Two and a half year old won't walk. Why oh why oh why?!!

[tiredAli]

long time since I've posted, hope you guys will still help!

ds very active at home and on playparks but WILL NOT WALK anywhere else. We worked out today that this has been getting progressively worse since about October and we've racked our brains to think of something that might have sparked this reluctance to use his own two legs without success.

He wants carrying everywhere so we've decided to only offer the 'walk or pushchair' option. He will always use the pushchair and throws a complete scary panic attack type tantrum if we stand him up.

He used to be really happy to walk loads - what's happened to him and are we alone in this?

i'd just use the pushchair. he'll get over it soon enough

No you're not alone. I would use the pushchair for now, and he'll soon realise that walking and running is more fun.

could it be the cold?

Wondered about the cold thing. He was the baby that wouldn't sleep unless he was under about 12 blankets.
But when I say he won't walk - I mean even from the door to the car, the car to the playpark - he's scrabbling at us to be carried the moment he leaves the house. And we've tried so many things to encourage him - we don't seem to be getting anywhere with the walking is fun thing!

Does he seem to feel ok? Any tenderness in his knees, etc?

No pain, he's fine indoors and out on playparks. If we ask him he'll mutter that he wants ' a carry'. No mention of anything hurting.

How about buying him a scooter?

dd had hers for her 2nd birthday, so I'm sure he'd be able to use one.

Or a balance bike?

DS is 2.6 and there's no way he'd be able to use a scooter. I would try one in the shop before buying it!

DD definitely would only have been able to use the mini micro one which is very stable and close to the ground, so good for short legs!

Good idea to try one first, but probably difficult in a shop as they have to be put together from the box. Find someone who has one?

I think he maybe just wants to be carried - this is how dd was at this age. What worked was to never carry her, even if it meant taking a very long time to get from the car to the house, and ditching the pushchair completely so there was just no other option (i.e. out of sight - not in the car, or she would ask for it). I was absolutely ruthless as she is a big girl and too heavy for me - dh OTOH, has been somewhat inconsistent and still pays the price - well that's his problem

Unless you are going to walk several miles there is no reason to carry or use a pushchair if you know he can walk.

The tantrums will be a pain and I tend to be a very non-confrontational parent - but this was non-negotiable for me and now she walks well and knows carrying is not an option (although dh still gets suckered in some times....).

Thank you guys. Will look at scooters and have seen the balance bikes and thought they looked interesting. My back is paying the price of too much carrying so it's got to be non-negotiable too. Time to get strict? Time to enjoy more pram pushing? hmm, will sleep on it!