When did you get rid of the push chair?

[Littlepurpleprincess]

DS's buggy broke yesturday, hopefully Mothercare will repair/ replace it but it got me thinking, at what age do you get rid of the thing all together and make em walk.

DS will be 3 this summer.

My DS is 3.10 and I only use the pushchair on the school run. We leave home at 8.25am to get DD to school by 8.40am and I walk straight back home again. I then dump the buggy, pick up his bag and walk back again to playschool with DS walking/riding his scooter. If I let him walk to school and back again we would always be late to playschool! TBH he hasn't really NEEDED to use the buggy for months now but as I say, the school run in the buggy is a godsend!!

I agree it makes a big difference if you have a car. We don't, and I walk long distances and fast. dd is 3.5, and we rarely use the buggy, but we do if we're going to walk long distances, especially with shopping. I know there's a fair bit of mums looking down their noses at big kids in buggies (and my dd is very tall, so we come in for a bit of it) but I don't see the essential difference between that and her being in a car seat or sitting on a bus (except that I get more exercise if I'm pushing her). I think she gets as much walking in as most her age.

well we are the last in this parenting competition dd is 4 & 1/2. If we are going to get to nursery (and then me to work) and back without adding another hour and half on our day then we need it. Also use it sometimes at the weekend if we walk to the supermarket, it saves carrying the shopping. Big school will be closer to home than nursery - so it will get ditched then, to spare sniggering.

About 2.6 for both ds & dd1 - I used a sling & pushchair & forced encouraged the older one out of the buggy asap each time...

To be fair our longest walk is a mile into town, potter round the shops, & back by bus. I had a couple of grim walks with ds holding onto my jeans bum pocket as I slung dd1 on my shoulders & pushed dd2 in the buggy, back in dd1's 'walking refusenik' phase' - think it lasted about a fortnight.

Started venturing out without it when DS was 2 and a bit (short trips only ie to playgroup on the tram and back), took the last stroller around a fair bit the summer before he turned 3 as it was so handy to shove bags in when we were on a day out. Last used for a firework display when he was 3.1 as I didn't want to risk him running off and getting lost.We are car-free but have lots of good public transport and DS is a long-legged thing who has always liked to walk.

My DD is 2.2, and we have dont use the pushchair much now, maybe once in the last few weeks. I am planning on keeping it for a few more months, just in case we need it.
She refuses to go in the pushchair, which is the main reason we dont use it.

I am always amazed at how people object to children being pushed in buggies aged 4/5 but have no objection to the same child being taken places on the back of a bike, which from the point of view of the child is a slightly less comfortable version of the same thing.

This occurred to me the other day when I was thinking about using a buggy for ds (4.5) when he hasn't used one for over 6 months.

I needed to go somewhere with him that was a over a mile away. We needed to walk there an d back and then walk to nursery after that. DS would have done all this but I was a bit late and I neededt o walk faster than he would have done. In the end I took the car despite the fact that it would have been far better in many ways (environment/exercise etc) for me to walk ds in the buggy. I'd have done it all in time but I felt I'd be judged for the buggy. In the car it was different people don't know how far you have come.

I can't actually ride a bike but if I could I'd have used that instead as I don't think anyone judges that, yet it is no different for ds to be sat on the back of a bike than in a buggy.

Id ds was our only child then we'd have ditched it at about 18 months / 2years. However, dd is 18 months and not ready to ditch it altogether, so ds gets to stand on the back of it for a rest from time to time.

If I am walking the dogs, the choice is either to use the buggy and give the dogs a decent length walk, or go without and the dogs don't get a proper walk.

Was invaluable on holiday (wish we had taken two) as it was too hot for them to walk far.

good point about the bike seats lazy, thinking about it I would rather be sneered a by those who
'don't like to see children who could/should walk being pushed in buggies'
than me and dd have daily near death bicycle experiences.

Ds is 4.5yrs old and used the buggy until he was about 3.4yrs old thats when Dd arrived and he couldn't manage the walk into town and back so used a buggy board which he hopped on and off. He finally stopped using the buggy board 2 months ago. I will be in no hurry to get Dd out of a buggy I will just go by what she is ready to do as we do walk everywhere we go.

I hope I'm not going to be sniggered at, or judged for this, but could really do with some advice....

I am somewhat perplexed by the opinion that there is an age when pushchairs are a no-no, but I'm aware that opinion exists (more so having read this thread!)

DD is 3 and we use the pushchair alot. Like many of the other posters, mostly because I walk nearly everywhere and long distances. For short journeys, she does walk - but if we're going anywhere over say half a mile I take the pushchair even if she still walks most of the way just in case. Apart from anything else, with a dodgy back its not worth the risk of having to carry a tired child or having her pulling on my hand etc. I know she gets loads of exercise in all sorts of ways so am not bothered about that.

However, she starts school in September, when she will only just be 4. The school is less than a mile away, but the walk there is all serious hills. I was walking that way the other day so timed it, and it took me 20 minutes at adult pace - but I was really out of breath after that - and I'm not completely unfit. Have yet to test how long she would take to do it. Coming back took me less than 10 minutes, just to give an idea of the gradients involved! Driving there would take at least as long due to traffic/ one way system, and with parking round there would be even longer and stressful. Plus I'd really much rather walk for many reasons. I've thought about buying one of those light weight scooters, but I don't think DD would get up the hills on it so would end up walking anyway. I know things may change before September, but am currently envisaging a long walk and a very tired DD starting school when I believe they get exhausted by it all anyway.

