How far should I expect my 3 year old to walk?

[Bluebellie]

For the last couple of years I've taken 3.5 Y/O to nursery in the pram. His pram is dead faffy to put away at pre school so I've tested walking the distance. He seems to be doing ok (1 mile in 30 minutes) but it did occur to me that this might be a bit much? What do you think?

Definitely not too much, you are fine 😊

I don't know. Just 3 or nearly 4? There is a huge difference. 4 should be fine with a mile. its a bit far for a just 3, and might put them off walking. If just 3, I would leave it a few more months, maybe get a tiny folding buggy, they are very cheap. And encourage walking alongside it and slowly build up?

sorry, just realised you said 3.5 - still a bit borderline, I would say, but getting there. If they are developing normally physically keep going with pushchair a bit longer

Surely it’s a case of the more you do it the more he’ll get used to it. My 2.5 walks more than that daily with us on dog walks as it’s just what we’ve always done. Getting them used to walking is great and a lovely way to bond after nursery pick up, stick with it.

Yes, but I would expect it would take a bit longer than that and a fair amount of whining after a busy day at nursery.

Get him a scooter. He’ll enjoy using it and means the walk will be a bit quicker. Can also fold it up and keep helmet and scooter with nursery bag ☺️ that’s what we’ve done regularly

We used a micro scooter which meant a mile was no issue

If he’s happy it’s fine. At 3.5 my DS certainly would let me know if he wasn’t happy with the situation 😂

DS is just 4 and some days can walk 5km and other days he complains and whines about walking 1. He’s always happy to go on his balance bike though and it’s a lot quicker - could be another option?

isnt there a rule of thumb if a mile (or maybe a km?) for every year? Something like that

Our 3 year old does a couple of miles a day walking to and from nursery (via school), and started at about 2.5. She's pretty good at accepting that's how we get around, and we chat and look for numbers/letters/colours, and she does a bit of balancing/jumping off walls on the way which helps I think. One advantage is she's used to walking so manages pretty well on longer days out, and doesn't expect to be carried.

Definitely not too much 😊 DS is 3y 5m and has been walking about 1.25miles each way to and from nursery since before Christmas.

Is balance bike/scooter an option? Ours is through quiet residential streets so he likes to take his bike some days. I do have a pushchair for him but we have only used it a few times when it’s either been absolutely torrential rain or if we’re very late leaving the house in the morning and are in a major hurry (I have a further 30 min walk to work after drop off).

If he is ok doing it then it's fine.

My son is 3.5 now, I haven't used a pushchair since he was about 2.5 and to be honest, barely used it from when he could walk competently.

I've no idea how far he walks (runs!) in a day other than it's the same as me but more as he does laps, runs backwards and forwards to me wherever we go and generally keeps me fit trying to keep up!

I don't like scooters as they seem a bit counter productive to exercise and I worry only 1 leg will get developed! I know I'm mad and everyone uses them but I'm sticking to it while I can!

Used to be a mile per year of age

So 3 miles a day at 3

Many now say a km per year of age

So clearly still a little arbitrary

My 2 year olds preferred park is 1.7 miles from our house and he regularly walks there, runs around like a loon, plays and walks back.

I’m sure he’ll tell you is he’s struggling.

That's not too far. My little niece used to go hiking and walk several miles when 3. My BiL had a backpack thing to carry her but she liked to walk albeit slowly uphill.

Mine would be fine with that on the way there but a complete nightmare on the way home because they’d be tired. Scooters are good though as you can get a leash and pull them along when tired.

We’ve done 0.8miles to and from nursery since DD was 3.5 (she’s now 4.5).

It’s fine, and often a nice chance for a chat. But my god did she whinge when it was dark on the way home. Understandable, but not fun for anyone.

My son was walking a mile by 18 months (in 45 min). At 3.5 that is definitely a realistic distance

Both of mine would walk to our town at 3 and back. It's a mile each way.

A mile isn't too much for most 3 year olds unless they have done thing that limits walking.