Anyone get by without a pushchair?

[dorisbonkers]

Just wondering. My baby is coming up to 1 year and people keep asking me when I am going to buy a pushchair, or joking that I'll have to buy one now.

I never got one as I was in Asia but planning to move back to the UK so didn't want to buy something expensive only to spend on transporting it back.

So I've used Moby, then gauze wraps, then a woven Girasol, then an Ergo and just wonder when my slinging days are over? Oh, my baby is light at around 8 kg so I reckon I have more time left.

I often wondered whether I could have got by without one and wish I'd hadn't bought an expensive one as spent £550 on one we haven't used more than a few times (dd is 2 1/2)!

DD's attitude to pushchairs only changed quite recently but by age 2 she suddenly liked going in it and I stopped carrying her gradually. I do find it useful for going long distances and for keeping dd safe on London's pavements but I'm sure not using one encourages a child to be more active!

You seem to have a great choice of sling as I used an Ergo and found it the best with dd's increasing weight and sounds as if you can keep going for quite a while.

Ah, the Ergo is great, you know when something is just Fit For Purpose. I bought it mainly because my husband couldn't get the hang of wraps (I think a man's triangular body shape doesn't help) and he wanted to take her for long walks to get her to nap.

But I started using it more as it wasn't as hot on long shopping trips and also has that useful zip compartment. Something a german woven doesn't have.

I really recommend Ergos, though a friend of mine prefers mei tais.

DD2 will be a year old in 2 weeks time and has never been in a pushchair except when her nursery has taken her to the park and local shopping centre for an outing.

I also spent 3 months in the Middle East with her and dd1 (3yo) in tow. No pushchair. It was very liberating to get around the airport without the buggy.

DD2 is also around 8kg. She is a v good walker for her age. I wrap her on my back sometimes but she is still fine in a FWCC.

We have a pushchair from dd1's days but if I were you I'd wait and see when you get to the UK. The most you may need to buy is a basic McLaren which new would cost about 80 quid and on ebay much cheaper. Because I have to drive most places, the sling and car do the job.

I would get a maclaren truimph or similar - sturdy with no frills. I have a 3yo and a 1yo and I often use pushchairs for their safety. For example - in a shopping centre a 1yo will most likely pull stuff off shelves and there can also be people in motorised chairs which are a bit of a hazard to 1yo with not much sense of danger. Sometimes it's not about whether they can walk, but whether they can walk safely.

Plus pushchairs can carry a few bits and pieces to save you doing it.

It depends on your lifestyle.

We don't have a car, and I use the sling a few times a week (also an ergo!), and I also use a pushchair a few times a week, because I walk everywhere. The pushchair is particularly good for dumping all the shopping in.

I had very bad mastitis a few months ago, but I still needed to pick up my children, and I was so grateful for the pushchair because using the sling was too painful.

I've got a second hand tiny Mclaren buggy that folds up very lightly, and I've found that great. I also have a double buggy because I had children very close in age.

My DS is 3.3, and I haven't had a pushchair for 6 months, and he hadn't been in one at all in the year before that, and only occasionally before that.

I carry him in a MT or hybrid MT, and at 19.5 kg, he's no lightweight. But he can't manage a full day out without being carried for some of it, and still naps, so likes to sleep on one of us

I still carry dd often (at 2.9 and about 13kg) but as i have 2dcs I do use a pushchair for one of them - on the rare occasions I go out with just one I don't take a pushchair.

I've got a cheap Mamu pushchair from Argos which I find brilliant. It cost £29 and DS (11 months) finds it perfectly comfortable, and it should last a fair while. So if you're not sure, don't think you have to potentially waste £100 or more. It could be handy for odd occasions, and it folds up very small so easy to store out of the way.

I used a pram with my DD maybe two/three times, the rest of the time it gathered dust
in the spare room.

I was on buses for travelling and my DD was/is a high needs baby and wanted carrying all the time. I ironed, hoovered and cooked with her asleeep on my back in a sling.

When my big chunky DS was about three weeks old and I was rescovering from a Csection we bought a double buggy and though toddler DD usually walks I love my Phil & Ted Vibe.

That said I still have a sling in the bottom of the pram and back of the car and often carry DS for short journeys.

Short answer yes, you can do without a pram.

Only used one a handful of times (in single figures, anyway) with DS. Didn't use one at all with DD until she turned a year, but do use one every so often now and it has been useful. But I could easily have managed without.

I have got by without a pushchair ever since I got my first sling when DD was 3 months. She is now 2.10, approx 34lbs, and we have never missed one. We have a very active lifestyle, no car, and she was a late walker (17 months) Had I had another DC I might have gotten one. I hope that helps!

dd is 2 and we use a pushchair now - we're normally out when she naps and I just can't be doing with carrying 2stone of sleeping toddler around for 2+ hours a day anymore.
but we didn't get the pushchair until she was 1yr10m and only recently started using it more, still use the sling if the outing isn't going to coincide with a nap.