my 4 yr old still wants go in pushcahir

[lis103]

hi i have a son whos nearly and still wants go in his pushchair, is this common who is it rare for a child at 4 yrs old.. please help ? the pushcahir i use is quite old near enough on its last legs, and thought its not worth getting another dont know what to do now.DO i get another 1 i mean if i still got use 1 not being snobby least i want a decent pushcahir for him ,hes quite heavy so with shopping as well that i atach to the pushcahir puts bit of a strain on it is there buggys for older children or should i refuse to let him still use it ,it was going to the tip but what do i do
thanks

just wanted to know if you got children nearly 4 years old still using a pushchair sorry if last post didnt make sence please advise

I think he's too old, honestly, it'll just wear you out. Unless he's got mobility problems, ditch it.

I got my dd1 walking the 25 minutes back from her childminder when I was pg the second time - she was two. She walked there and back over the summer. I have been pushing the two of them in a double buggy over the winter but she's now walking it again, and she's only just turned three. And we are NOT a particularly sporty family!

I think it depends how much you expect him to walk and when. DD is nearly 3 and would not tolerate the pram for a trip round town, even if we are out for hours, it would interfere with her shopping pleasure. however, during half-term we used the pram for the trip home from he childminder as it was a 30min uphill slog and she was just too tired to walk and i was too tired to have the patience to wait for her/negotiate "nearly there, shall we race? etc."
my dbro was in a buggy until he was 4.5y but he's terrible at walking even now, unless it's somewhere he wants to go!

I started getting my dd to walk to and from school to collect her sister when i was pregnant with ds. She was 2 1/2 at the time. Since i had ds she hasn't been in a pushchair once. She is 4 now, and did say this morning, :i wish i was a baby becuase then i wouldn't have to walk".
To be honest i think i would just get rid of it, and then he would have to walk. I know that sounds a bit harsh, but if he knows you still have it then he will want to go in it.

Are you saying that he won't walk at all, or just that he want's to take the pushchair to hop in and out of it now and then?

If he won't walk at all that's unacceptable. But is he generally active the rest of the time, or does he have a problem.

If he's out of his pushchair do you hold his hand tight all the time? or shout at him alot to stay near you? In other words, does he feel like he's in trouble whenever he's out of his pushchair?

If you are happy to push him, and he's not a complete couch potato, I don't see any problem with him using his pushchair now and then. Once it falls apart he won't be able to anyway

Personally it would have made my life much easier if mine had used a pushchair for longer, but then my ds was a runner.

I also do think it is good for children to walk. We are a very sedentary culture. It isn't good for us. And it isn't good for him to boss you into pushing him either.

A friend came round with her four-year-old in a buggy recently and I was quite taken aback.

Agree it is good to walk, but as someone who is forced to walk long distances in all weathers there are times when speed wins (so dd goes in the pram). I wouldn't be happy if she wanted to go in the pram for the 5 min walk to the newsagent or go in the trolley round the supermarket though.

Personally, I'd say ditch the buggy - tell him it's old and broken, then there's no excuse and he'll just have to get on with it.

I think at four he's old enough to walk, too, and I most definitely wouldn't spend money on a new pushchair. Ds1 was still very much attached to his buggy at 3.5 but gave it up cold turkey when the kids next door asked him if he was a baby.

I think you should phase it out gradually over a few weeks, but be kind about it.

But TBH if when you are phasing it out, if you get huge amounts of grief from your son, then step back from the situation and ask yourself what will be best for you. I repeat, not him, but you. If you are happy to push him for a little while longer, still phasing it out gradually, and the result is a happier boy when you go out, then keep the pushchair for now. It will save your sanity.

If on the other hand, you are finding it really painful to push the buggy and the whole buggy thing is winding you up, then ditch the buggy. But do this only if you feel your son is getting to grips with walking all the time and can physically take it (I don't know how great a distance he needs to walk). And only if you are ok about him throwing tantrums ie this stresses you out less than pushing the buggy.

My youngest ds (4.5 years) hated the buggy and we ditched it well over a year ago. He is very lively, but loves being carried. I can now only carry him very short distances so I give him a piggyback instead. Piggybacks are very important to him and I don't mind doing this, really. I'd rahter we had a piggyback than a tantrum - that's my choice. As the weeks go by, though, he is asking for piggybacks less and less. He wandered all round a town centre with me on Sunday for 3 hours without once asking to be carried - I praised him loads for that

DS is 4 and still goes in the pushchair at any opportunity. Normal for us.

