I can't imagine considering a preschooler "lazy." Maybe the parents have tons they need to get done on foot and the kids are tired. Is there a reason it bothers you? Sure as heck beats lugging a giant 4 year old around on one's back along with all of the groceries and errands and so forth.

 

I've been noticing that a lot lately too, even with kids who look like they're 7 - 8 years old. Most of the time they're with a younger (stroller aged) sibling that's being carried. My guess is the older kid gets a little jealous and takes a turn in the stroller now and then.

 

3 and 4 year olds are fast and hard to corral. Some more than others. My daughter is usually walking, or sometimes riding on my back, but in many situations a stroller is the most convenient and practical option.

 

Sometimes my almost 4 year old rides. Not usually at the mall or any place like that, though. (I try not to stay at the mall long enough to "need" one!). It's more likley at the zoo or if she gets tired on a long walk. We have a double stroller and sometimes my 18 month old rides (if it's a short walk and doesn't seem worth getting him on my back in the Ergo) and sometimes she'll want to hop in, too. I would also say. . .she's not the most graceful child, so if she's having a snack or a drink and we want to keep moving, I'd prefer to have her riding. She takes a lot of falls, so I want all her focus on walking. She walks and runs plenty, so ocaisionally wanting to ride isn't a big deal for me. I figure that i would probably still be wearing her sometimes if I didn't have my 18 month old (he gets priority mom riding time), so letting her ride doesn't seem much different to me.

 

you never know. we live in the city and have no car. my now 4 year old daughter goes to preschool and it's a 20 minute walk. while she can walk to school easily, she is often tired after a day at school, especially if we go to the playground afterwards.

early in my pregnancy with #2 i fell while carrying my then 3.5 year old on my back. though she wasn't hurt (i fell forward) and i was barely hurt (scraped knees) she got freaked and didn't want me carrying her any more. she started riding her scooter to school so that i could pull her home on it if she was tired, but when it got snowy, i pulled out the old stroller she hasn't used for 2 years and we used that for a few weeks.

we don't have a mall nearby, but if we were to have to go there after school some day, especially when i was pregnant or now that i'm carrying my newborn i can imagine that a stroller would be one of our options. i don't have a stroller fit for a newborn so i couldn't carry the 4 year old and push the newborn - it'd have to be the other way around.

I don't think my daughter is lazy. she can easily walk for ages and ages. but i don't think it's right for me to force her to walk when she's genuinely tired - especially if we were to be at the mall running what i assume to be my errands, not hers.

 

My 4 year old usually walks, but she has little legs so I let her ride sometimes. generally when we walk to her brother's bus stop. She wouldn't be up for more than 10 minutes in it though! My toddler will not go in a stroller. Bloody Murder! She recently has been saying all done back pack when I grab the ergo. The girls wants to run!

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElliesMomma they all look like healthy kids who can walk.

I'd also like to ask you to rethink your perspective on this. I didn't mention it in my previous post, but I also have a 6 year old who you might sometimes find me pushing. He has problems with sensory integration, but from looking at him, you likely would know he had any issues (unless you saw him in the middle of a sensory overload meltdown, in which case you might think he was a brat and I was a bad mom

). Anyhow, sometimes riding is a calming force for him, just like wearing him was when he was younger. All special needs aren't visible ones.

 

My 3 yo walks very slow, and then tends to wander because she is curious about everything.. If I have lots of time, then she'll walk with me. But if I'm in a hurry I'll put her in a stroller. I sometimes don't have an hour to walk around with her when I need to be in and out somewhere fast.

 

Maybe sometimes there really are good reasons for these things, perhaps it would be nice to hold back on the judgments.....

My just turned 6 yo likes to be in the stroller sometimes. I wore him exclusively until he was past 2, though he often walked for several km a day. Then his eating issues started and he became malnourished and weak. He also has low muscle tone and gross motor delays. Plus he is ASD and gets overstimulated by some situations and it exhausts him.

He is healthy and active and plays outside from dawn till dusk if he can. But often when we are out he is "too tired" to walk and needs to take a break. It works out well to take the stroller so he can do that if he needs to. My other 2 kids take turns too.

So no, we aren't trying to keep them contained and they certainly aren't lazy. But the oldest has a legitimate need to be in the stroller sometimes, the youngest is still too young to keep up and she gets tired of walking, and the middle child just likes to take a turn cause everyone else gets one.

 

I imagine I am much more likely to use a stroller when my child is 4 or 5 than now. Now, if he gets tired or cranky, I can carry/wear him. A 4-5 year old... not so much.

 

Why is this in babywearing, anyway?

 

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Originally Posted by Daisie125 I imagine I am much more likely to use a stroller when my child is 4 or 5 than now. Now, if he gets tired or cranky, I can carry/wear him. A 4-5 year old... not so much.

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I walk nearly everywhere. Sometimes we go MILES. My dd rides in the stroller and also walks. My stroller holds my groceries.

