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Original poster

Dd (4) still can't walk for long distances

24 replies

Feelingbetterslowly · 24/03/2008 23:46

Should I get her legs checked out or is she just whinging? Have had nothing raised at nursery about her legs and she is always full of energy, but I am still having to take the buggy everywhere and don't know any other parents of kiddies her age that do. Buggy has just worn out so am wondering if I buy a new one or not? We don't have a car so walk everywhere and we had to hire one at the zoo on Friday because she point blank said she could not walk any further, and the same thing happened today just walking to the end of the road. She is quite happy when in the buggy again and shows no desire to get out again. She also hates milk so has toast for breakfast (although I give her as many yoghurts as I can to substitute it, alongside a lot of cheese!)

OP posts:

expatinscotland · 24/03/2008 23:48

my 4-year-old is dyspraxic and she has trouble walking long distances, despite havign very long legs.

can't hurt to take her to the GP or HV.

TotalChaos · 24/03/2008 23:50

I'm in a similar position with DS - again I don't drive so that kind of makes it more obvious. DS is seeing a paed next week for something unrelated, so will try and mention it then and see what they say. Does she miraculously regain energy if you go past a playground or something that's interesting to her?

snice · 24/03/2008 23:51

I'm a bit at a 4 year old being in a buggy AND that you are considering buying another one. Unless you know of a sound medical reason you need to get her walking pronto to build up her stamina-otherwise are you planning on taking her to school in a pushchair come September?

Original poster

Feelingbetterslowly · 24/03/2008 23:55

No, we can go past a playground and she will ask if she can go another day! That's what I'm worried about-she's 4-she should not be in a buggy. Yet any more than half an hour and she really cannot walk any more. I am quite a hard mum, I don't take whinging lightly as it irritates the living daylights out of me, but she does seem to be struggling quite badly. Will take her to the docs and get her checked out.

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TotalChaos · 24/03/2008 23:56

I am trying to phase out the buggy completely, we get the bus to school, and walk back very slowly.

Original poster

Feelingbetterslowly · 24/03/2008 23:59

Well hopefully if we get into our catchment school it is at the end of the road, so she can walk it quite happily (although the end of the day may be a lot slower!!). I just feel like I have made some fatal parenting error when I see loads of other much younger kiddies sprinting around all over the place!! Good luck Chaos-we should have a "step at a time" thread-he he!

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pinkteddy · 24/03/2008 23:59

Am I the only one that thinks more than half an hour walking is a lot for a 4 year old? dd is 4 and I almost never use the buggy now but if I am out for a long day where we would be walking all day I would take it and she would be glad of it. Saying that I wouldn't be buying a new one now though!

snice · 25/03/2008 00:00

THe point is I suppose that if she's always had the option of getting into a buggy she will not have the stamina of a child whose always walked so I'm not surprised that she won't walk for more than half an hour.

snice · 25/03/2008 00:01

Pinkteddy do you really think a half hour walk is a lot for a 4 year old? My DD was out of her buggy aged 2.10 when her brother arrived and that was it.

TotalChaos · 25/03/2008 00:04

I think there's a difference between a half hour straight walking, and a half hour punctuated by breaks for shop/library/park etc.

Original poster

Feelingbetterslowly · 25/03/2008 00:05

That's the prob with having no car-things tend to be a half an hour walk away, especially at her speed!! . Snice, I know you do seem to think I'm being a softie but I cannot carry her back home from nursery or from the shops. Believe me-I have done it without taking a buggy many a time to "build up her stamina" and regretted it like nothing!!

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snice · 25/03/2008 00:06

Buy her a scooter- you can go miles then.

Original poster

Feelingbetterslowly · 25/03/2008 00:09

He he!! I do take her bike on to nursery to get her to pedal home which helps!!!

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pinkteddy · 25/03/2008 00:11

I do snice if as totalchaos says its not punctuated by breaks. I would never take buggy for trip to shops, trip to school etc but I would if it was say - whole day out to theme park/zoo or whatever if we were going to be walking all day. I am in the same position as feelingbetter, I can't actually carry dd any more so its not an alternative even briefly!

Psychomum5 · 25/03/2008 00:14

if it helps...my DS1 and even DS2 were n pushchairs past their 5th b/day when out for the day!!!!

even when DS2 started school, I would ut him in the pushchair to get there, and then again for the walk home!!!

