Using a pushchair for a older child

[lisa270988]

Hi
My little boy is 4 5 in December he starts school in September.
We do a lot of walking as a family as I don't drive just my husband but he drives a lot for a work so at weekends prefer walking or using public transport to give him a rest from driving. We tend to walk as much as we can to save money on buses ect.
Yesterday we walked in to the town which in a 30 minute then round town then after we walked to the park which is 5 mins from the town then round the park its a big park then back out and back to the town to catch a bus home when we got of the bus ots also about a 10 minute walk home. We had a the pushchair with us and walked a lot but sat in the pushchair a bit for a rest as he would never manage all that walking. .
It just got.me thinking when he starts school he can manage the walk to school and home ect but at weekends when we do a lot.of walking like this will he look.silly in a buggy what about if he bumps in to school mates?
There is no way he will walk as much as what we he uses a balance bike sometimes but even then he gets tired on very long distances and like yesterday wouldn't be practical in the town

We don’t use our car often either and find the bike is a good way to get my nearly five year old to move at a decent speed. She can cycle much easier than she can walk.
I think people on this thread are being a bit mean about the pushchair though. My nearly five year old is always asking to go in her sister’s pushchair on the way home from places and she can do some pretty impressive hikes.
Mine is quite a bit taller though- 105cm and 15kg my three year old is 92cm and definitely doesn’t have as much stamina yet.

13kg at nearly 5? Are you sure that’s correct?

Hmm, I would definitely expect the average 4yo to manage without a pushchair. Having said that, 95 cm is very short… have you had this checked? I’d say at that height people probably wouldn’t comment as much, as they’d presume he was younger.

Edited: typo

Yeah he is very very small born very premature

If he’s tiny in height and weight and tires easily then it’s different to your average sized 5 year old. If he needs it for a bit longer then I wouldn’t worry given his small size.

I think that given he weighs 13kg and is tiny and was premature

it is both reasonable and sensible that you use a push chair as needed!

Because most boys weight that some point around their 2nd - 3rd birthday. Given he’s extremely small, basically almost half his age small, I think it’s not unreasonable to use a pushchair for longer trips out. Presume he’s still seeing paediatrics?

It is a lot of walking but not impossible or unusual for his age.
Genuinly, my first dc used a buggy until 4/5, but dc2 we got rid of it at just before 3.
The amount of walking for a child is perfectly doable at 5, you may have to build up to it if they’re not used to it.
My dc2 is now 4, can walk as far as anyone. We live rurally and we have full days out from morning to night with lots of miles covered. As long as they have comfy shoes and some snacks, and regular rest breaks throughout the day they’re fine.

Just ignore judgement and you do you!

Sadly some people will look and judge. I have a 6 year old who goes everywhere in a 'buggy'. Our buggy is an all terrain wheelchair that looks similar to an OutnAbout, people do look, some stare and some make comments like "Isn't he a bit big for that?". Do what you need to do, you know him best and if he's finding the distance challenging then let him ride in the buggy.

You say he walks for hours here but in your other very recent post you don’t think he would be able to manage 20 mins to school and would need the buggy? Is that still your real concern?

Agree, no body would bat an eye if you popped him in a car instead of in a pushchair

Get him a scooter. Can he ride a pedal bike??

this is madness, my 5 year old hasn’t sat in a buggy since busy before 3. He cycled Richmond park the other week and did 12 miles on his bike on holiday.

if you baby your child the of course they think they can’t walk or ride distances

If your child needs a wheelchair that’s a completely different thing to an able bodied child still in a pushchair

No he isn't tall enough to reach the pedal and he can't get the hang of scooter he can do a balance bike for a bit but after 30 mins get tired

There’s a lot of judgmental responses here, take a buggy if you need it, he’ll grow out of it eventually.

My oldest has just turned 4, we never got a double buggy so he really stopped using one at 2.5 when my youngest was born but we got a second for our holiday earlier this year (so he could sleep in it if we were out late/going distances in the heat) and he started to ask for it once we got home - turns out he has sleep apnoea, along side other health needs that aren’t visible and we’re getting worse and so was getting exhausted quickly. People really need to think twice before they look and judge.

