WHEN WOULD YOU EXPECT YOUR CHILD TO STOP USING A BUGGY???????

[drosophila]

I'm in a quandary. DD is 2.5 and her buggy has died. I have a bad back so need something light and easy to push. I have been looking at 3 wheelers as there is less rolling resistance but everywhere I look it suggest suitable for up to 3 yrs old.

DD is going to a Nursery that is 20 mins walk away for an adult so I imagine even as a 3.5 yr old she will need a buggy. Am I raving?

oh feck me YES re the naps. Its like some early indication of oxbridge suitability or something.

Anyone who wants their kid to drop their nap, who doesn't have another compelling reason (eg earlier bedtimes or whatever, those are fine and good reasons) but just thinks its a Good Thing is bloody NUTS. Aside from the fact that if they are napping, they do probably need it, WHY would you willingly give up a mid morning hour with the newspaper to do kiddie stuff?

that is the big reason why we still use the buggy for ds to go back from kindergarten. He has been running around for 4 hours straight at this point, plus of course a 3 mile hike there, and he is exhausted. So I am forced to go to starbucks and read the paper while my kids nap...

My DTS are 3.5yo and I have to use the buggy when I am on my own because they play up and I can't carry both.

I tried walking with them to the park behind the house once. One threw himself on the ground and the other tried to run off. Fortunately we had not gone far so I managed to struggle home with two wriggly boys under each arm with bemused onlookers gawking at us.

I always take the double buggy now.

cat64 - I pushed an empty stroller for months as was pregnant and had SPD and there was no way i'd lift ds.

he sat in his stroller until her was 3.5 and I loved it as it meant we could walk miles. now (a year later) he'll do 20 minute walks at a decent pace, but any further than that is tough.

so, to the OP, if I were you I'd get another buggy...but I'd probably buy 2nd hand just in case she suddenly refuses to go in it.

people BOAST about their kids dropping naps?? I could have CRIED when ds1 dropped his at 2yo, sobbed and sobbed!

drosophila, we found ourselves in exactly the same situation as you. We bought a new buggy (mclaren quest). Two weeks later, dd was given a cast-off like-a-bike - one of those bikes without pedals that you scoot along on - she whizzed off over the horizon, and the buggy was never used again...

I'd really recommend a scooter bike as the solution. It's fab: 18 months later she still goes everywhere on it. I also have back problems and was happy to avoid having to trundle a hefty toddler along in a buggy (though sometimes I have to trot to keep up with her!). And from the friends who passed the liky-biky on to us, I know that it will really help her learn to ride a proper bike.

Am I the only person who enjoys walking with their kids? We pootle. We remark on things. We chat and we chill. It is much, much nicer to walk than to push, IMO.

Just to add an alternative to a buggy - a tricycle with a parent handle ... ds used his from just turned 2 until he had his bike - at the start there was more of me pushing until he learned to pedal - then there was no stopping him!

He still moans and complains if he has to walk too far (4.10 now) - but if we take his bike / scooter, he'll go for miles without complaining!

I don't know how many dc's you have MI or their ages - I think 'pootle-ability' is very dependant on the purpose of your trip i.e. if I am going to shops, park, getting a train and meeting my mum then I need a buggy for my dd (16m) and a buggy board for ds (3).

If I am just going to the park or playgroup and only have ds - then we can meander (if we leave in time) - if I am running late then it will be a stressful mix of chivvying/ carrying... that said I won't be using a buggy for ds alone but I can see where it would be preferable.

I can't drive and buggy is essential for shopping etc. I can imagine I will fel a bit bereft when I no longer use one.

If you have two children who work on different speeds, you can't talk to either. Dd races ahead, ds loiters behind.

Sounds just like my two, aloha!

20 mins is a long walk for a 2yo.

But personally I am not a fan of big children in buggies. DS2 is 4 now but I pushed him in the 3-wheeler about once last year (he was 3 in the April). Luckily tho we live in city so we don't have to walk 3-mile distances!

The older 2 rode the buggy board (not an option for DS2!) which alleviated the problem a bit. But I do recall a period when the 3-wheeler (which had the b/board) had a flat and the only option was to push DS2 in pram and make DD walk to playgroup, which via school was a good 20-min walk away, she used to do it OK (with a few strategies - pushing her own buggy, magic dust on the pavement, let's have a race etc).

lol at all the buggy replacements (trikes, buggy boards etc), aimed at making Older Kids Being Pushed somehow more acceptable

MI pootling is not always possible. Pootling is a luxury around here some days.

agree with franny there. pootling is lots of fun, agree. But with 2 kids and Places To Go and food to buy and a MN habit to feed I cannot possibly spend my life pootling.

Am also quite glad my kids are a bit small though.

I got a double buggy when DD was born & DS was 2.2, but the wheels kept breaking & I found it awkward, so I only used it for about 6 months - DS walked everywhere from then on, including to playgroup over a mile and a half away - so he was walking over 3 miles a day at 3. I didn't get a car until DS was 5 and DD was 3, at which point I dumped the buggy, despite her objections.

I have two who sprint ahead (but aren't 100% road-safe) and one 3yo who pootles, toddlerishly and very slowly, even before she stops for a tantrum. We rarely use a buggy for the 3.3yo but sometimes, say for if you want a brisk 3-4 mile walk, it seems the only way. Doing it at toddler speed is just so irritating.

All mine were keener on cycling or scooting at 2-3 than walking, it's been a good way of moving them on a bit faster without using a buggy (I just can't do indefinite pootling, I like to get somewhere).

filly one reason I wanted to get mine out of the buggy is that I hate doubles with a passion and have a 2yr and 22mo gap.

Also wouldn't want to push a 3.5yo either.

Really there are issues with obese children (and wow they were all on hols in Pembrokeshire last week) well it's hardly a surprsie if some of them don't even walk 15 mins to nursery. Cannot believe some of the pre-schoolers (and I mean children who start school in a matter of weeks) I have seen being pushed for a 10 minute walk. Kids can walk a lot further than some of us give them credit.

I don't think we are talkign as a general rule about walking 6 miles a day, I doubt if many adults do that, tho hats off to you for it.

Yes MI, I love to pootle with the kids too. Very underrated pastime IMHO

When I say pootle, I mean 'walk at a reasonable speed' when I think about it. We cover a half mile walk in around 20 minutes or so (DD2 is four, and quite small for her age). I'm not talking crazed distracted potter.

At age 3 ds2 refused to get out of buggy to walk up a hill on the grounds that he 'couldn't walk and eat crisps at the same time'

My friend has a five and four year old who still fight over who goes in the buggy on the school walk!

To be honest I wouldnt recommend a three wheeler if you have a bad back. I had a bad back and found my three wheeler hell - it felt so unstable, it felt like I was wrestling with it half the time to stop it from going on its side - a bit like a robin reliant. If the pavement was sloped to the side it was a nightmare. I got rid of it.

Malory, my dd (two) said yesterday, 'when you are little again mummy, I will push you in the pushchair'! I thought, 'wheelchair more likely'.