What kind of age do kids often stop using a buggy?

[PainAuChocowhat]

Caveat up front: I know all children are different and there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach but some anecdotal guidance would be much appreciated!

Being a relatively clueless first-timer, I realised I have no idea when my 18 month old DC will, to a certain extent, grow out of using her buggy.

We’ve just bought a lightweight option to cart around London (well, around the ‘burbs anyway cos, covid) and my thoughts have turned to buying a footmuff mainly because the buggy says it will do her til she’s around 4.

However DH reckons she’ll be mostly done with it by the time next winter is over so we should just use blankets & clothing to keep her warm in the meantime.

She’s robustly built, has been a confident walker since 16 months and no additional needs identified.

Mine is turning 3 in February and I'm giving the pram to my sister just after as she is having a second baby.

DD just has it now to come back from nursery as we live up a big hill. She walks down fine but is knackered in the evenings.

We continued with DD2 until she was about 4.5, but with less and less use from around 3.5.
By the end it was only used once a week when I had to get from A to B in a limited time which needed me to fast walk/run, so having her in the buggy meant we got there in time.
I think it really depends on your routine, lifestyle & use of car.

For a long time DD2 was in a buggy on the legs of the school walk where I had DD1, but walked when DD1 was in school.

We were also helped by the fact she was small & light so could be carried a lot older than some of her friends if necessary.

Very much depends on lifestyle.
If your a public transport/ walker you'll need it longer than a car to the door sort of person.
But do consider if you have a second child and consider 2nd hand. They are used so little and so expensive they definitely do more than one child.

I think it can depend a lot on arrival of DC2!

Mine was 2.4 when he was born and didn't get to use the buggy after that.

Mind you we did live rurally so we were not walking long distances.

Our son is just over 3 and we still use his buggy quite a lot. We walk a lot because we live in London. He's not a big walker and still naps in his buggy.

How do people get their child to walk and comply?

My 2 year old will not hold our hand very often at all, if we try she will lie on the floor and tantrum, she doesn’t like to be carried, she also doesn’t like being given direction and will go whichever way pleases her. It’s so frustrating and I have no idea where we’ve gone wrong?! - I’m due a baby in March and I don’t really want a double buggy.. but I don’t think she’s sit still for 5 minutes on a buggy board and she would walk nicely either. Wtf do i do?!

DD1 refused to have anything to do with the buggy after she was 14 months. If I wanted her in it I had to get her in a headlock and force those straps over her arms while she screamed blue murder. Good times. She loved walking (very slowly) and clearly saw no need not to engage in this new hobby (even when nearby ice was melting faster than she walked).

DD2 on the other hand would probably still be in it now if I let her (she is five and in Reception, NT, just a lazy sod!) and when she was in the school nursery the last couple of years there were families who would pick their 3/4 year olds up and they’d go straight in the buggy.

So probably how long is a piece of string is the answer but I’d say once they’re confidently walking circa 2.5yrs you’ll use it far less and get your car boot back.

I would invest in a good quality waterproof, fleece lined all in one suit instead of a foot muff - jojo maman bebe and muddy puddles do good ones.

DD's use declined around 2, but if she's tired or it's a long day I'd still take it. Now she's nearly 3 and we only use it if walking to or from nursery or if it's a full day/safety thing like the city on a busy Saturday!

Around 3ish, although for holidays i aways took a folding stroller as they still get quite tired up to around 4/4.5 imo and it meant we could carry on enjoying the day if they got worn out.

2 year old is still in a buggy, but if it's just a quick trip to the playground or post office he'll walk on reigns.

Depends on the age they walk, how much walking you do etc.

My first 4 were all out of a buggy by 2.5. They walked between 13-16 months. The school run was 5 minutes down the road, we had a car.

My youngest didn't walk till he was 21 months. The school run was 1.5miles (so 6 miles a day) we had no car. He was in the buggy till he started reception.

2-3. If your child has no additional needs then there is just no need to keep using a buggy after this, they should be able to walk a couple of miles at a reasonable pace by 2.5. If you are carrying too much stuff to hold hands, then use reins.

I massively judge when I see 4 year olds in prams.

