Help! Need a buggy for a large 3 year old!

[OopsDoneItAgain]

My youngest is just 3 and struggles to walk the school then pre-school run twice a day. I have a lightweight stroller that Im using, but it is not coping -it keeps collapsing! He is a big (and heavy!) boy and so I need something that is a. a bit more comfortable for him, b. more sturdy and c. as easy to push as poss. So not asking much really! A friend lent me an old mamas and papas but he is just too big for it...any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

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Hello,

We've noticed this thread is quite old and some of the product recommendations are a little out of date. We've spent weeks speaking to parents and testing out pushchairs and buggies. Read our round up buggy reviews to see which stroller was crowned best buggy Spoiler alert is has a 25kg weight limit.

Hope that helps!

MNHQ

But he struggles with scooter or balance bikes because its so hilly, and is just too slooooow!

FFS before i even opened this thread i just knew there'd be the sanctimonious old whingers saying 'he must walk' blah blah blah.

What a load of crap!! i shouldn't think he sits strapped into a buggy all bloody day long.

I'd sooner have my ds in a buggy and push him 2-3 miles and chat along the way in the fresh air, but then i don't drive and have no desire too!

I would really recommend an air tyred pushchair for this age child as it will make pushing alot easier and i just find them nicer and cosier for winter weathers anyway.

My ds is 3.4yr btw and will walk for miles but we still use the buggy often and i don't feel the need to justify that.

They are expensive, but a mountain buggy would be good if you could maybe pick up a second hand one? My skinny but tall 5 yr old can still fit into ours (she doesnt get pushed, before anyone flames me) she has room widthways, legs do look ridiculous though they are also great to push, even pushing our double is easy.

baby jogger city classic can sometimes be found cheaper than the city mini on ebay brand new. Oh and if i didn't use a buggy my child would have to walk at least six miles a day. So, even when he's four or five i expect to use his pushchair still. I don't have a car and using the bus for the necessary journeys works out at forty pounds a week with all the kids! Too expensive for us, so a good pushchair is essential!

Last week I had to take my 4.9y/o 113cm 20kg DD1 in DD3's pushchair to school - she'd had an asthma attack at the weekend and the Dr refused to let her go to school unless we agreed to take her in the pushchair and keep her in at break/lunch as the school is on top of a hill and is very windy/exposed.

I did get lots of 'what a wierdo' looks as I had DD3 in a sling under my coat and DD2 was charging around with her doll's buggy. I also had to take her to the Drs on the bus in another one of my prams (I did fold it up and put it on the parcel shelf though).

She fitted in the Emmaljunga Classic something or another and the Loola Up (though neither could have the hood up as her head was in the way). Both held up well to the excess weight (have 15kg limit) put I did have to put the handle up on the Emmaljunga as the suspension sunk!

Yes of course they should walk, but everyone;'s circumstances are different.

I don't drve so we walk or bus it everywhere. DS is 3.2 and HATES going in a pushchair but sometimes he has to. In Septmeber I want to walk him to his nursery - it will take an hour to walk it with me power walking - I don't expect him to keep up! If I was slinging him in and out of a car most of the time, then no, I would not bother with a pushchair as he is an excellent walker - but at a good speed, in rain and blustery winds? No!

Anyway - I have a baby jogger classic - fab to push, loads of room blah balh blah! Not rattly at all and very sturdy.

Was just about to come on and say something but see that maxybrown has beaten me to it.

We keep the dcs in buggies a bit longer than the pushchair police say we should as the school run is a 35min power walk and dd just wouldnt keep up. Not to mention the days when I work and I dont have the time to do the 35min walk at dds pace.

Its often the people who drive more who have the luxury of dropping their buggies earlier.

To the OP - an ebayed 3 wheeler is best - the Macs can get really heavy to push by this stage. Although if you get a 3 wheeler you are committed to walking both ways as they often wont fit on the bus.

I go on the bus with my classic lazy lazy lady tut tut

I don't drive either so when I have to get my shopping in the pissing rain or snow, there is no way in hell I am going at a small Childs pace.

It is also impossible to hold a childs hand and carry shopping bags i needed buggy to hang bags on and use basket.

To those of us that don't drive being able to put a bigger child, 3-4 year old in a buggy is a necessity.

I love the knowledgeable Mamas who actually have something constructive to contribute!!!

