Does a 2.5 year old still need a pushchair?

[Bridie321]

Just trying to work out if I'll need a double pushchair if my number 1 is 2.5 when number 2 arrives?

Could I get away with a buggie board?

B

I think it depends on how much you go out in the day and whether your eldest still naps tbh - if they do nap then yes, if not then could probably manage with buggy board.

I started off with a buggy board but then DD fell off it because she stopped holding on and I didn't manage to catch her. She's erfused to go on it since. I've found a double buggy really useful so I don't end up carrying DD plus shopping plus pushing DS.

If you carry the baby in a sling you'd probably manage

Thanks all, what age do you reckon toddlers stop wanting to go in a buggy (I know it's a vast range but I'm wondering how long I'd need the sling for).

Don't want to get a double unless I REALLY need to!

B

DS1 was 2 when DS2 came along, I never bought a double buggy, but it was a struggle at first and had to buy reigns, and tended to go shopping at out of town retail parks so not to much walking involved.

By the time DS1 was 2.5 things had improved greatly and was able to go into town for a few hours. Now he's 3.3 and he's great out and about.

Personally I wouldn't bother wasting the money as you won't need it for very long at all.

DD is 2.9 - she started sometimes refusing the buggy at the beginning of the summer, and in the last fortnight she has absolutely refused to go in the buggy at all (if we bring it with us she wants to push it instead). So now she just walks everywhere with us. I do have to carry her occasionally, when she is tired, but in general she is v good. No option of buggy board for her as she is an only, but would have thought that would be perfectly adequate.
Mind you she has not napped in a buggy (or indeed at all) for over a year.

My dd1 was 2.6 when baby arrived in July, I had a double nipper bought new, was a godsend whenbshe needed a snooze but soon got my mummy confidence back and and realised she can just walk the distances we do, sold buggy for a very small loss, awaiting delivery of bargainous comfy mamas and papas new 3wheeler and am enjoying deliberating between the new zap or a trusty maclaren xt for shorter trips! The double nipper was one of best prams ive had though but I just got annoyed with folding ......only drawback, its well fiddly compared to others and I found we did more things where I just needed a single for baby than things where we needed the double and I felt daft getting huge double out for little baby every day from boot of car at toddle groups and music sessions or gym time etc, toddler walks those times of course, was kiddingnself id need a seat for her that I'd walk long distances to get fit! It ain't happening! Gym instead when stop bfeeding so much, I drive there with no babies or buggies, can't blooming wait!
And personally slings are ace, I have one, but I could absolutely not rely on one and a single buggy, hence I used double briefly, I get too hot n bothered, I find I can't bend down and help dd1 easily, eg for the toilet or shoes or cuddles, in hindsight I should have got a cheap double second hand until I knew what my needs would be post baby......also dd1 loved the double as it was one thing shebcould have the same as new baby at a time when everything was changing in her world,

Depends in the child. You may think that on good days "who needs a pushchair?" and then it's raining, or they are grump and won't walk, what about when they are ill, or sleepy. Having no transportation for a child refusing to walk is a nightmare.

Buggy boards all the way.

DD1 was 1yr10months when DD2 arrived, but didn't sleep in th day any more. We walked miles with the buggy board, loved it. The fact they can hop on and off at a moments notice saves grumps too. Have only just stopped using it now DD1 is 4 as DD2 walks about 2 miles now and they are too heavy to push together.

I think you will need one. My boy walks a lot, but if has huff, or decides "I sit on ground" and does so, then buggy mighty useful. Or if they bit poorly, or need to be somewhere at given time.. But I do walk a lot, as live in small town. O, and ds still has sleep in day, so can be handy for that too.

i'd wait and see tbh, the govt. does not prevent you buying things after the baby is born!

DD1 is 3yo 3 days before DD2 arrives and I have got a Nipper double, a buggy board doesn't suit our lifestyle as I do a lot of field walking with the dog and horses. DD1 walks quite happily for a mile or so and will walk all day if it's entertaining enough but I really can't be doing with the my legs hurt, I want a carry routine so i bit the bullet and got a double to make my life easier. You could put the cash aside and see how you get on without, get a cheap 2nd hand 1 or try with a second hand buggy board

witch...never a truer word spoken! i'd say wait and see as 2.5yr olds vary hugely, depends on so many factors, your lifestyle do you drive or walk alot? do youlike to go out alot? also depends on other factors like weather, how tired you dc1 is, etc etc etc could go on forever!

from my perspective i walk absolutely everywhere and go out a lot. my ds2 was 18m old when ds3 arrived. i sooooo didn't want a double but he was too diddy to stand on board and understand what it meant and he still needed to sit and sleep etc in pushchair ws unfair of me to push him to walk, and so he went on to use a double pushchair every day til he was 3yr2m he then was relegated to board for a further 3m then at 3.5yr decided he could walk everywhere!

