best pushchair for 3 years old

[margobambino]

Hi, We have Stokke Xplory but DS is now growing out of it. We are looking for something roomy for a 3 years old who looks like 4 and sturdy enough to carry him when he wants to run but has to stay in the pushchair. I'd appreciate any advice.

-----------------------
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We've noticed this thread is quite old and some of the product recommendations are a little out of date.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 lightweight strollers and buggies. Here's our round up of the best buggies available to buy now

Hope that helps!

[faddle]

OP - you know your own child best. I have just bought cosatto yo for DD who is 4yo. Folds up reasonably small, is light, and has a very generous seat and hood which reclines. Nice to push and a reasonable basket. She uses it around town if she gets tired, and for days out to carry all the crap when she wants a nap.
My mother was when she saw me packing the pushchair for our recent camping holiday. at the end of the week when she had seen DD fall asleep in it every single day, worn out by the excitement, she apologised and said I had obviously known best in this matter. I was then equally as my mother has never before said she was wrong about anything to do with parenting!

[nicolamumof3]

OP posted for advice about which pushchair, not 'advice' at what age her dc should be walking, how he should be walking, how far etc etc. Blah blah blah.

I have three children all very different but would never feel the need to justify at what age they need to be out of a pushchair.

Anyway...for ease of pushing an older child air tyres are best imo..mountain buggy, baby jogger all good sized seats. Otherwise for strollers, biggest seat sizes will come in Maclaren Techno XT and XLr. Tho my 4.5yr recently used a volo on holiday occasionally and was fine. (yes 4.5yr old, must be an awful parent )

[iamfabregasted]

nicolamumof3 - I am a worse parent than you.

My DD is 8 (yes 8) and I intend to take the buggy to the zoo.

As I said on another of these threads, she's tiny, wearing age 3 clothes, and gets tired very easily, so the buggy makes sense and also I have torn rotator cuff muscles in my shoulder so I find carrying stuff hard, so it means we can take a picnic.

[thisisyesterday]

what IS the obsession with children being out of the buggy at a certain age?
it's like a bloody competition "oooh well mine was out at 6 months, i dragged him along on a lead"

ffs

does it really matter???
the OP wants a buggy for her son. maybe she walks a lot, maybe he still naps in it, maybe he is a "bolter" like my ds2... maybe it's none of your business why she wants one?

[jellybeans]

3 wheeler Nipper. I pushed 3 year old twins in one. Don't care a jot what people think. With twins it would have taken all day to get the older ones to school and one had visual impairment and the other developmental delays. You can't judge by looking! 3 big wheels will be great.

[sleepysox]

My son was in a pushchair until 4. We had a Baby Jogger. The seat was so big it looks like it'd fit a 7 year old! I think it goes up to kids of 40lbs. Pushes like a dream.

Baby Dan had an umbrella fold one called 'Stockholm' which had a similar weight limit too- we've also got one of those. They've been discontinued, but some places are still them new- we got ours new on fleabay for around £40.

I knew you'd get the 'why can't they walk' responses too. I've remember reading other similar posts who got the same response.

Just ignore them. Every child is different. Go with what your child needs.

[nicolamumof3]

my 3yo still fits great in nipper its still easy to push as well so deffo recommend that.

[raindroprhyme]

haven't read whole thread can't be bothered with the ranting.
my DS was in a single nipper till he was 4 and weighed about 18kg and he is super tall too. Easy to push with him and loads of shopping. i have a volo too but it was difficult to push him in it from when he was about 3.
hth.

[GirlofCadiz]

There is nothing wrong with putting a three year old in a buggy. We don't drive and have to walk very far and carry lots of things. I always brought my pushchair out when my ds was 3.

He walked most of the time but I needed to have that pushchair when we were in a hurry or carrying loads of shopping. Sometimes a three year old gets tired, grumpy, tries to run off and needs a break in the buggy.

Why is this some kind of crime?

[gegs73]

My 3yo DS2 still has a buggy if we are out for a really long day and also for the school run.

Its a 1.5 mile walk there and the same back. And yes he could walk it but we would be late EVERY day! He does walk back! I really can't see what the problem is.

He has a Maclaren Volvo which is perfect so I can second that one. Cheap, lightweight, folds easily etc.

[gegs73]

Maybe all the anti buggy for 3yos people drive everywhere

[makeupmummy]

My gigantic two year old, 19 plus kilos and 97 cms, still has plenty room in his Baby Jogger City Mini; reckon that will see us through the buggy years. I agree by way; we walk everywhere, but always take the buggy for the "I'm sitting down/climbing people's steps/not appreciating you have to be somewhere 5 minutes ago/what, I have to sit still in this cafe? " moments!

[makeupmummy]

O, and my tall (but slender) 8 year old dd also fits in it, when she really wants to wind ds up, or have a seat when out at races!

[skidoodly]

Or maybe they walk everywhere but prioritise teaching their children independence over getting places quickly.

[gegs73]

Or they prioritise getting their child to school on time without getting everyone up at 5am

[skidoodly]

If you are doing a 3 hour walk to school every day you have a bigger problem than a non-toddler child needing a pram.

[GirlofCadiz]

DH says that they used to put dss in a pushchair when he was 4. Dss is now at a top univerisity in the US studying chemical engineering and working very hard to support himself.

No problems with independence and responsibility with him as a result of going in a pushchair when he was 4.

[skidoodly]

I once met a man at a top university whose parents beat him regularly.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

yes, putting someone in a pushchair is clearly equivalent to beating them regularly

[merryandmad]

"oooh well mine was out at 6 months, i dragged him along on a lead" thisisyestersay- that's so funny.

My dd nearly 4 went into town in her buggy on Friday to get her school uniform ready for September. We had shopping to do, then had to get back in time for her to go to nursery in the afternoon. She is too big for me to carry aswell as shopping. Plus she got to eat her packed lunch in the pushchair on the way home before nursery.

We have a Maclaren Techno- but it has survived dd1 and dd2 and now the wheels are slightly square. but the seat is plently big enough for her still.

[skidoodly]

A man I know who runs a well-known sportswear company started smoking at 5. Maybe he smoked in his pram.

[pinkgrapefruitjuice]

Maclaren techno xlr, roomier than the xt. You could probably get one 2nd hand.

I second the wrist strap idea and would take the pushchair on holiday to use as a packhorse for all the bags and stuff and as a time out zone. I hear you about containment - sometimes its just easier.

[IPredictADiet]

yeah, what gegs said. Everyone I know who boasts about binning the buggy when their prodigious DC was 18mo or whatever drives any distance over 1/2 mile. My 3yo hasn't been in the buggy for a while, but the last time I dusted it off we needed to get to doctors 1.5miles away sharpish. No 3yo I know ever does sharpish on request, never mind when unwell. I really don't get what the fuss is about.

We've an XLR and it's great for taller/heavier toddlers.

[chibi]

Don't assume that everyone who bins the buggy drives everywhere

I am carless and my 3 yo has walked 2-3 miles a day since she was 2.5, without drama or hysterics, and at a reasonable pace

I thought this was normal, apparently not -she is some freaky otherworldly walking savant

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

We have an XLR for my DD, who is 3.9 but easily the height of a 5 year old....she has SN but I hate that people have to justify why they have their kid in a buggy tbh, each to their own.