DS1 was injured while in-utero during a car accident I had ay 30wks pregnant, so tis the only re\ason I can have for him having 'wobbly legs' (as he called it), but DS2 (except for bowle condition and now referral for possible AD from the school), is completely NT....jut liked to be pushed as far as I can tell!!!!

well, unless it was a little of me liking to push for convenience and speed.

Original poster

Feelingbetterslowly · 25/03/2008 00:15

So you would take it to the zoo pink? I don't feel as bad now! Was getting daggers from my dad (which have planted these seeds of doubt) as he thought she was being pathetic for not making it past lunchtime, but I thought she had done well-we'd been going round from 10-1pm (obviously with looking at animal sits and soft play areas in between!)!

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Original poster

Feelingbetterslowly · 25/03/2008 00:17

I like the convenience and speed too

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Smee · 25/03/2008 13:03

If I get rid of the buggy totally I'll be far less fit! Somedays I walk 5 miles or more in the course of an afternoon. Does anyone seriously expect a 3 (nearly 4) year old to walk that far? I've started to use the buggy less and less, but to do so have found that I have to use buses more. If I take the buggy at least I get more exercise and he can jump in when I've worn him out.

pigsinmud · 25/03/2008 14:07

I have a dd aged 4. She wouldn't need a pushchair for a day at the zoo. However she might hop in for a quick ride whilst dd2 was out & about. She has been out of buggy since 2.5 when dd2 came along. Same with my boys. Ds1 out of pushchair at 2 when ds2 arrived .... he refused to get in double buggy so that was a waste of money!

Scooter is a good idea. Really wouldn't buy a new buggy for a 4 year old.

witchandchips · 25/03/2008 14:18

Think about it, at 4 their legs are about half of ours so 1 mile to us is 2 miles to them, they also have to work much harder to keep up with our speed. This is not to say that we should get them to walk everywhere with us but that we should aim low to begin with

stealthsquiggle · 25/03/2008 14:31

I would suspect that most of the 4yos you see not in buggies are driven to a lot of places.

We certainly didn't have a buggy for DS when he was 4 - but then we drove to most places and then he walked around them IYSWIM.

The zoo thing - I am not sure. I would have expected DS to walk around a zoo for the day, but when we went to Disney (Florida) we hired buggies, and when we went to Disney (Paris) with friends with a 4yo she rode on the buggy board quite a lot (she has a baby sister)

So certainly get it checked out if you are worried, but 30 minutes walking to somewhere (as opposed to strolling around) doesn't sound like an unreasonable limit for a 4yo to me.

cory · 25/03/2008 15:52

10 years ago, I would have been totally with Snice on this one. In fact, much more determined. We had no car, had always lived outdoors, did hillwalking. I was convinced that my dd was going to be trained from an early age, she would learn to be out in the toughest of weathers and we'd be doing walking tours in Lapland by the time she was 9. It didn't work out. She walked late, she didn't seem to have any stamina, her legs ached, I ended up carrying her back from school.

Unfortunately, in dd's case, there was a medical reason: her joints were so badly hypermobile that she will probably never be able to do even a short day's walk. She needs a wheelchair to cover the 3/4 mile to school. As for bad weather, we now know she mustn't get chilled. End of dreams. It wasn't for want of trying.

Not saying that there is anything wrong with the OP's dd. Just that it seems early to beat yourself up about crap parenting. I'd have her GP give her a general checkout just in case.

Then I'd try to build up gently. Swimming is very good exercise for strengthening muscle. And gentle walks, gradually building up distance.

I do think it's annoying when people with cars tell you off for using a buggy (or in my case a wheelchair) when you're out on foot all day. What is a car if not a kind of wheelchair for fit people? And who is getting more exercise, the child who is taken straight to their destination by car, or the child who walks part of the way with a buggy for backups?

mistlethrush · 25/03/2008 16:02

Children are very different - I know one who nearly managed to 'do' Ingleborough (one of the Yorkshire 3 peaks(I think about 9 miles with a significant 'up' in the middle)) before he was 5 - only missed out due to weather - needed good fine day as parents wanted to take it easy with lots of breaks where necessary. Ds (2.10) regularly walks for 40 mins or more with no buggy - c. 2miles - but we have to walk the dog every day, so he has got used to it and now doesn't want us to take the buggy... However, regularly see much older children in pushchairs around the same park.

spokette · 25/03/2008 16:09

I have 4yo DTS and I still use the pram. They will happily walk a mile, then say they are tired and refuse to walk further. I don't want to curtail my long walks and there is no way that I can carry two 4yo. I have tried making them ride their bicycles and I end carrying both bikes. So I will continue to use the pram until they start school.

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