bye bye buggy

[lisa85]

at 3 and a half i have finally ditched the pushchair , but now shopping or just getting from a to b is a nightmare, anyone have any ideas how to make this easier or is it just something i'm gonna have to get over????? [hmmm]

This is why some of us use the buggy until a much later age.
Good luck.

I gave up the buggy with DS2 at 3 and 9 months. You just have to get through it really. DS1 stopped using the buggy much earlier but DS2 was lazy. I forced the issue of giving up the buggy because he started school at 4 and 2 months otherwise I probably would have left it a few months more.

They do get used to walking....eventually

you do adjust but it will take a while

shopping you do online instead apart from ONE BAGs worth of top up type stuff (half the bag will be filled with leaves/raisins/rain almost as soon as you leave the house though)

your ds/dd will get used to walking but you may need to adjust your pace alittle slower for a wee while!

It WILL get easier-promise

My DD just turned 3 the end of Aug and as she was due to start nursery in October I didn't want her to go in a buggy,we live about a 15min walk from school(me walking)so i tend to leave about 25 mins before we have to be there,i definitely agree with mumofmonsters on line shopping is a godsend especially as i have 2 older ones 12 and 8 who HATE shopping,and now that i have a whole 2hrs when she's at nursery i grab any little bits from the shops then.

Shop online and get your lo a scooter.

We ditched the buggy when dd turned 3. I had to be very consistent and NEVER carry her for this to work. She knows there is no buggy - it's not an option.

DD never liked sitting in the buggy, so we ditched the buggy just after her 2nd birthday. So much easier, it takes double the time to get anywhere (we don't have car) but it's much more fun than rushing to places with screaming child strapped in the buggy and not being able to get on the bus when there's buggies already.
Now she's 2,5, never runs off (hates holding hand, only does it when crossing the road), I trust her complitely, and she knows she's free to run around when we get to the park. Make the walking fun for LO - catch leaves, chase each others' shadows, count buses/cars/baby buggies/anything, sing, skip - anything what's fun and gets you from A to B stress-free. It does get easier! Good luck!

I'd second the scooter idea. DD1 (now 3.9) stopped using the buggy soon after 2 as DD2 turned up and I couldn't face a double buggy - as such DD1 was forced to walk. By 3 she was a whizz on the scooter, it certainly doesn't take us longer to get places and she (like every other child at her nursery) does the school run on it every day (they even have a little scooter park for them all!!). The main thing is teaching pavement safety on the scooter - i.e. drumming into them not to go too far ahead, ALWAYS to stop well before the curb, not to bash into other pedestrians etc, it can be quite nerve wracking to start with, but they soon get it.

We ditched the buggy when my DD was 21 months old. She's only 23 months old now and has good road smarts and walks great next to me, holding my hand or a little ahead. She's been walking long distances before we ditched the buggie however so she has worked up her walking stamina. lol She's usually pretty well behaved while shopping but there are occassions where she wants to touch everything. hahahaha We just try to make a game out of it and keep her occupied with doing something.

Get a scooter or a balance bike (the latter probably being less effort and hence used for longer periods at a time!

Message withdrawn

DD has never got on with her scooter for some reason, so we use her bike for longer distances. Unfortunately he lived part-way up a hill, so she needs a bit of a hand on the way back (scarf round the handlebars and PULL). The shopping's not an issue as we take the car for large amounts and have a Co-Op VERY nearby for top-ups, but if it was otherwise I'd consider a trolley (cool modern one, not tartan old lady one, obviously ).

DH will carry her; I won't. She's long been pretty good at knowing that there are things he will do and I won't.