Anyone else's nursery say they shouldn't be bringing child to nursery in a buggy?

[Gizmo2015]

As per the title really, just wondering if anyone else has been told the same?

I started my DS turned 3 end of June to my older childs primary schools nursery in September. Received an email addressed to all parents a few weeks later to say they were shocked to see parents bringing kids in in buggies, and we should only be doing so if they have special need. Buggies are recommended up to the age of 3 and all kids are over this age now and children should be learning to gain strength in their legs etc etc. Now we have a 15 min walk in to school (30 mins if little one is on foot) and I have to get both kids in on time. We do usually walk home. Many parents drive their kids in to school or drag them in on a scooter, is this better? My eldest went to the same nursery and I initially brought him in in a buggy no issues, we stopped using a buggy before the end of nursery which is what I planned on doing with my youngest.
So, I'm just wondering if this is becoming quite widespread now among nursery aged kids?

Thank you. Yes, the plan was to build up to completely just walking there and back by around Spring so we're all set for when he goes to reception.

Partly. I’m on your ‘team’ here (for want of a better phrase.) I think the nursery have handled this awfully and I don’t have any real issue with use of pushchairs for young children, I can see it’s probably better than driving (which I do for the nursery run myself!)

But I do also know that if you go to an area of social deprivation you will see a lot of buggies with children in them when they are past the age a pushchair would be typical. As I’ve said, I’m not blaming the parents, but if we’re going to tackle some problems we can’t pretend those problems don’t exist.

The email was only sent to parents of children in nursery.

A child with immediate access to a buggy can walk to exhaustion, rest for a while and then get back out again, meaning they exercise for longer, more intensely over time and over a longer period.

A child that will have to be carried back to a car will be managed to conserve energy so that they don't tire themselves out - or won't get to the point of muscle growth/increasing stamina in the first place.

It's like the difference between a C25k run - walk - run over a month and going straight into a half marathon or 400m sprint; one creates greater gains that are sustainable, the other causes a feeling of 'stuff this' within the first few minutes and a large proportion of people refusing to do it again.

“But I do also know that if you go to an area of social deprivation you will see a lot of buggies with children in them when they are past the age a pushchair would be typical. As I’ve said, I’m not blaming the parents, but if we’re going to tackle some problems we can’t pretend those problems don’t exist”

I promise I’m not trying to do the faux wide eyed confusion about this, I really can’t see the link between deprivation and buggy usage? I’ve googled it and got an article about people’s perceptions of buggy useage for older age children and a 2008 article about how buggy uses isn’t great for physical development. Is it just that people are suggesting that those in more deprived areas use a buggy because they don’t want to walk with them and take an easy approach? Again, I really mean this genuinely.

I have a 3.3 year old (who I have been wrongly referring to as a toddler!) and he started nursery in September for 2 days a week. We took the stroller for the first 2 weeks as he was tired from nursery and I also wanted him to be familiar with the route. We now do a mix of me pulling him on a scooter (well, he scoots a bit but he’s not very good and I don’t want him getting in people’s way) or we walk to the bus stop and take the bus. I think I would feel judged if he were always in his stroller because whenever I’ve seen others his age group get collected, they’re all walking, but I’ve now seen several of them walking to their cars. My preference is always me taking the stroller over driving, firstly I’m modelling walking but also he can get out and have a walk if he fancies it. I’m sure it can’t just be my son who’s keen to walk and then 10 minutes later sits down on the ground refusing to budge 🙃 anyway I think the nursery should have said they encourage independent travel to and from nursery, not single out buggy users.

As a second time mum I felt judged and as though I was seen to be failing at parenting. So I can imagine how a first time mum would have felt.

none of the 30 kids (3-4 year olds) at my sons nursery primary school are in buggies. All walk or using scooters.

YABU

I dunno I’m on the fence. We live a good 20 min walk from the school and mine have both walked since starting preschool, one’s a summer baby so she was just 3. In fairness she refused the pram from 2ish anyway and with the second once she was at ‘big school’ the pram didn’t really feel appropriate.
I think it’s more about school readiness if they’re at a school nursery and treating them as a child with those expectations than a toddler. Our school preschool expects them to be toilet trained, able to put on their own coats, get their bags together etc. of course there are accidents and they end up helping them all a lot but it’s the principle I suppose!

@Isitfridayyetsophie its a bit complex, and the problem with this explanation is that there are numerous caveats and assumptions because otherwise it’s impossible to talk about so have to make generalisations!

But if you take two children who are (let’s say) aged three and a half, one from an affluent household and one from a household which is living below the poverty line, and imagine typical sort of days for them, your child from the more affluent home is more likely to go to nursery or preschool for starters, and more likely to be driven there as his parents will own a car, most likely two cars. They can access activities for him that are suitable - cost isn’t a deterrent, nor is travel. Their home will be warm and spacious. If they wish to see friends or to meet up with other families they have a car.

If you compare that to a child living below the poverty line these differences are key

1. a child living below the poverty line is far less likely to have a car
2. they are more likely to have multiple children which makes managing them all harder
3. their home is not likely to be somewhere they want to spend lots of time in (but they are also less likely to work)
4. cost of activities may be prohibitive
5. they may have to do a lot of walking just to keep on top of household stuff, eg shopping, laundrette and so on.

All in all you do find small children going round shopping centres in buggies a lot, and it absolutely is linked to social deprivation.

People's attitudes to buggies are so annoying and usually hypocritical since so many kids are ferried everywhere by car!

I used the buggy often at that age, especially in the morning, as I needed to get back home and log on (during Covid). It was difficult enough getting up and out, let alone having a 20 minute walk take 35 mins with several stops en route to look at stones, twigs, flowers or whatever else took her fancy!

