Pushchair alternatives for preschooler?

[Parkingbird]

Hi!

My daughter turns 4 next Feb and as we live in a rather rural area (no buses where we live, and I don't drive) with the town centre around 2 miles away I often walk with her there while pushing her in her pushchair. I really enjoy the walks and am reluctant to give up the pushchair but I also understand it may look bad on me for ferrying a child completely capable of walking on a set of wheels!

Having her walk 2 miles with me and another 2 miles back is definitely not possible - getting her to walk even 1/2 a mile is a challenge!!!

Hence my question - are there any modes of transport suitable for us? I'm thinking something like a wagon that you bring to beach outings for putting stuff in. Best if it has space to put shopping in. Thanks so much!!

Just carry on using the pushchair if it works for you.

Bikes?
with a basket for your shopping?

I used a camping trolley in a very similar situation……

This one in fact…….Amazon camping trolley

(trying to add link)

Ooh thanks I had that in mind too! Do you push from the front like a trolley? I'm worried about looking daft 😅

You can get the big American style "wagons" that you push like a pram.
The problem with those is they are massive and take up a lot of space in shops.
Camping style trolleys you have to pull.
Personally I have always found pushing much easier and with pulling you use one arm to you will be twisting your body each time at an angle (if that makes sense).
Just use a pushchair.
We used ours up until the age of 6 (well 7 after she had a small operation).

Could she manage on a scooter?

I never understand this suggestion.
If little legs get tired walking they get tired scooting 🤷
A scooter ends up being another thing for the parent to carry.

Use the buggy. If someone tells you she's too big, just say well we have to walk 2 miles.

Alternatively we have a bike trailer which is good - it can be attached to a bike or pushed like a buggy. The only issue is that it is a good bit larger than a buggy, e.g. it doesn't quite fit through our front door (we have to keep it outside or bring it in the patio doors) and it takes up more space on public transport, which is fine where we live (trams) but might be awkward on a bus.

No I pulled him along behind me while he was sat in there with whatever else needed pulling 😂

It was noisier than I expected but honestly I didn’t care what anyone thought - it worked for us until he was old enough to scoot/ride his bike safely.

Carry on using a pushchair when it’s pissing with rain and you have shopping to carry it’s just the sensible option and she can jump in and out when she needs to rest. 2 of mine loved walking 2 hated it, they have all been sporty since pre teen age and still are as adults.

Use the pushchair and remember that other people use a massive motorised buggy (AKA a car) t get themselves half a mile let alone pushing a child for 4+miles. You aren't the lazy one.

But one ‘scoot’ with a leg pushes a scooter a few metres, and then the momentum of the wheels keeps them going. It’s much less effort for them to travel the same distance on a scooter so you would go further before being lumbered with carrying it (obviously the terrain matters here as hills would be more difficult). My 4 year old can scoot for miles without issue, whereas would struggle with a 4 mile walk to and from shops. It’s more fun than walking for them too, so there’s certainly less whinging involved

Alternatiely, OP, does your little one use a bike? My 4 year old has just learnt to cycle ‘properly’ and can seemingly go all day on her pedal bike without being tired

Yes, why look for a solution to a problem, which is of what people are thinking? Just do what works for you.

The smaller Reception age children round by me seem to like these! https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3290051 looks like a bike, they can peddle, but you can push. Lots of brands and a range of prices on Google

Yep was gonna suggest a trike as above! Mine loves hers

I do think four is a bit old for a pushchair to be honest. I haven’t a four year old and I can’t imagine him in one. I’d probably go for the scooter.

How about a scooter?

Use the pushchair for as long as possible. I was still taking mine until she was 4 and we live not far away! Other option is could
you cycle? We have a fake ‘shotgun’ seat. She loves it and keeps on asking if we can go on the bike…but since we are only 400m away I can’t really justify it 😂. You could cycle along the pavement for parts, push the bike with her on for parts and let her walk for part. At my school even in reception some kids are still using pushchair at nearly 5. We do for long distances. Helps with the mountain of ‘artwork’ too. And they get sooooo tired.

