What do you do when kids too old for pram but too young to walk far?

[Coriandersucks]

I’ve got a 4 year old and nearly 3 year old. Ditched the buggy a few months ago but have found it difficult when wanting to go on a long walk or visiting somewhere like the local farm place we went to today. I dug out the old buggy and thank god I did because my youngest would never have made it around - we were out for over four hours and it was quite hilly and whilst we stopped lots to play on the different rides, they were both really struggling.

They are both over the weights for the buggy, it has a flat tyre and was creaking all the way round whenever he sat in it so what do you all do at this stage? Is there another buggy size I’ve missed or do I just have to wait until they’re older?

I honestly don’t know what I would have done had I not thought of taking the buggy with me as we were over a mile from the car at one point and I was on my own with both of them.

We had a second hand baby jogger city mini btw great for bigger kids. Dd2 was always tall, dd1 would very occasionally go in the buggy too.

All kids are different dd1 would have walked miles without complaining still does. Dd2 still hates walking (now 8), used to bolt, would sit/lye down on the pavement when she'd had enough even in reception when we had got rid of the pushchair.

Was still using my pushchair at 4&6 lived in a village and didn't drive. The buggy had long since disintegrated but my mama's and papas get on going despite having a second child standing on the axel or even them both squashed into it. I passed it on when we moved (good excuse) to a lady at a refuge who I kept in touch with for a couple of years and she passed it on to another. Made of strong stuff then

We have a toddler connecta carrier that I keep in the bag in case we need it. My twins are nearly four and it's still used occasionally on way back from nursery/longer walks. It's tiny to carry in a bag but really comfy to wear.

If you get the annual pass then you don’t need to do the whole place every time. Just stay an hour or so.

One of those trikes with a tall handle you can push along?

@sarahandduckisthebest

Watching with interest as we have the exact same issue. I'm dreading the school run with eldest in Sept as youngest will be 3 then and already absolutely giant/barely fits in the current buggy!!

School run is an easy one.

Balance bikes or scooters

Mine carried on in the buggy occasionally until they started school. Weight was never a problem so I'm not sure what's happened with modern buggies!
By the time they started school they were fine for most things and would give them a piggy back ride for a short way if not.

The silver cross pop buggy goes to 25kg.

@Stillgardeningatthishour

Reading with interest. My toddler is 2,8 and I’m thinking we’re almost at the end of the buggy days 😩I liked to push her round the block/to the shops but don’t know how that will happen now as it’s alongside roads and she’s not able to be trusted to keep holding my hand the whole way round. How does it work when you go clothes shopping etc? I enjoy putting her in the buggy and having that security, when she no longer fits, it will be chaos! I often now let her walk a little around the shopping centres when we were/are allowed, but there’s no way I could seriously go in and out of shops looking at things 🤷🏻‍♀️ It’s the same with eating out, had the security of having her strapped in the buggy outside a cafe or in a high chair in a restaurant, she can sit on a big chair at the table, but barely sits there for long! What do you do?! So sad those days are almost ending

Enjoy it in a different way. You can't 'zone out' in the same way as you can when they're strapped in the buggy.

But it's liberating going out without all the baby clutter.

A wrist strap gives you some added safety/security.

Shop properly when she's at nursery or with your partner/relative etc.
MIT is sad to say giid bye to the baby days, but this next stage is lively too!!

Another vote for a good sling. I have a Beco Gemini which will have done nearly 6 years of use once we are finally done with it sometime this year.

Have a 5 and 3 year old. 5 year old was occasionally going on my back till about 3.5 and now 3 year old is the same. Took them to a NT place last week with loads of walking up and down hills. Sling was in bag for the last 40 minutes or so when 3 year old flagged.

@candlemasbells

I’ve got a 3.5 year old and an 8 month old and I take the double buggy everywhere. If ds walks quite a bit at least all the stuff is in the buggy and I don’t have to Carry it. I purposely got one that take children upto 25kg although he is a bit squashed in there

Is it the Bugaboo Donkey Duo? I’m looking for a double with high weight limits and that’s all I’ve been able to find. Keen to know if there are any cheaper options!

SparrowNest its a second hand city mini which was £50 on facebook. I would have preferred the gt city mini but I'm in a rural area and there's limited choice. I think it can take 22kg per seat.