Mini hijack,love the look of the baby jogger city micro that earlier posters mentioned,for my large 2.5 yo dd.
Can anyone tell me the height of the handles when open?
I'm tall and my back is in bits!
Sorry for the hijack OP.
Have a V and T on me.

mamalade, how tall are you? i am 5'8 and find the micro just about right, but i think it could be low if you were much taller than that tbh

argos claims the handle height is 105.5 but don/'t know how accurate that is!!!

Thanks thisis,you're a gem.drinks all round!

I'm 5'8 too and wear my wedge heeled boots most of the time so taking that into account for the height.tried one today that was 102 and was really too low.would have to be at least 105 if not more.

Hear hear Stewie.

The Jane pushchair seats are very wide and also really comfortable. They are smooth and light to push and can be done one-handed.

You could try for a three-wheeler Slalom or Powertrack 360 (older version of Slalom) on ebay.

I had my five yo in it recently when she was of school for a week with chest infection and I we were going stir crazy after four days and needed some fresh air. She fitted in!! We did get some odd looks though.

Can i reccomend a Graco?

My dd is 2.6 and although she loves to walk, she's a bloody whirlwind and i just can't keep up with her. I like to have her where i can see her, and know she's safe. I had to sell my firstwheels as she got too big for it, she's a tall girl and broad of chest, and she doesn't look at all comfortable in the obaby double i have, so i bought a cheap Graco intending to put DS3 in it for the school run, but she actually fits really well into it - has room to spare and looks comfortable too.

If i were you, i'd go for a cheap Graco

Oh - it's a Graco metrolite, btw.

Just a quick thanks to everyone for all the buggy suggestions, and of course for rebutting the 'All 3 year olds should walk' brigade too!

Deffo second the Mountain Buggy. Just make sure you get one with the swivel wheel (urban not terrain) and the adjustable handle.
Can pick them up on ebay 2nd hand for about £50 these days.

My 5 year old would happily get in it (when the two year old gets out).

Our school run is along a busy dual carriage way, and we have had many falls on scooters etc so i think a buggy is much safer than something they control themselves...

When my youngest ds was 3.5 I HAD to use a buggy. We walk everywhere. He got tired. I got fed up with chasing away him from the road, or carrying him plus shopping when he had a tantrum.

There is nothing wrong with putting a child that age in a buggy.

We were at disney world recently and lots of people had 5 and 6 year olds in buggies because walking all day long is just too much and the magic kingdom is too big.

My sister and I ended up renting a double for my youngest ds and her 7 year old dd. It worked well and actually made it possible to get around the parks without having to stop every 5 seconds. And with the two of them strapped in the buggy we stopped losing them all the time.

I can't believe how judgemental people are.

i get criticism from mum's at the school if i let my six year old on a buggy board. We live a mile and a half from the school and sometimes she gets really tired. The same mums that are saying she's too big for the buggy board are letting their kids sit in the car or on the bus even though they live closer than me! Double standards!

You should have seen the looks on the school gate mums faces when my 6 year old ds was poorly with a chest infection and I had to take him on the school run with me in a maclaren. You could have heard a pin drop when they saw him. Bloody skanks only live across the street from the school. I live two miles away.

That's a shame about the hills as the mini micro scooter is fab.

It so makes me laugh when people say my dc gave up the buggy at 2 when yes it turns out they drive everywhere!

Much to my disgust my younest and last gave up the pushchair at just 2, we did that school run for a year with me pushing an empty pushchair as the ultimate threat against her running off/failing to stop etc etc - also for carrying to wet swimming kits, 2 packed lunc boxes and school bags........she then went on the scooter at just 3 because I could then trust her to behave! But it's only a mile each way and it is fairly flat apart from the sheer slope of the footbridge over the M25.

I also would recommend a pushchair with air tyres with a swivel wheel....have a look on your local ebay and we'll tell you if it should be okay or not. Urban detours for example go cheap but are quite heavy to push.

I've just re read this thread, how on earth can you judge the OP for wanting to use a pushchair when you say "we drive to a local place" and there you have it WE DRIVE - or is your youngest running alongside the car to ensure the exercise? half a bloody mile? what's that? why do you not walk the whole way then? Rioja?

Maxybrown- I just think she has a massive pair of judgeypants