I had a strap on my sons so I could just pull him along when he got tired. He always managed to scoot further than he could walk though, because it was more fun

The problem with pulling along I found (we tried it for a while) is it was incredibly hard to do while also carrying bags of shopping.
The OP says the journeys they are doing are for shopping.

What about a runner buggy or bike/jogging trailer?

My son is 6, nearly 7 and we've had to get creative as he's a flight risk due to his autism, and I've got to say we hardly get any funny looks to be honest. If people do judge they do well to keep it to themselves.

We've had a huack runner buggy for a few years and for 4-6 year old, it's been fab, downsides for me were that the breaks weren't especially stiff so not great on public transport but we don't really use public transport anyway, but it reclined, had a full hood, and the wheels were big so it did well over multiple terrains without feeling like it was towing. It did need an annual innertube replacement though and every 6 months we had to reinflate the tyres, and finding a pump that fit was a bit of a task. Finding a rain cover was also a bit of a task because they all seemed to leave the feet exposed, which wasn't great when wearing low-tongued shoes or trainers in the rain.

We also have used the bike trailers as they come with a push handle, absolutely a no-go for public transport as they're too big, but they're spacious, have a 360 degree cover so great for poor weather, cosy when you throw in a blanket or 2, and also have all terrain wheels.

We have also tried the festival wagon things, we've had 2, one with just a pull handle - would not recommend unless you live in an entirely flat, well maintained area, and one with a push and pull handle, which was better, but I'd still not recommend. The wheels are small, they get gunged up easily, and it is an additional strain on your back when pushing and pulling. Pros are, you can usually take them in shops quite easily, compared to the bike trailer, but they're still not as easy to navigate as the runner buggy, which also had a spacious undercarriage for shopping and was well distributed gravity-wise if you needed to hang bags on handles with additional hooks.

If it's just for getting from A to B I would recommend the bike trailer, but if it's got to have multifunctionality, then the runner buggy is the best option.

When I was in France last summer I saw quite a few people pushing around things that looked sort of like chariots for kids!

I think it might have been these which are actually bike trailers (and are in face called chariots) but definitely saw something like these with multiple kids/ older kids. These are obviously expensive though so I’d just stick with your buggy.

https://www.thule.com/en-gb/bike-trailers/bike-trailer-bundles/chariot-cross-2-single-all-terrain-bundle-_-10201038b1?_gl=14hok6m_upMQ.._gs*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjw3tzHBhBREiwAlMJoUtYmGmlU26mthoLsCzhNQQX_PaF2maK_0oc72AInIVsZ3gY_DrX5cBoCXCMQAvD_BwE

FWIW I have 3.5 year old who can walk and scoot quite far but like you I don’t drive and sometimes I just need her to go in the pram. She’s quite tall and looks older than she is and I do feel like people are judging me but… but not enough to stop using my pram.

In your situation I think it’s fine to carry on using it if it’s working for you. Four is, in general, quite old to be using a pram - but you have to remember that the vast majority of four year olds would be passengers in a car to travel the distances you are talking about, so please don’t let other people make you feel bad! Your DD can always walk as much as she can, and use the pram for the other parts of the journey.

I say this from the perspective of someone who also doesn’t drive, so my kids have been forced to walk a lot more than I think is typical. They all like walking and running. Our school run is about a mile each way and my 4yo is happy to do it, but it can take a looong time on the return leg as he is tired and distractible. So doubling this would be quite challenging. Especially with extra luggage - I always have a baby in a sling and sometimes a toddler and a load of shopping, and I’m losing the will to live in the last stretch.

Alternatively, could you consider getting a cargo bike? Look at renting. Loads of room for luggage plus a passenger. Kids seem to love it!

Tbh given the distances involved I'd go directly ahead and carry on using the stroller until they can reliably walk, scoot or bike the distance. My DS is a similar age (not 4 until August but will be going into reception next year) and although he can walk that kind of distance he'd struggle to do it at any sort of pace and definitely wouldn't want to be doing it daily.

A cargo bike is a great shout, we've got a long-tail that we love but they are expensive and if walking suits you then just carry on using the buggy. I bet anyone judging you won't be walking half that far themselves.