My dd1 was 2.5 when dd2 arrived and we managed to borrow a double but only used it about 3 times - I used a sling and the maclaren for a bit when couldn't drive due to c-section, after that she had to walk. But I think it depends whether you do a lot of walking/public transport and also how independent they are when the new baby arrives - dd1 was already mostly out of her pushchair and we only used it when really tired. Also if your dc is a tantrummer, it can be useful to have something you can strap them into when you really need to get home in a hurry. Trying to carry a toddler and push a buggy is one of those things which will actually drive you over the edge in the early days of no sleep and everything just being really hard with 2.

IME yes. We walk alot so got a phil & teds when DC2 came along.

I tried a buggy board when DS was 2.5 and he hated it and I hated it, so we've stuck with the P&T. He still hops in and out of it and he's nearly 4, we've got our moneys worth.

I don't drive and walk 20 minutes to school, my just 4 year old still goes in the pushchair
otherwise we'd be late for school everyday and after dropping off older child she can dawdle home to her hearts content but I need to push her to get there on time
and as someone else says when it rains at least one of us is dry
and sometimes on the afternoon Sch run she still falls asleep

Like everyone really suggests, its dependant on the child and how far you walk. I walk mine to nursery and back, which is only about a mile or so, but on the way home DS1 is knackered and just wants to sit down (he is 3.5). We got a second hand P&T when DS2 was born and I'm glad we did. Its just easier. If we had a buggy board DS1 would be on and off and a pain in the bum I know he would.

I still use one with a nearly 4YO and a 2YO. One major issue for us was that if DD2 was in the buggy, DD1 wanted to be as well. Or neither of them in it

Make sure you get a decent one though (i have a mountain buggy)

I would definitely get one. I used a sling for two months, then caved in and used the p&t I had borrowed. Then bought my own when I had to give the other back 9 months later. DD is 3 1/4 and still naps at lunch. Soo useful. Slings are good and have their place, but when the gap is smallish and #1 wants to be a baby, easier to let them than have yet another screaming match.

Just to add that I did find that the double pushchair came into it's own when it was snowy this winter (which we don't get every year but you never know). Neither of the DC's like the snow so I snuggled them up in it and I trudged along using the P&T for support. We wouldn't have gone anywhere had I been trying to get DS to walk (and the car was stuck for 10 days).

Depends. My DD is 2.5 at the moment. She is actually my youngest, but if I was to have a newborn right now, I'd want a double buggy. My DD has the energy to walk, but she has the will not to comply! She wants to go different places in shops to me, she wants to get things off shelves, she wants to go where she wants so currently I have her sometimes in the buggy, sometimes out of the buggy. But I have the spare hands to deal with her if necessary because my eldest will follow instructions.

My friend used to put her 4yo and 2yo in a double buggy. It can be difficult walking 2 children so I understand why she did it. Plenty of 3 and 4 yos still go in buggys - DS aged 4.6 will sit in DD's buggy if the fancy takes him!

As a nanny George still used a buggy until around 4...As a buggy addict i'm hoping Robyn will still want to ride until she's 3-4...Went through a walking phase recently, she's 16 months but has reverted back to wanting to ride all the time...I find buggies personally handy so i don't have to carry bags on my person as i don't tend to travel lightly.

I def. think you need one... just get an old battered one off ebay

my DS was 13 months when DD came along and I used a sling and a single buggy for ages (so... when DS wanted to walk, DD used the buggy and when DS needed to nap, DD came into the sling)

He walks really really well now (he is 27MO now) but I actually use a double buggy (I have a VERY OLD P&T tandem) more now, as DD (now 13mo) needs a stable seat, and she is too heavy for me to carry long distances.

We walk ~5miles per day, I would guess... sometimes DS never gets in the buggy, but it's handy to carry my bags and it's nice to know it's there if he gets tired, falls over or is a pain in the arse naughty

I know people who take their 4 year olds to nursery in a pushchair!

I got a Graco double when DS2 came along and DS1 was 2 yrs 4 months. It hardly got any use after the first 3 months. I sold it for 50% what I paid which I was happy with.