Older kids and strollers

What are your thoughts on this?

WE went to RF today and saw at least 3 kids, all above the age of 6 being pushed around in umbrealla strollers. I told DH there is no way we are doing that when DD is older.

At what age should kids not be pushed in strollers?

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By the time they go to kindegarten.

Then again- I don't have children so I don't know how difficult it could be.

It bothers me more when I see older kids walking around with pacifiers.

I once saw a child take the thing out of her mouth long enough to ask mom for a piece of gum, she then put it back in until mom handed her the gum, then traded it out.

If your kid is old enough to chew gum, she's old enough to lose the pacifier.

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LOL. Speaking of pacifiers, I think I was in highschool when there was this crazy fad where teens walked around wearing pacifiers around their neck. Anyone remember that?

I don't have kids either, but I think probably around age 3 or 4 is normal to give up the stroller.

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I wouldn't expect, nor do I think it's wise for a 3 or 4 year old to be running around a mall. but at 7??? come on. walk already.

and I really hate the older kids and the pacifiers too. after about 1.5 to 2, it's really not cute.

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not to hijack, but DH and I went out to dinner yesterday and a family got seated across from us. they had a few kids and one of them was carrying and drinking from his sippie cup. he looked to be about 6 or 7 yrs old. and he was the youngest, so it's not like he could have been using a younger sibling’s cup. I found that very odd.

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When I see older kids, 7 or 8 with sippy cups and pacifiers, I think it's the parents just not wanting to argue with the kids over it.

but that's got to be a hard habit to break.

I think it goes along with the stroller topic.

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Interesting!! Thanks for sharing.

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by the time they're 5, if not earlier. it may depend on where you're going, like i wouldn't expect a 5 year old to talk for 8 hours straight.... but most of the time, these kids really need to be out and walking....

oh and without the dog leash i've seen recently...RIDICULOUS!

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It bothers me when I see bigger kids in strollers. I try not to pass judgement because if a child has autism or similar, then I can understand the need for it. If the kid wants to be in the stroller and is perfectly healthy, then I think it's a problem. There are so many overweight kids these days and allowing them to be pushed when they can walk does not help.

When DD is old enough she will be walking. However, I'm not opposed to those backpack things with the long tails (I hate to call them leashes) when we're at the mall/store because I am anxious about her running off.

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Not that I could tell just by looking, but to me they seemed like perfectly healthy kids.

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OMG, I was at the field today too, and was shocked when a woman got on the elevator with her daughter who had to be atleast 5 or 6 and she was a TALL kid in a stroller, knees all scrunched up because she didn't fit in it, and the girl had a pacifier in her mouth. I was a little shocked at that. Here I am with my 3 month old with a pacifier and this 5 or 6 year old gets on with one, and she took it out to talk to her mom about what they were going to eat in the food court and put it back in. I just thought that was very strange.

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Did you personally know these children to know their ages or did you make assumptions?

Some children are at or beyond the high percentiles for their ages. A very tall three-year-old can easily look like a five-year-old.

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I think it depends. I believe most of my siblings were out of strollers around 4, but if we were lets say on vacation at Disney, my parents would still bring the stroller even if they were older.

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While I want to say that there is a cut off for children and strollers..as a Mom of 6 I simply cant...There simply may be circumstances that you're not aware of.

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I don't personally know any 6 year olds who would let themselves be put in or seen in a stroller. My son is 5 1/2 and there is no way I would ever do it but I cannot for the life of me imagine him even asking to use one. No way! I cannot imagine his classmates in one either so I do wonder if maybe the kids you saw were younger than they looked.

He was out of a stroller by 3, maybe earlier. My DD is 3 1/2 and I just realized she's pretty much done too. Maybe for a Disney trip or the Zoo but not for everyday stuff. Plus most strollers have a weight limit. 40 or 45 lbs...

Of course I'm not saying it's impossible that there are 6 or 7 yr olds in strollers, it takes all kinds of people to make up this freaky world but I've never seen it. I too would have been thinking it was odd.

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When I taught kindergarten, one of my students used to get in a stroller at the end of the day when his mom came to pick him up. The other kids didn't make fun of him to his face, but they thought it was weird. I overheard them talking to each other about it - things like, "I thought only babies go in a stroller."

My guess is that it was a long walk back to their house, and the stroller made it easier for the mother. But it makes you think about the social ramifications, even at such a young age.

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I look twice if the kid is any older than four years old.

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I see this a lot alsok, however I often notice that upon closer inspection, the child in question is often mildly disabled.

I also think 4 is probably a good cut off...but it depends on the child!!!

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My kids want no part of the stroller at 4 & 6. And I have no interest in pushing them around in a stroller either!!!

Having said that.. I once got taken to task by a woman because my son was in diapers. She gave me a nice little lecture on how I need to potty train my son because it is disgusting to see a big boy running around in diapers. I had to explain to her that my big boy was just tall for his age and spoke very well - but that he was only 18 months old.

So while for ME I don't want my kids in strollers at this point - I refuse to judge other people for their parenting choices. You can't tell the age of a kid by their size - and you often can't tell if a child has problems walking any kind of distance by how 'normal' they look.

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I'm guessing around 4 is when kids stop using a stroller completely unless you are in Disney or somewhere there is a ton of walking, you never know how tired a child can get...

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maybe it's the parents who put these older kids into strollers b/c they don't feel like running all over the mall chasing after their kids. just a thought

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The kids I saw all looked older then 6, again "Looked." Their knees were up to their chests. I could not tell from looking, but they all seemed to be healthy kids. IF they were disabled, I take back what I said, but it seems like they were just looking to be pushed around all day.