hi thanks for your comments on the pushchair subject i do think you got be cruel to be kind.. if another child came and said to him are you a baby is that why you in a pushchair it might do the trick. just i know kids havent said anything yet, they will do soon tho and he starts school soon.. my sister has said to him " you dont need a pram now do you " he has said no its not a pram its a buggy so i dont know .zebra does your child go in his all the time? also my pushchair is a old early 1980s 1 lol!!!! that i use to have when a child , mum has just kept it i think i was out of it about 3 and half.. coz it is bit old fashion im not keen on pushing it then you get other ladies has remarked and said " dont see pushchairs like that now " and he has said when are we having new buggy mummy ? it sqeaks and rattles a bit but with him in it and all of shopping on it the poor thing looks weighed down it dont seem to bother him ? dont at that age children like to be cool about things like going in a old pushchair is not cool.. is it? so i dont know.. hows your child feel then zebra and dont you mind pushing him thanks anyway all

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Before pushchairs we would carry our children until they became too heavy. So I think that 4 is too old.
But it can be difficult if you don't drive and have to walk long distances.
And some children will refuse.
When I became pregnant with ds2 I couldn't push ds1 any longer so he had to walk.
If you don't give them the option they can't do much about it.

Do you like standing around in the cold for up to 10 minutes at a time, taking 3-times longer to walk anywhere than you could do it yourself, or listening to your child whinge and cry all the way home? A journey which will also involve your child stropping on pavement, stopping in playground until he's exhausted or dashing down any interesting alleys along the way? I guess I don't prefer those options.

Lis103: I used to loan my double buggy to ChildM. for the day and since we had to get it home again, anyway, DS almost always rode. I have a 2yo so bring a pushchair for her, anyway, whenever we go out. She walks very well, until she's tired or cold, and DS just rides in the pushchair until DD demands it. Then he tries to coax her to sit on his lap but she usually doesn't go for it. Then DS gets out, but walks very very very slowly. Childminder used to comment how slow he is, too! 3 weeks ago we couldn't find anywhere in our temporary rented house to store the double buggy so gave it to a friend to store.

Thus, DS is now walking more than it used to, but a walk that should take 15-20 minutes tends to take 70-80 minutes, with stop-and-stares, "What's that, Mummy?", strops on pavement and "I'm hungry!" pleas. So I have to plan ahead for the long travel times, bring money, snacks, water, etc.

And all too often, DS used to refuse to cooperate with going out at all unless we were bringing the double buggy. Quite often he chose to stay in, instead (and this is a kid who generally hates staying at home).

Just bin the pushchair?

My DS is 4 next month and I still take him out a lot in the pram - even round the corner to the shops. Frankly this is because it's usually much quicker and easier for me. I can bung shopping under the seat and can contain him, although I never strap him in. Also he likes it and if we go out without it he wants me to carry him after 5 minutes, which he's way too heavy for. How can you piggyback and carry shopping?

All in all I'd go with it until one of you gets fed up.

Funnily enough DS will travel miles on his little bike, which he loves. He just seems to find walking tiring (or boring?!).

We still use a buggy for my 2.5 yr old, but he likes to walk most of the time. His older brother who's nearly 5 is not averse to seizing the opportunity for an easy ride however, and will sometimes get in when we're shopping in town.
Who cares what other people think?

Perhaps I should add that ds1 was out of the pushchair before he was 2.5 as ds2 had arrived - we did use a buggy-board for a while

Agree with Zebrawhatever works for you/whatever works for him. I encourage ds, 4, to walk most of the time, but sometimes he just can't walk as far/fast as I need to go. He's a stringbeanhardly a candidate for childhood obesity due to sitting in a buggy occasionally. But I agree with others that it seems hardly worth buying a new buggy at this point, though there are some really cheapo buggies out there if you find yourself desperate. I suspect your ds's use of the buggy will start to wane gradually in the near future. After all, we don't see too many 8-yr-olds in buggies. I imagine that being seen sitting in a buggy starts to injure their pride as they get older.

My DS1 likes to go in the buggy too sometimes, which is fine as DS2 spends all his time pleading to be allowed out of the buggy! DS1 is four and a half and only weighs two and a half stone, so he's hardly obese either.

expatkat's post made me laugh. I broke my leg quite badly when i was 8 and was on crutches for nearly 4 months. my mum tried desperately to get me to sit in my sister's buggy (I was painfully skinny so no danger or breaking it) whenever we went out for any length of time but there was no way I was going to risk anyone seeing me! I have vivid memories of my mum running through Lllanelli because she thought she was going to get a parking ticket and me hopping along behind.

sheila, it's not the easiest thing in the world to carry shopping while piggybacking a 4 year old. I certainly wouldn't recommend it but it is possible, I can vouch for that. My 4 year old is quite monkey-like in that he'll cling onto my back and neck very strongly, his arms taking the weight of his body. I do need to have one arm free to put underneath him, but that leaves one arm free to carry a shopping bag. Only possible in emergencies over short distances now. About a year ago, when he was less heavy, he didn't need my arm to steady him, and could cling onto my back without any assistance, so I had both hands free for shopping. Not that we ever walked miles around town like this!

As far as I'm concerned, pushchair, piggyback carrying, it's whatever gets you both from a - b in the happiest, easiest way.