I live in rural Scotland and most of my walks were up rough hillsides that a buggy wouldn’t manage anyway. I had my second DD when DD1 was just 16 months old, so she had to get used to walking distances (on reins) very quickly, as the baby needed the buggy around the village.
I wish parents would ditch buggies as soon as their DC can walk. They need to use their legs and lungs, build up stamina, get some healthy exercise, not be stuck in a seat for hours.
My DDs are grown up now, and happily climb Munros, do marathons, go wild swimming etc. You can’t start too early to inculcate a love of nature and exercise!

I wish parents would ditch buggies as soon as their DC can walk. They need to use their legs and lungs, build up stamina, get some healthy exercise, not be stuck in a seat for hours that may be the case, but whilst they're building up stamina I still have a mile walk each way to do for school run. There's no way I'm doing that along busy roads with 18 month old twins when it can already take an hour+

That's relevant to your situation Babdoc.

My walks included long stretches alongside busy roads to do food shopping. I just wanted to get through those bits as quickly as possible.

At 3 the children were made to get out going up the hills at the very least. We'd be out for a couple of hours most days so there were plenty of times they were out of the buggy too, in the pleasanter parts of the journey too!

They now hike up mountains no problem!

I also found we would spend hours out walking on holiday and in the evenings especially we'd use the buggy so we adults could walk some more whole tired child took a break. A buggy was very useful.

Push along scooters are great at this age, they’ll walk and walk then they’ll be excited to sit on the scooter if they’re tired. They can take it in turns as well (sometimes requires bribery to get them to swap )

I kept the double buggy for this reason. It meant I could still have long brisk walks (lone parent) but they could hop in when they were tired.

It feels like this inbetween stage lasts forever but all of a sudden they a) get much better at walking longer distances and b) don't need as much STUFF for a day out, so it's easier all round. Then at a certain age you can also make them carry their own bloody picnics/walkie talkies/footballs/frisbees etc in their own rucksacks and it's great 😁

Mine are now stronger than me and I take them to carry the shopping!

I think there's a lot to be said for building up their stamina. Young children can actually walk a long way, but only if they're used to it.

My mum didn't drive when I was little, so I grew up having to walk everywhere. It wasn't a big deal. My dd was able to walk for ages when tiny.

Build them up gradually by taking them on increasingly long walks, and it will make your life so much easier!

@Babdoc

I live in rural Scotland and most of my walks were up rough hillsides that a buggy wouldn’t manage anyway. I had my second DD when DD1 was just 16 months old, so she had to get used to walking distances (on reins) very quickly, as the baby needed the buggy around the village. I wish parents would ditch buggies as soon as their DC can walk. They need to use their legs and lungs, build up stamina, get some healthy exercise, not be stuck in a seat for hours. My DDs are grown up now, and happily climb Munros, do marathons, go wild swimming etc. You can’t start too early to inculcate a love of nature and exercise!

Sounds lovely where you live, Babdoc! I don't think the majority of parents do deliberately confine their unwilling children to buggies far past the ages they can comfortably walk, do you? Some parents do rely on buggies for a relatively short stage in the kind of situations we've seen on this thread - e.g. difficult/time-critical school runs, long days out when little legs and lungs HAVE been building up stamina all day but just don't have the energy to go any further. I fully sympathise and hope that people weren't judging me for it on the occasions I used a buggy for my walking-age child. A love of nature, exercise and the outdoors isn't precluded by this, I don't think.

Most of the people that sneer at pushchair use for 3/4 year olds have a car which they effectively use exactly the same as a giant pushchair.

Don’t be put off using one if it’s the most convenient solution for you. I still have a pushchair for DS (4) which I use on days where I have loads of jobs to do, stuff to carry etc. and can’t deal with the “I can’t walk” I almost never make him get in, but he will get in on his own when he gets tired and until then I stick the shopping in it.

Well yes to the car drivers sneering!

I have this problem. My two and a half year old is so tall that her feet touch the ground when she's in the lightweight pushchair (Cossato) that I bought for days out. She's too big also for my big travel system pushchair (the straps don't go high enough to over her shoulders and still clip in). But she's too young to walk all day long and I also can't carry her because I have a bad prolapse that I'm waiting for surgery on and am not allowed to do any heavy lifting let alone cart around an over two stone child for hours on end.

I've accepted for this summer long days out walking are out unless it's somewhere with places we can stop for a while! Next year when she's three and a half she should hopefully be able to manage it.

I am going to miss the big buggy days, mine is great and I can fit so much stuff underneath it! I never even used to bother with a trolly in the supermarket if it was a small shop, I could fill under my buggy, pay, then put it all back in bags and unload at the car. Easy peasy!