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.

It’s different for all kids, my 4 year old is still in one as I don’t drive and we walk everywhere or bus, she still gets tired and it’s cold out, I find the people that judge tend to be drivers 😂 it’s handy for carrying shopping home as well if you don’t have a car!

@RedCandyApple

It’s different for all kids, my 4 year old is still in one as I don’t drive and we walk everywhere or bus, she still gets tired and it’s cold out, I find the people that judge tend to be drivers 😂 it’s handy for carrying shopping home as well if you don’t have a car!

Exactly this! I don't drive either so it's walking everywhere, every day. It's a lot for little legs.

Mine used the double until 4&2 then single for another couple of years occasionally, I didn't drive so it was useful for evenings/when tired (they squeezed in together sometimes). Wouldn't bother with a footmuff though as they are in and out plus can wear a snow suit instead

In a city with good public transport probably not much longer than 3-3.5. Most of my London friends then swapped to using a bus for a short distance if their kids were tired. Or even the Tube. Last time I was in London with a 3.5 year old we managed fine without a buggy.

@RedCandyApple

It’s different for all kids, my 4 year old is still in one as I don’t drive and we walk everywhere or bus, she still gets tired and it’s cold out, I find the people that judge tend to be drivers 😂 it’s handy for carrying shopping home as well if you don’t have a car!

I'm a driver, no judgement from me! I had a pushchair in my car for ds until he was gone 4yo.

On average, I'd say 3. DS2 stopped using it around 2.5. I still used it for DS2 occasionally when he was 3 (mainly on the school run).

We have a car and because of where we live usually need to drive to places. If you regularly have to get somewhere quickly on foot with small children, then it is worth hanging onto it.

I chucked ours out by the time DS was 3.5 and in nursery.

Used it maybe two or three times since DD was 2 and not at all since about 2.5. Not sure she would deign to go in it now!

Mine was about 2 more because she was using her scooter. I also lived in London and it was too much to take every day the buggy and scooter so we ditched the buggy.

Mine is 3.5 and she hates the buggy but we still sometimes use it for the school run (big hill and needs to be quick!) or a day out (mainly for the bags tbh 😳).

DC2 was in the buggy until 4.5 for longer, time critical journeys of 1-2 miles. We got raised eyebrows from a few people, most of whom would drive a quarter of a mile to school everyday to avoid using a buggy.

DC2 is now on the school cross country team, so it doesn't appear to have negatively affected her development or her stamina .

He still gets in it now if we need to go into town, do a big shop etc. more to contain him than anything else.

Kids are annoying when walking sometimes

As others have said, it really depends on the child and what you want to do. We did over 3 hours at a light trail at the weekend with a lot of walking. We had my 2.5 year old in the double buggy for most of it and my just turned 5 year old for quite a bit of it. It gave her somewhere to warm up and somewhere to chill out, and meant we didn't have to compromise on seeing everything. We saw plenty of people carrying similar age kids so it's clearly not unusual for it too be too much for them to walk all of that kind of event.

Depends on size and activity level of child, plus your lifestyle and the distances you travel. Also whether you have a second child, it's handy to be able to strap the older one into a buggy and have the younger in a sling.

I think roughly 3.5 - 4 years but if you regularly walk long distances and your child would struggle, then use it for longer.

I have a primary age child and a toddler, school is 5 mins away but I often take the pram so I can dump stuff in it or stick my toddler in if he gets uppity. They can be useful if you need to be somewhere by a certain time!

All ours were around 3 when they stopped completely.

If you have a nice, compliant child who can walk far then you won’t need it for long.

DD1 was walking before 1 and dropping her nap by 18 months but we still used a buggy until 2.9 if we needed to walk anywhere at anything other than faffing toddler speed. At 2.9 her baby sister was born, so she’ll be on a buggy board until DD2 can sit up and go in the lighter buggy. Even then, I may try and attach the board to the lighter buggy for ease!

If you want a footmuff get one! I wouldn’t though, you’d need to get a larger size one to make it worthwhile and then your light easy to fold buggy won’t be so light or foldable! Have a dedicated fleecy blanket for that buggy and wrap her up warm she’ll likely be getting out to walk about at times anyway.
Or if you do get one make it one their feet with mucky wellies can stick out rhe end of!

Two and a half to three, I'd say.

DD was 3 years 2 months when DS arrived, so I started 'weaning her off' the buggy in the months before 3rd birthday. We did our first trip into town without it around then and it was fine, and she was fine without it after brother arrived.

We bought a very lightweight buggy for DS for a city break just after his 3rd birthday, as he might not be able to cope with all the walking, but never used one with him after that.

I think it depends on where you live/ lifestyle. When I lived in the city my eldest had his to nearly 3 as we'd walk everywhere and little legs can be slow when tired. Moved to countryside and drove places we ditched the buggy much sooner with my twins as such a faff.

2yo8mo when her baby brother arrived and we needed the buggy for him

We'd been walking decent distances before that for a while and I only used it after 2.5 because I was pregnant and couldn't carry her home if needed. She went in it briefly on holiday in the summer to get from the beach to the car and thought it was hilarious.

Universal footmuff from John Lewis is only £30. I'd definitely get it and I reckon she'd still use it next winter

I had a bit this dilemma though DD is only 15 months now so I assume there is a good chance she will still be getting some buggy use next winter. But I got a JoJo one half price on eBay. Suggest you look for one second hand and then you don't have to overthink it and will no doubt appreciate having it this winter

@Inthesky42

Universal footmuff from John Lewis is only £30. I'd definitely get it and I reckon she'd still use it next winter

We had one of those. The foot muff outlasted the buggy.....

Also - our buggy is also light and foldable (Ergobaby Metro) and still very light and foldable with the footmuff attached

It depends how much you use a car but has been around the third birthday for mine. I didn't use the footmuff much in the last winter as DC was already togged up for the cold and hopped in when he was tired.

As he climbed in and out himself at that age the footmuff just got in the way.