DS usually rides or scoots when we walk distances, whilst he may physically be able to walk miles when at his best, he absolutely wouldn’t unless he was with his cousins/friends so the whole thing would be miserable.

You can get pull along bands for their scooters which may help, DS has been riding a pedal bike from 3.5 so you should be able to get one that goes low enough if you think he’d pedal. We got it for his third birthday and he was probably around 95 cm then but it was more pricey.

scooter or trike is the way forward - get one you can push or pull and then he can walk a bit and rest a bit. People are really weird about buggies and older children - they get really worked up - even though when my older son was around 4 he used to love riding on the buggy board, so still getting out of walking, but because I had a baby in the actual buggy that was seen as fine.

If it’s safe to cycle, then could you try a child-back tandem or a tag-along attached to your bike? There are also different types of cargo bikes & trailers (but there are more expensive) or he might still fit in a bike seat. Given his health issues, it might be worth checking out the charity Charlotte’s Tandems to see if you would qualify for a free loan.

We found a 3-wheel micro scooter really useful at that age as I could hold a hand to tow the DC when tired.

DD1 used her buggy well past 4 (we're in London, had no car). Turned out she has hyper mobility and ASD and dyspraxia and had a good reason for not managing lots of walking (and it was her safe space). She was also small for her age. And didn't grasp scooters until she was almost 6.

It hasn't harmed her in the long run, she's a tween now and hiked up a mountain with me today and is a really good walker. Loads of kids get driven everywhere. Her sister learned to ride a bike at 2.5. They're all different and I wouldn't worry about other people.

Blimey some strong feelings on this! My DC is just 3, but until daytime naps stop completely I do find it useful to have a pushchair for a full day out. If I’m being totally honest some times it’s also for me so I don’t have to carry everything! I try and encourage walking as much as possible but it takes some doing, our DC is quite competitive so we turn things into a race as much as we can, or generally just try and make it a fun walk - we did a marble run in the woods recently and it’s amazing how far they can walk when something is holding their interest.

Given that you walk so much, OP, perhaps you can start having some fun along the way, do a scavenger hunt of things you need to tick off as you walk, for example? And have sections of the trip that are walking only, eg perhaps the last leg home is in the pushchair but walk the rest, and gradually do more walking less pushing? Or just don’t take the pram one day and see what happens? You’ll probably need to allow some extra time but maybe if the weather cools a little it will be ok.

edit - just seen your recent posts about health challenges - sorry, maybe ditching the pram cold turkey isn’t the best idea. Do what’s right for your family and don’t worry about what everyone else thinks - most people are too busy with their own issues to notice, anyway!

A nearly 5 year old in a pushchair is ridiculous

plan your days out better to avoid such long days on his feet if necessary

But one the size of a toddler who was very prem and is more prone to tiredness is not the same as your average 5 year old

How i suppose to plan that better that is the distance we need to walk we could of skipped the park but that was a bit of fun for him after being dragged round shops and buying school clothes and shoes!!!! He walked a lot it wasn't like he was sitting in the pushchair the whole time! He just had a little rest now and again

This exactly. So much judgment of using a pushchair but it perfectly acceptable to use your car for short journeys etc.

My 4yo (May, also starting school in Sep) would struggle with that too. He finds walking boring, so will moan and sit down and claim he's too tired. Yesterday we walked 30 mins into town, had a little wander, stopped for lunch for an hour, then headed back home. He asked to go on DH's shoulders for the last 10 mins. When we got home he fell asleep on the sofa.

When he's doing something fun he will run and jump and play and move for hours. We did a farm park the other week and he was on his feet for nearly 5 hours straight. So I'm not really worried about his stamina or strength, I think he finds walking boring and tiring and that's fair enough I think.

We'll be taking his balance bike for the school run, it's 10 mins on the bike or 20+ mins with him dragging his feet walking so that's an obvious choice for me.