 

My 3 yo LOVES to ride in the stroller. we have MBUS and it can hold 77 lbs so he can ride for a long while yet. He's a cancer survivor and is still recovering from treatment. Even if he weren't though, I'd still let him ride. I don't drive, and we walk everywhere. There is no way his little legs could walk as far as we do every day, as quickly as I like to go. It's laso nice to have the large backet to store our shopping or whatever. My 1yo is in the sling en route, but when we reach our destination my big boy often wants to walk, and then the baby can ride in the stroller. I'm not forcing anyone to sit there, it's always their choice and they do get the option to walk, ride or be worn.

 

My 4 year old walks half the time we run errands and spends the other half in a stroller or cart when she either gets tired or rambunctious and needs to be contained with a snack. At 40 lbs, I could never carry her.

 

I loved putting my daughter in a stroller. It wasn't that she was lazy. It was more that *I* was lazy. If I was in the mall, I usually had someplace to be, and a little time to get there. So, I could get there faster if she was on wheels. She also had/has a tendancy to walk in people's way a lot. She never seemed to notice that there were other people in the mall besides us.

Also, we were usually there after dinner. So, her tolerance level was not as high as it would have been at say, three p.m.

 

I can understand why people who walk really far push big kids in strollers, I guess. I pull my kids in a wagon when we go on walks/to the zoo. But really, I expect my 4 yr. old to be able to walk as much as I can, since he's healthy and I have a bad back (scoliosis, chronic pain). We need breaks about equally often and never walk more than a mile or two. We drive, bike, or ride the bus if we have to do more walking than either of us can manage. BUT if I had a good strong back, I imagine I'd be able to walk much further than he could.

 

I've been told many many times that my 2y/o looks like a 4y/o. I know that's not quite what you were saying but...what if they AREN'T that old?

at any rate I think I'll probably be using the stroller for quite awhile at the mall. my ds I believe has sensory issues and he is always running away. so yes stroller=containment. call me a bad mother for not wanting my ds to run away and get snatched.

 

This post really suprised me. Whats wrong with strollers again???

I put my DD where ever it works for us. If I can wear her, I will, if I have a lot of walking to do, or bags to carry, I will bring the "heavy duty" stroller. Generally I just keep an umbrella stroller in my DH's trunk, and we go with how we and DD feel when we get where we're going.

I would rather "contain" my DD one way or another in a busy mall than have someone step on her. I don't mind her walking somewhere that there is room, but I can barely keep my 12 yr old from bumping into people when we walk together in a very crowded place like our mall is.

You can call it lazy. I call it practical.

 

I'd like to add that I don't consider a three or four-year-old a "big kid."
I'm surprised that anyone would.

 

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perplexed why this is an issue ?

My 4 1/2 year old sometimes rides in a stroller. Sometimes because she wants to; she thinks it's fun. Sometimes because we have a bit less time on a particular day. She doesn't ride all that often, but I can't imagine feeling this is a bad thing if she wants to.

She gets plenty of exercise and we take lots of opportunities for exploratory walks.

OH, and completely agree with the PP who expressed surprise that anyone would consider a 3 or 4 year old a "big kid", or that the only reasons that a stroller would be used would be for containment or laziness. I just don't get that.

 

Moved to Parenting Issues

 

My healthy 3 year old loves to walk...but gets tired by the time (usually) that we turn around and go home. She's way to heavy for me to carry.

She also has a sister a year younger who tires more quickly so when the younger one is in the stroller the other one wants to be too. With #3 on the way, I've anticipated that all three will want rides together occasionally - especially on long walks or outing to the zoo. We now have an attachment so that the stroller can hold all three if needed (though I plan on wearing the baby as much as possible too - we'll see how quickly I tire in the summer heat!)

 

my 4 year old will still sometimes ride in the stroller. she gets fatigued easily (low muscle tone) and once she's done, she's DONE. i used to wonder about *big* kids in strollers too, but you really never know what's going on in a situation.

 

My 5 yo ds loves the stroller. It is very comforting to him to know he has a place where he can rest and relax. He is a very active child who hates to walk and needs naps/downtime in the afternoon. Frequently, I would take the stroller someplace for the sole purpose of getting home w/o having to carry a tired, cranky, 45 lb child for a mile or two.

It has been very annoying because for the past two or three years, I have gotten a comment "he should be pushing YOU" almost everytime we've gone out. We walk for ME to get exercise. Believe me, ds gets plenty! And it's nice to be able to walk at my own pace as well.

 

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Originally Posted by ElliesMomma just a quick question: we've been to the mall a few times recently, and i keep seeing kids 3-4 years old or more being pushed around in strollers. they all look like healthy kids who can walk. not to be a b*t*h, but what's up with that? is this a way for parents to keep their kids "contained"? are the kids too lazy to walk?

Serious question for you, not being snarky. Would you think twice if the kid was riding in a wagon instead of a stroller?

I ask because a friend of mine says things constantly about a friend of hers who's four year old rides in the stroller. And yet, we both owned wagons for our kids and she didn't seem to think it was the same thing.