How far will your 4yo walk?

[Strollstroll]

My son was 4 in May, starts school in September. I’m currently on maternity leave with his youngest brother, and he has started his summer holidays from pre-school. We are mainly having a lovely time, but…

I wondered how far you think it’s reasonable for him to walk over the course of a day? I don't drive so always walk everywhere and he’s been used to this. He would sometimes use the buggy board if middle brother is in the pushchair (with baby in sling), but now the middle one prefers to walk if it’s only a couple of km.

On the last few days I’ve been tearing my hair out on occasions trying to get him to behave sensibly when walking (eg. Getting too close to the road or holding my hand when crossing - despite reiterating the safety elements 6351892 times). Also, I’ve been having to coax him very slowly home if we have walked quite far. He never complains of being tired, so I’m not sure if he is or if he’s just over the walk. I don't drive my best and chasing him or pretending to be a superhero or whatever game he fancies.

AIBU (or is he? 😂). How far is too far?!

At 4 my daughter started school and since then she has walked to school and back each day 0.7 miles down hill on the way there about 15-20 minutes and nearly all uphill on the way back probably 20-30 minutes
My car broke down when she was 4 and 3 months and one day we went to the library by bus which was 10 minutes walk to and from the first bus stop and 5 minutes from the second bus stop. Then we did 1 mile to and from the shop. As with school run down hill on the way there up a steep hill on the way back. She was quite tired by the time we got home for dinner.

Before 4 walking was more of a leisure activity as her nursery was in the next town and we had to drive.

Bloody loads. Had energy for days when he was younger! A bugger for holding my hand at 2yo, but by 4 was fine.

It is quite hilly, especially on the last stretch home. We did about 8km, but stopped for a coffee about halfway through. He mainly does races and pretends to be Spider-Man, but the coaxing probably started on the last km. I was feeling a bit ratty that he wouldn’t just shuffle up the hill but I wonder whether I’m expecting too much?

My 3 year old does 6 miles up mountains happily. My friends child who is 6 can’t do 1 mile without lots and lots of encouragement. I think it all depends on what they are used to,

If we are out for the day or doing something social my daughter will keep walking and walking and walking. If she senses the end of the walk is near she slows right down regardless of how long it's been.
What she went do every day is generally less than what she will do at the weekend. She can walk all day on one big walk but on days where it's lots of short walks it's then harder to keep her motivated. It is a 1 in 10 hill up to our house and if we follow the main road it's hard to get her up the hill but there's some foot paths and cut throughs that follow alongside the road. They are the same gradient but with twists and turns and variety and she will happily go up that route because it seems less monotonous. It's often psychology as much as physical ability

From experience mine would walk/run miles on a forest or hill walk. We'd literally be dead and dc would be still be full of energy. Dc would easily double what we dis as dc would range off a bit and come back repeatedly. But - getting dc to .8 of a mile to the nursery or from nursery would be a huge struggle. It's different when walking with a purpose to get somewhere vs. Free walking/exploring. No advice except keep at it. Get him to open up about how he feels about it. Try this when you jave quiet minute not when you're faced with a massive hill and a hungry kid.

Our daily walk was about a mile to school when mine were in primary school - fairly flat. We did vary it between walking, scooting, cycling, etc. I had a Phil and Ted buggy which I sometimes used and a pushchair with a buggy board. We had a rule about stopping at every lamp post and a rule that they only crossed the road when I said ‘over we go’. Some days were easy, some days not so, some days the oldest went in the Phil and Ted and the middle one walked. Some days they shared the buggy board (that was heavy!) However I only ever drove in an emergency.

8km is a lot for a 4 year old. I think you are expecting too much

My 3 year old can easily walk 2 miles in one go. Over the course of a day I don’t know - but I’ve had days out with her where I’ve done 12,000 steps so I reckon she would do double!

Sometimes she gets a bit bored when we’re walking somewhere and we play games like let’s see how many different coloured doors/flowers we can spot/lets count how many dogs or birds or umbrellas we see.