I used a pushchair until they started school at 4. They were small for their age though and lazy

@Doggydreaming

2-3. If your child has no additional needs then there is just no need to keep using a buggy after this, they should be able to walk a couple of miles at a reasonable pace by 2.5. If you are carrying too much stuff to hold hands, then use reins.

I massively judge when I see 4 year olds in prams.

Sometimes it's not about need. It's about ease and convenience. There's no medals for mummy martyrdom or making life hard for yourself.

I stopped using a buggy with my DD at 2. Her dad at 2.5 when she refused to sit in it. Her CM still goes out with the buggy with her. She is 3.

I got DD using a balance bike before she was 2. Once she was proficient at 2 I just tended to take her around on that. DD quickly worked out away of being dragged along if she doesn't want to walk.

Her dad then got her using her balance bike or scooter at 2.5.

The CM uses nothing so if DD doesn't want to walk then the CM gets stuck.

DD can walk and scoot 6 miles easily and has been able to do so since she was 2.5.

Dgs is two and a half and has rarely used his buggy in the last six months. I gave away the puchchair I had here four months ago. My own dc were decidedly lazier and happy in the buggy at three though.

We barely used it after two and a half, if we were walking any distance we took the balance bike.

Depends if you drive as well. I didn’t drive and lived in a smallish town with rubbish public transport so literally walked everywhere. Often we’d by walking 1-2 miles each way to go somewhere which wasnt always realistic for a three-year-old so the buggy stayed for longer. Car is a giant pushchair really.

I massively judge when I see 4 year olds in prams.

Why? It's absolutely none of your business how someone else chooses to parent their children.

My youngest DD had a very serious illness at 5, and as a result had limited mobility for a long time whist undergoing physical therapy. She didn't qualify for a disability stroller because her limited mobility would be short term (in actuality it was 6 months), so I had to buy a robust stroller and take her out in that. To the outside eye she looked like a capable 5yo, and we got some horrible comments from people 'judging' me (and by extension her) for being in a pushchair. I'm generally a polite person but after the 4th or 5th time defending my child to people who didn't have a clue what she'd gone through, a curt 'none of your damn business' was my go to response.

I think it really depends on lifestyle. Whilst Ds can walk, we have 0 childcare or family to help, so Ds gets dragged to all sorts of boring stuff.

Il take him for a walk to entertain him and let him stretch legs when I have plenty of time for him to dawdle.
Yesterday he had to go to the doctors for vaccination, then appointment at council office and pharmacy, it was -6 and started snowing. It was far easier and nicer for us both for him to be bundled into warm footmuff in pram, and just get from a to b asap.

Thanks everyone! Nursery is at the end of our street so eminently walkable (we’ve previously always carried her there and back, it’s that close). We have the option of our “big buggy” which has a footmuff for longer walks around the park, to the next town etc where she might nap or need a more substantial covering so sounds like a fleece-lined suit might do the trick for those chilly days where we take the small buggy out.

Mine is 3 and we are still using it, but it really depends on the occasion, and on the child. Our is wild!

If it's a relaxed walk along the river, to a park, even to the town center there is no need as he happily walks/runs around us. But if the purpose of the trip is to run a specific errand, no time to stop and play with sticks/rocks/leaves/whatever, or we know there will be to wait.... then we take the buggy.
We travelled by plane twice in a short space of time, after almost a year of no travelling. On the first occasion we went without and it was exhausting! He had no patience to wait at check in or at the security checks, he wanted to run up all the stairs in sight and had to be carried everywhere if we wanted to get on the flight on time.
So, the second time we strapped him in the buggy and he simply enjoyed being pushed around the airport.

My eldest was out of the buggy by the time she was 2.5. mostly because the wheel fell off one day while we were out and she just had to cope "until we get a new one" and we just didn't bother replacing it.

My youngest didn't use one during the week at the cm after 2, because by then the cm had 2 younger children who needed the spaces in the double buggy. She did use a buggy if DH needed to collect her on foot, and at weekends when we would walk further, as she was a big girl and I couldn't carry her very far

Our two and half year is still very much in the buggy. He prefers and we prefer it cus he's a slow walker. He falls asleep in it. I think we'll be using it for a good while yet. His younger sibling uses the warm muff. We cover him in a warm blanket on cold days.