I have a car, I just prefer not to use it so much. Would it look better on me if I drove in do you think?

I assume what you are saying then is that it is presumed that parents who bring their children in to nursery in a buggy are also feeding them junk, will end up with kids who are obese etc etc and are basically lazy parents but the kids who are being driven in are from a more well off and better background and will have a better outcome in life??

Apologies if I have misunderstood.

Again, if I am on the right track please guide me to the study which indicates this.

I have a 3.5yo. If we're driving into town, the buggy doesn't come out, we have a potter around and it's all good. If we get a train to London, I get the buggy out because we're going to be doing a lot of walking, a lot of it in busy tube stations and I can't afford to allow her to wander about. We often go to a park at some point and she will walk for ages but she probably goes in a buggy every couple of months at this point. I also bring it if we're out late and walking somewhere because she gets tired but still enjoys being out. I could just drive pretty much everywhere but I don't want to. She's also probably autistic so doesn't have the reasoning level of your average 3.5yo.

I agree with alot of what you have said here.

Am also genuinely keen to read up on the issue so please let me know of anything you have read about (not newspaper articles as they twist real reearch to fit the narrative I have found...) on the subject. My first thought was to see what guidance had changed between the time my eldest went to the same nursery (and we faced none of this albeit, it was a few years ago) and now but I couldn't find anything!

Not seen anything linking social deprivation and buggy use either so would be interested in learning more.

@allthewaythroughtheside thank you so much for taking the time for such a detailed reply, I really appreciate that and really wouldn’t have considered that in that context. I also didn’t really get the link between unhealthy food and buggies mentioned earlier but from this perspective it makes sense. Thank you!

@Gizmo2015 I don’t think any guidance has changed, all I’ve seen is reports on lack of school readiness focussing on buggies and potty training. So much of it ties in with Covid that it seems hard to be able to differentiate what’s caused by disengaged parenting and what’s a hangover from covid (but I’m also not entirely sure why covid babies wouldn’t be potty trained, I’m sure there’s a connection I’m missing, I’ll google it.) In your case, I wonder if the nursery have concerns on the physical development of one child and so have done a round robin to everyone so that no one child is singled out? Especially if they have an idea of socioeconomic make up of the nursery class? As I said our nursery hasn’t said anything specifically, the place seems lovely and my son seems so happy there, but the nursery manager is quite strict and I think if I was regularly using the buggy/he wasn’t potty trained/wasn’t using a knife and fork etc. I’d feel judged and I think she might have a word with me!

They need to butt out of what doesn't concern them and focus on what they do with the children when they're in their care. If they want to be helpful, they could maybe share some tips with parents "5 local walks to do with your toddler this autumn" and other fun stamina-building activities for the weekend. But weekday mornings are stressful for most families, people are in a hurry, it's comparatively rare to have a SAHP of one nursery-going child who can just dawdle along at their own pace... In short, anyone with half a brain cell would realise weekday mornings are not the time for diktats like this.

Great contribution to a thread where people have discussed the nuances of why they might use a buggy. Incidentally, not a chance every one of those children arrives at nursery on foot. Not a chance.

And this is due to parents using buggies when taking their child to nursery? I can't see the correlation here.

@Gizmo2015

I’d be curious as well if they’ve noticed an overall lack/loss of fitness and physical ability? Was talking to a teacher the other week and she said she was really surprised how there’s been an overall decrease in physical skills (eg 5 year olds not being able to skip, jump evenly with two feet, or intentionally hop, still struggling with uneven surfaces) . I suppose there’s arguably a missed opportunities to practice those skills if there’s a chance the child could be out of buggy ?

Also most parents forward face in a buggy so there’s not the eye contact for communication /watching mouths move etc. My little one was a tad slow to talk so I consulted a SALT and they asked specifically if we used a forward facing buggy.

(again - same as in a car, but parents may not have the choice to not drive … whereas if they have the opportunity to come on foot, the child could too.)

@Gizmo2015 https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/what_makes_it_harder_for_londons_children_be_healthier.pdf This doesn’t specifically comment on deprivation and buggy use, but buggy use is mentioned in the first child’s story, in the context as explained to me by @allthewaythroughtheside I’m not sure we’ll find anything specific to buggies but it’s related to the bigger picture.

They have them in buggies for a range of reasons- in my experience often safety and also as it is easier for walking about- don’t need to focus on them as much, plus it’s the norm/ learnt behaviour. Kids have no where to play outside- they are then harder to manage when outside so get strapped in to buggies. Same goes for no where to play inside- small spaces and just easier. Buggy- used to be TV but now handed a phone/ tablet.

The extended buggy use is an indicator that the children aren’t getting the learning and development opportunities they should. Basically being held back from growing up and developing as normal. Instead of exploring and running and jumping and touching they are strapped in and handed a device. It’s a bit of a chicken or the egg situation but either way how a public health issue as demonstrated by the schools email.

With regards to evidence of more children with developmental delay- you only need to look at stats with regards to referrals to child development clinics/ speech and language services, numbers way up over last 7/8 years.

Go back 10 years and 50% of 3 year olds could self dress, put their own shoes on, drink from open cups, seeing one in a buggy was rare and 98% were dry. That's without looking at speech.

Instead of exploring and running and jumping and touching they are strapped in and handed a device.

And yet, not a word from anyone about the amount of time children (not just toddlers but older kids and teenagers) are spending being wheeled around everywhere in cars.

Interesting I'm guessing before COVID many used childcare because they left earlier so children were either dropped at nursery earlier, went to breakfast club or walked with childminders. I know I used to walk 4 school children before COVID so the preschoolers walked to with a non walker in the pram after COVID 3 of those families worked from home so I guess children up later parents drop.