When do your children no longer need a pushchair

[onlyone]

My 2.8yr old is enormous and as such everyone thinks he should walk all the time.

When is it reasonable to expect kids to stop using a pushchair.

He will walk the 2 miles in to town and round the shops but can only ever manage a quarter of the way home.

He has grown out of his current pushchair, so need a cheap big compact alternative - any suggestions or shall I just wedge him in for a bit longer.

Thanks

Not very cheap but the Baby Jogger City Mini is good for big children, it's also very stable so you can have a fair amount hanging from the handle even without a child in the seat.

Pay no attention to what everyone thinks, do what suits you best. TBH I would keep the pushchair a bit longer if you use it to do the shopping as it's a pain carrying bags and holding a toddler's hand.

If the pavement is suitable and he has good road sense then you could try a scooter. My 2.5 yo DD can go a good way on hers, which is a Mini Micro.

Second what bran says. Use buggy as long as you need to. Your 2-year-old sounds like an excellent walker but no 2 year-old can walk as much as an adult and if you walk a lot, you are entitled to use a buggy.

DS is 3.7 and the walk to town is only 15 mins but I cannot stand the dawdling or possibility of getting stuck in the rain. We have a phil & teds double so he hops in the back of that every so often.

Saves me from a dawdling induced meltdown .

DS1 is 4 1/2 and i still use a pushchair for him if im out and have someone else with me who can push one him or DS2. He tends to go in my maclaren XT, M&P beat buggy or cybex callisto. Theres plenty of room for him in all three of them and he is 113cm tall.
Had to use a pushchair for him yesterday as walking around the science museum got a bit too much for him and he was almost falling asleep.
Don't listen to what other people say, or care about what they think. Do what suits you and your son best.

Agree with others don't rush him out of buggy completely if you are both happy he's still young yet. My youngest is 3yr next month and although he is a fab walker i wouldn't dream of getting rid of pushchair for at least another 6m or a year. Bad weather, tiredness or illness all means you will need it.

maclaren xt/xlr great buggies for older children. Or a three wheeler with air tyres makes pushing an older child alot easier.

we don't use them past 2.6 - 3 yrs old.

But that is just us, I hated having to push them around and couldn't wait to get rid of the bloody things. They are all v good walkers although we did rent a pushchair at Disneyworld for DS 2.8 as we were rushing around trying to get here and there and it wasn't fair on his little legs

Scooters are excellent.

Also, ignore what others say. A friend of mine tells everyone her kid never used a buggy from 24months. What she fails to tell people is that they had a buggy board attached that the child rode on daily!

Your DS sounds an excellent walker, but after 2 miles, he is bound to be tired.

We live in a very hilly area so I need the buggy for certain things. All of dd2's (2.6) playgroups are at the bottom of the hill, so by the time she has walked there and spent 2 hours running around there is no way she can walk a mile back up a steep hill.
DD1 is still riding on the back of the buggy now.
If we are going to the park or seomthing then she walks, but not if she is not going to be able to make it home!

DD is almost 4 and still needing her buggy. My mum gave me all sorts of crap about she was too big, and she should be walking when she saw me packing the buggy for the holiday. She shut up when DD had an "I cant walk any further" meltdown on the first day, got in the buggy and was sound asleep within a minute. Poor love was knackered. Even my DS who is 5.5 will hitch a lift on the back if its been a long walk and he's tired.

Many thanks the poor little one is 110 cms and only 2.8yrs so people frequently make judgements baout his ability to speak/ eat/drink and walk.

He loves his scooter but again, gets tired on the way home.

I think a McClaren of some sort will have to suffice.

My DS is 3.5 and still needs one occasionally. I was in two minds about taking a buggy for him on holiday last week, but thank god we did as he fell asleep in it several times.

I think it totally depends on the child and your situation, so the advice to do what feels best is probably sound (as usual).

DS genuinely hasn't been in his pushchair since around turning 2. But he's always walked a lot and beyond being a bit whiney and distracted when tired he manages OK. I also think that because we often used a sling or backpack with him up until he was 2 and a quarter he wasn't that attached to the buggy IYSWIM?

Personally I was delighted to get the damn thing packed away, because we haven't got room for it, but I can see that I'd feel very differently if DS hadn't been the way he was.

Your son is walking really well. I kept the buggy til about three, but I'd only use it after the age of twoish if it was going to be a long walk or if we were doing shopping or if we were in a rush. Even then I'd tend to just bring it and encourage walking until they were tired. I am a meanie though as my response to requests for carrys was 'buggy or walk' .

We use the buggy for shopping - so I've every intention of keeping DC4's buggy until she's at least 4. She often doesn't use it, but I can fit a week's shop in it (particulary if I chuck her out, and make her walk).