Mine were never great at walking, but we made sure we chose a school with an easy 5 min walk and live somewhere with great public transport so we don't have to walk far (we don't have a car). We used a buggy board at that age and still pull along on a scooter for longer stretches. We've always done a lot of after school activities so need to get to places straight after school and don't have time for a long meandering walk home.

On a normal day my 4YO runs around in pre-school 9am-3pm and if needed will walk with me into town and back (0.7 miles) when she gets home - there is often a lot of whinging though 😂. Some days are easier than others depending on weather, mood etc.

We recently went on holiday with her to a place that required a lot of walking and for the most part she managed which we were taken aback by , but a fair amount of intermittent carrying.

My little one turned 4 in April.
Went on holiday in May. It was a 30min walk from the hotel to the town.
He walked there, his feet all day, walked back. Still had to burn of energy in the hotel play room and didn't go to bed any earlier than I'd hoped!

We've not got any pushchair, scooter etc so since Jnauary he's been on he feet and walked exactly the same as me.
Did a city break a couple of weeks ago and he walked everywhere then too.

Fuck all, they're dinky so we probably give in to piggy backs too easily.
Plenty of energy for activities but awful at walking!
They did a daily dog walk since birth - in a sling obviously, and we love to walk but they don't seem to have that gene.

Mine has been able to reliably walk a mile and back to the park since he was 3, he’s nearly 4 now. He will go 2 miles and back on his scooter. On his bike… seemingly forever. I’ve yet to tire him on his bike.

Some kids are just built for long distance from a young age. I would have been the kid complaining about how their feet hurt.

Sister in Law must have a mountain goat in her family.

Niece & Nephew would think nothing of doing the Pennine Way before breakfast at about 4

This is it! I think you’ve hit the nail on the head actually.

I know he’s fine to walk - will run all day on a fun day out, happily does 3km twice a day to pre-school and back and has been doing this for the past year. There just seems to be something about the boring, straight, uphill road before we get to our house that stalls him. Suddenly wants to spend four years looking at every insect and leaf en route. Meanwhile, I’m probably more fed up of playing games at this point as I can almost smell a cup of tea!

I will try and be more zen and persevere with the games, otherwise it’s going to be a loooong summer. I guess a long roam around town doing errands is hardly the 4yo dream day out. Just wanted some reassurance that he’s bored rather than tortured!

100%. Thinking I might need to litter the route to town and back with a few more really big sticks. 😂
Being a superhero is all well and good but he seems to forget that he isn’t actually immortal, and I’ve definitely uttered the phrase “away from the kerb please” enough times today to last me until September.

Would he scoot or cycle it? Mine will go forever if he’s on wheels

I think he’s actually better on foot as he prefers to run for bits of it. I used to take the scooter more often and just carry it when he got fed up, but I find that tricky now with the baby in a sling plus we had 2yo middle bro with us for the first couple of km. I might try and mix it up a bit more over summer so it’s not just walking every single day when we have a job to do.

They’re all so different. I don’t drive so mine walked loads from early on. DD did several 10 mile walks at 4. However some of their peers were still in pushchairs in reception.

Depends on the child. My eldest and middle could and would walk miles at 4. My youngest at 3 furthest he walks is to school and back twice a day and that is literally one street away. He isn't always happy at walking that. My other 2 would walk at least 2 miles at that age and not be phased. Youngest however will sit down and refuse to move or throw himself and paddy. I don't drive either and we go on holidays with lots of walks in them usually with streams to play in, stiles to climb over etc. I always thought they walked if you walk with them and not take the pushchair but seems it's down to the child from my experience. They either will walk and like it or not walk and hate it, letting you know they're not happy.

My boys don’t enjoy walking and they get tired pretty quickly. My 4yo would do 1 km max. I still use a buggy for my 4yo with my 6yo in the buggy board. It makes life easier as I don’t get all the moaning, plus it keeps them contained and safe.

Not a single step but does love being outside in his buggy, never happier than when being pushed over rough ground.

Children in nursery aged 3 to 5 literally walk around practically all day from 8am to 6pm

I think 8km is a bit far.