I wouldn't have a problem using the pushchair to start with on my account - I don't care what people think about things like that (I think!). But don't want DD to suffer from her peers because of it.

Any words of wisdom of how I could do the run without recourse to pushchair or driving (or a taxi!!)? Thanks

would it help if you walked with another parent and child going the same school?

board her out with a family at the top of the hill M-F

have you seen if any other children go by buggy - as the route is so hilly this maybe the case?

I'd use the pushchair until she has the stamina to do the walk herself which could take a while. She is too young for her peers to comment on the pushchair unless the adults say something.

I personally would not worry about her doing the walk until she has settled in school. She will find that tiring enough at 4 without making her do an exhausting walk as well. Then I'd gradually encourage her to walk bits of it but take the pushchair for her to sit in if necessary as well.

Eventually (abd tbh I'd assume this might even take several months given that she is only 4) I'd expect her to walk the whole way especially at the beginning of the week but maybe take the pushchair for the end of the week on a THurs/Fri if she is very tired etc.

I still took our buggy on holiday when DS was 4 or 5 so we could walk where we wanted without DS complaining he was tired.

On a day to day basis, when he was about 2 or 3 I used to put him in the buggy to go to the shops, then turf him out and make him walk so I could carry the shopping back on the buggy I really miss it now!!

Thanks for your constructive advice...

Glucose - lol at the boarding suggestion, like it. The only parents that I know so far from my part of town drive to the school but then go on from there to work. Whereas I work mostly from home. But you're right, I need to be brave and check out other parents at the Welcome evening etc to see what others will do and if there are potential walking buddies

Lazycow - that is reassuring and sounds like a plan

Any other advice also welcome!

Sorry Littlepurpleprincess if I somewhat hijacked your post - was coincidental that I was struggling with this subject! (and also am a bit new to this MN thang)

lol. No worries YumYumMummy

I had to go visit my nan yesturday and haven't got buggy fixed yet. Poor DS had to walk into town to meet my brother then up a very big hill to get to nan's house. I would have been sympathetic had he got tired but it turns out he can walk that far - he just won't hold my hand, or go in right bloody direction. From the moment we left the house he screamed. He threw himself at the floor a number of times and as we are walking along he shouts "LET GO OF MY HAND, IT HURTS ME MUMMY!!!" So I spent a lot of time getting some very funny looks in the street!

He won't go on riens. I've tried them and it's worse than holding his hand.

The only time he stops yelling is if he can pick daisys off the wall but then we don't actually go anywhere!

i cant see DS1 giving up his seat in the pram before he's 3 tbh. we do long walks with the dogs on uneven paths so he gets tired.

i suppose its depends on the length of walks you do but its not unusual for me to be out for 2hrs with the dogs and DS1 wouldnt cope that long

YYMummy -- in my experience, there will be no neg. feedback from your DC peers if you use a buggy (or a buggy board) for a child for the first 6 months or so of school. A LOT of people in your situation would drive most days for the same reason (their child getting too tired, otherwise). And nobody would judge the parents for it, either.

Some adults might judge you for pushing a school age child in a buggy, but that's their problem.

On MN there seem to be lots of people who manage extremely well without buggies from age 2 or so, especially using scooters. In Real Life, usually when I talk to people who say that they managed "without a buggy" from so young, it turns out the parents drive a lot more than I do, that they end up reverting to the buggy after all, or that they end up carrying their tired DC when we try to go for a 2 mile walk together.

Three of dd's friends are still in the buggy morning and night for school runs. Dd used the buggy up to last summer (just turned 4), but then we got a car and I knew it wasn't a 2 mile walk to the supermarket, an hour in there and a 2 mile walk back-we could just jump in the car. People who sneer tend to have cars-ignore them!

peanutbutter and pawslike - that's helpful thanks. Just to know there are other people using the pushchair for school run. I've never seen anybody doing so, but maybe haven't been looking - will keep eyes peeled now though!

Maybe I'll do a test run nearer September to see whether her stamina has increased. If not, maybe I should do a poster for my back to explain the reasons why I'm using the pushchair - to preempt any sniggering at the school gate ?!?!

My son is 3 next month. We still use the buggy when he's tired or poorly, but godsend has been a 'scooter bike' with no pedals. This is far less bulky than a buggy to take on the bus (sits between us and back of the bus seat in front) and provided I walk alongside with a restraining hand he will happily go round town on it for some time without killing any innocent bystanders. Could be more problematic with 2 depending how compliant the child is.

You can't carry masses - due to need to keep up with mad cyclist - but a small rucksack is OK. Might work well for your school run?

Up the hills is a fair exchange for DOWN the hills, at which point you lift up your feet and go!

My little boy is 4.5 and I still use our pram occasionally. It is a very useful resource on many occasions.
I tend to use it if I am going for a jog or power walk, where I need to keep going a regular pace over a couple of miles of so. If I bring him on his running bike or walking there is very little chance that I would be able to go for an unbroken run/jog.
I also take the pram for outings where I need to carry quite a lot of stuff, so kind of use it partially to carry things. The same thing goes for shopping when I have heavy things to carry home, mind you, he often gets turfed-out of the pram to accommodate shopping bags.
Some mornings he asks for the pram to go to nursery and if we are running late, I prefer to run round with him in the pram to having to coax him to walk when he stops and complains.
I am aware that sometimes I get wry looks because he isn't a baby, but I do what suits me on a practical level.
He is very slim and runs around all day so I don't feel particularly concerned that he doesn't always walk.

I think it would be fine for even a 5 year old to use a pushchair for the school run.