How do you bring two kids for a walk? - Page 2

[RunAround]

I just skimmed the other replies, so my apologies if I repeat anything.

My kids are 22 months apart, so this topic is near and dear. I found that 23 months is a bit to young to expect much hand holding. At this age, I would either take them in our double stroller, wear the younger child on my back, or have the little kid ride in a single stroller while the big kid helped me push. For me, it works best to err on the side of cautious. I give my boys plenty of opportunities to exercise their safety and listening skills in places where the risks are lower (greenways, park trails, etc.). As they get older, they get more chances to practice walking while holding hands, but it's usually in a safe environment like a store. Walking on busy streets or in parking lots, I'm much less generous until they've demonstrated competence in other areas.

Bikes...yikes.

[belle.h]

When walking in the city, I put them in a double jogging stroller. My oldest (3.5) enjoys riding in it. Once in a while she gets out and walks, depends... Once in a while I'll put DD2 in my single stroller and DD1 walks beside me.

[ChampagneBlossom]

DS and DD are ten months apart. I wear DD on my back in the MT and DS walks. Before that, he would sit in a stroller while she was on my back. Before she was old enough to be on my back (about 4 months old) we uh, didn't walk. We lived in a very bad neighborhood though, to be fair, so it never really was an issue until we moved here which is more walking friendly.

The other day I took DS and his friend (3 years old) to the park. I held each one's hand. Except when the 3 y.o. begged me to carry him (he was a heavy one and I needed both hands) and then I got DS to hold on to my pant leg. That's a trick we learned out of necessity in parking lots. While I put DD in the car and buckle her in I can't have him running off, so I make him either sit on the ground by my feet or hold on to my leg. He's got the attention span of a butterfly but even he learned to do this, although I have to chirp at him constantly to "hold my leg... yup hold my leg please... keep holding on..." every five seconds.

I digress.

[nolansmummy]

Your kids are about the same age as my two. I don't take them both for walks by myself very often. If possible, I bring along dh and we stick them each in a stroller. If we go to the park by ourselves, we are lucky it is sidewalks the whole way and we live in a pretty slow/not busy neighborhood. Dd goes in the stroller, ds runs or walks the whole way.
Would a double stroller be an option? Or carrying your toddler (in a wrap or something) maybe a harness if you aren't opposed , at least those are some options that you could use while teaching them the rules.

[hippiemum21580]

Well, I have 5 kids ages 8,5,3, 18 months and 2 months. We live on Main Street with no yard and have to do a ten minute walk down the street to the park for outdoor play. Oh, and I am a single mum so am vastly outnumbered! LOL What I do is carry the littlest in a slingand put my toddler in a stroller. Or I use my double stroller for both of them. I do not allow my kids to walk on a busy street like this till age 3 unless holding my hand cuz they are still impulsive as toddlers! Better to be paranoid and super safe than regret it! With my older three I played alot of red light green light indoors and at the park till they got that concept. When we are out they are allowed to goa bit ahead of me on the sidewalks but the minute I say "red light!" they MUST freeze or they hav eto hold my hand for a bit. I allow them to rejoin the "game" after a couple minutes but they go back to my hand again if they don't listen. Eventually they do get it. I also try to occupy them as we walk. "Lets look for a yellow flower, lets find something blue, how many red cars can we count, etc..." Oh, and as for crossing teh street, they MUST MUST MUST hold hands and cross all together. This does mean at times one of my stubborn kids will REFUSE to hold hands and YES we have stood there at teh curb for almost 10 minutes waiting till they will hold hands but I would rather look like a fool on the curb than have one NOT hold hands and get hit by a car.If I can do it with 5 boys on Main Street it CAN be done, but it takes time. Practice makes perfect!

[jane-t-mommy]

We live on a long street that doesn't have sidewalks, and sometimes cars really zoom down. But it is a wide street. When my son was still in a carrier and my daughter was about 4, we made up a game. She could walk/run/skip ahead to the next driveway and wait for me. Then I would describe what the driveway was: river, mountain, forest, etc. and she would make her way across it accordingly. We practiced where she could stop to be safe from any backing up cars and she was so caught up in her game I knew she would wait for me to play before she crossed. My dd is also very obliging, so her temperment fit this and we were comfortable.

Once her brother was afoot, life changed a bit, but he mostly follows his sisters lead, so I'm lucky she's so obliging! Now when we go for walks or more likely, bike rides, I bring a whistle and they know that if they hear it, to freeze. We practiced this a lot at home and at non busy times. I've stressed that if they want to go out for walks, we all need to follow the rules. I feel very comfortable taking them many places on foot and on bike.

[the_lissa]

I bring my double jogging stroller, and they take turns riding in it when they get tired or if they won't listen or hold my hand.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by hippiemum21580

I do not allow my kids to walk on a busy street like this till age 3 unless holding my hand cuz they are still impulsive as toddlers!

Or older. DS2 is 3.5, and he's still not allowed to walk without holding my hand if there's any traffic at all. DS1 and dd both had more impulse control (not that it was much) at 2 than he does now.