:31

Just realised she doesn't like the buggy board. Maybe a scooter with a strap might be better. My dd can cover more distance on her micro.

formerdiva · 24/04/2013 21:32

I feel pretty relaxed about it. As far as I'm concerned, having the comfort of a pushchair is one of the joys of being young, and as long as your child's getting some form of exercise then let her enjoy the buggy board. She'll soon decide herself that she wants walk.

thebeastandbeauty · 24/04/2013 21:59

2.10 years old here and will do the mile to her sister's school run with a bit of a cajoling. No way would she do 5 miles in a day.

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