Thread: Walk ya fatty!

Make your 3-year-old walk, says minister - Telegraph

In the new state of motherhood, I have seen some truly tremendous scenes. But is it each to their own or does the minister have a point? Or is this is same advice that says "don't wean before six months" yet the ready-made baby scran all says "4 months +"?

Rosebud will be out of her pram shortly after her first steps... Her daddy has his eyes on it for a building project

I have to say with Big Tree he was in a buggy much longer than I will ever allow Toddler Tree to be. When Big reached his walking stage I was living with my mum and dad. I don't drive and nor do any of them so everywhere was on foot or by bus. Lazy I know but it was a hell of a lot easier to put him in his buggy and take him anywhere I wanted to go. Because of that he hated walking and up to and past the age of 5 he moaned if something was more than a five minute walk and yes I do take full responsibility for that.

Toddler tree is not allowed the luxury of laziness (and actually he doesn't want it either possibly because he sees his big brother walking and wants to be the same). He's been walking since the age of 10 months and is 20 months now. He can already pretty much make the ten minute walk to the school.
However I do tend to put him in his buggy for the school run even though i know he could walk it. Not because I'm worried about being late (I'd just leave earlier) but because like this morning when I let him walk home someone with bad timekeeping and worse manners barged right into him and whacked him round the head with her handbag in her rush to get her by now late children into school. And she's not the only person who gets frustrated being stuck behind slow moving toddlers. So whilst I do try to let him walk as much as possible most of my journeys are done at 'peak times' and its often not safe for him to be on foot.

Luckily he's a big solid lad (not fat his trousers slide off his waist, he's broad shouldered and tall like his daddy) so by the time he's 3 i reckon he'll more than be able to hold his own against these rude school run mums. It's just a shame i can't let him walk as much as he would like to.

Also on the subject of kids walking never mind 3 year olds there are lots of 6 yr olds who are driven (my neighbours child being one of them!) the ten minute walk to the local school! I kid you not it takes longer to start your engine drive and find a parking space than it does to put your shoes on and walk your lazy arse there!!!

Oh ST, don't get me started on the school run...

My 20 mth old walks everywhere except to school in the mornings because I work at the school currently and I cannot face leaving earlier than 0640 to get there ontime.

I don't drive so me and my kids walk everywhere, rain or shine.

My youngest did get the added bonus of sometimes being rammed into his buggy purely so I could get more shopping and the buggy was useful for that.

My sister drives everywhere, and my nephew had a look of horror on his face when he came shopping with me one week and found out I walked to the shopping centre which takes about 40 minutes by foot.

Its not always laziness that people take their kids in the pushchairs but ease and speed.

As for the school run- it makes my blood boil, cars mounting pavements to rush their kids into school etc. It got so bad at our school that for a few months there was a Community Officer there to protect the kids and the Crossing lady after one Mum TRIED to run her over for asking her not to park near the entrance for school.

I've never been very fond of buggies. Vile things that take up half the house, are a menace in shops, take up most of the boot etc. I exiled my quinny to the attic the first chance I got (Little Miss was 6 months old) and invested in an ergo (soft back carrier). This was a godsend through the winter months in Germany when you couldn't push a buggy through the snow without arms like Jean Claude van Damme.
I think it was the best thing I ever did actually. Now (at 2 and a half) she's pretty heavy to carry so I only do so when she's really tired - exept she's nails - she walks everywhere with my dogs, through town, etc, she's hardy as anything and she loves walking about.
Sure we have to stop occasioanlly when she spots a particularly attractive leaf / pebble / pinecone. My mum thought I needed a lightweight fold up pushchair and (being my somewhat pushy mum) went out and bought one for me. I've used it twice, I hate it, little miss hates it, we can't talk to each other, we can't point things out - I don't even know if she's awake or alseep!

Yep, I'm definately in the anti-buggy group. I'm sure there are plenty of occasions where buggys are a godsend for people, but they don't happen to work for us. Addtionally I honestly think some people over-use them as an excuse not to have to look after their little ones when they are out and about.

Originally Posted by EnigmaRole

As for the school run- it makes my blood boil, cars mounting pavements to rush their kids into school etc. It got so bad at our school that for a few months there was a Community Officer there to protect the kids and the Crossing lady after one Mum TRIED to run her over for asking her not to park near the entrance for school.

DDs school is very similar - there's not a lot of parking available so people double park, park on the yellow lines and park on the pavement(!) rather than round the corner or in the next street cos they might actually have to walk somewhere *gasp*. They will even pull up in the middle of the road and let their kids out to run into the gate rather than finding a parking spot. The school have had to get the police to monitor the situation which is disgusting - there are many more things that the police in Leeds need to be doing.

We live 1.5 miles from school (I know this cos OH used to run it as practice for Raleigh) and when the weather is dry I will pop DS into the buggy (can't do it in the wet as DS refuses to have a raincover on) and toddle down to get DD. She used to be horrified by this as when I was working, every trip was done by car due to time constraints. I still don't make her walk to school but she now enjoys walking back as it usually involves a trip to the shop and we can have a chat about her day which is difficult when I'm driving.

For short trips, or if we need to pop into town, DS will walk. It's actually quite hard to get him to sit in his buggy as he's an independent little b*gger at 2 and a half. It means we have to allow a bit more time to get where we need to go and I have to be on constant alert as he refuses to wear reins (he can unclip them) but he moans a lot less and the whole trip tends to be a lot more pleasant. It would be nice if other people would be a bit more aware of their surroundings though - if he's walking along holding my hand nicely, I do not expect some moron to crash into him.

Originally Posted by Special_Tree

Also on the subject of kids walking never mind 3 year olds there are lots of 6 yr olds who are driven (my neighbours child being one of them!) the ten minute walk to the local school! I kid you not it takes longer to start your engine drive and find a parking space than it does to put your shoes on and walk your lazy arse there!!!

Our patch backs on to a school, and I see all these mums drive and park on our road, get their kids out of the car and their scooters, then walk through the alley to the school as if they've walked the whole way! How deceptive!

Is it awful to say that when I am walking home laden with shopping that I really miss my old McLaren buggy for stuffing everything under and hanging off the handles......

TLC x

My youngest has just turned 2 and walks everywhere. When she was born, the eldest was just 2 - I didn't bother with a double buggy or anything like that, she was made to walk. I had a buggy board on the back for when she got tired, and that was it. (and she could even fall asleep standing on it!)
Now that she's 4, she moans like hell if we walk anywhere, its really frustrating. We take the buggy out with us in case the littlest needs it and the eldest ends up in there the whole time!!
However, neither of my children are fat or anywhere close to it, and they get plenty of exercise otherwise.