Stroller refusal will come....

This is my situation and question for those of you with 2 one year olds who are walking (and running) and at times hate the stroller..... my son is walking, my daughter is not yet but I know it is coming soon. They both ride in the stroller happily, although I see my son losing interest a bit now. I have read from many posts that kids often stop wanting to ride in the stroller/get back in after going to the park/store, etc. once they start to walk b/c they want to explore for themselves.

What routine/system to you have in place for stroller etiquette/rules- do you let them walk holding the stroller? Only let them out if...., Tricks for getting them back in the stroller? I feel like this is a new phase so I want to start out as best I can with a routine that I think will last for a bit. I appreciate any advice, experience, etc.

 

Mine haven't hit this phase and I hope they don't. They still go in the stroller willingly most of the time. If they get fussy, they only cry or whine for a few minutes before realizing I'm not letting them out!

 

I basically don't let mine out. They went through a period where they didn't love it between 12 and 18 months, but I just plowed through it. I don't ever let them out at stores, etc. I occasionally let them out to walk some at the zoo or acquarium, and if we go on a walk, I will sometimes let them out the last 100 feet or so. Otherwise, it's not a choice for them, so now they don't clamor to get out. I just can't imagine the horror of trying to get through Target with them free! :shok:

 

Mine didn't know until they were almost 3 that there was an option to be out of the stroller when we were in the mall. Since they didn't know there was an option, they pretty much never fought it. As they grew closer to 3, and were listening better, we started taking walks in the neighborhood without the stroller, but had a rule of "grabbing distance", in other words, they weren't allowed to go out of my reach. Once they were good at walking in the neighborhood, we then ventured out to stores without the stroller.

 

I used to take them shopping during snack time and let them eat snack cups of Cheerios while we shopped. This worked OK for a short trip so I'd go as quickly as possible and brush past the twin gawkers. I'll never forget Trent being DONE one day and standing up in spite of the 5-point restraint losing his pants and diaper in the process. There I was in the middle of the aisle in WalMart putting a half-naked toddler back into his britches...

I almost got rid of the stroller after they'd refused it for so long but now I'm glad I didn't. The phase was just a phase (albeit a long one) and now they'll willingly get in a stroller when they get tired of walking and we take it along for longer walking outings like a day at the zoo.

ETA: I quit using it when they were half-hanging out of it moments after strapping in and they'd scream THE WHOLE TIME. They were 2. It's not fun taking a pair of 2YOs on a strollerless outing when they have no fear of anything yet and we went out a lot less often for a time. It always makes me smile when I read of accounts of moms who simply didn't offer getting out as an option... it doesn't really work the same when they can let themselves out.

 

Actually, most of the time mine weren't even strapped in, and could have easily gotten out had they wanted to. But it never occurred to them that they could get out--really. They just knew that mall=stroller.

 

What has helped me out a lot is letting them get in and out by themselves. This only works with my jogging stroller since it has an area for them to climb up on. I will let them out of the car and they will walk right to it and climb in. Same goes when we are getting back into the car. I was at a little zoo and few weeks back with my brother and sil. It was a rainy day so not many people were there. We were able to go into buildings and let them run around and as soon as I said it was time to leave, the both climbed right back in.

 

I do the same. Right now, they just don't get the option. Mine also have not yet figured out how they can get out of the stroller and I am hoping they don't for a while!

 

I WOULD LOVE TO KEEP THEM BOTH IN, but sometimes I have to take one out because dd is usually grabbing/pulling ds hair (I even
saw some of his hair on her hand, she pulls hard!!)
any suggestions?? (besides offereing them food)

 

Do you have a tandem stroller or a side by side. If you have a tandem, put dd in front, and then she can't pull his hair. I never had a side by side, so I don't know what I would have done. The other thing, is which one is coming out, if dd is pulling ds' hair, than he should be the one that comes out, not her.

 

We had to take DS out at the zoo once because DD bit him repeatedly. We keep a selection of books, toys, snack cups, sippies, etc. in the diaper bag on the stroller so we can switch out as needed. In a fighting situation, I would take out the innocent child, while making the offender stay in the stroller. The hope being that the offending child learns that it is not fun to be mean. Although, in the case of my DD, she grinned like an evil genius and kicked back to enjoy having the stroller to herself.

We also still have our tandem stroller, so we switch it up sometimes and use it to deal with those types of issues.

 

We have the baby jogger city mini double and the kids are 'separated' even if they are side by side. So at least I don't have to deal with biting/hitting etc.
But yeah... they stay in the stroller most of the time. The few times we've let them out at the zoo etc they were NOT happy to go back in, but if I gave them a cup/snack just after it was ok (I typically don't give them snacks when we go out). In my case DD still can't really walk outside and gets mad if DS is out alone so I really don't want them to get out too much anyway.

I absolutely have to strap them in though, or they're out.

 

This is how it has always been for us also.

When I say I didn't let them out I mean if they climbed out anyway there were disciplined. It's rough a few times but in the long run saves my sanity!!

 

Some kids never refuse the stroller, or only very occasionally. Mine are almost 4 and they still ride in it willingly. We've always gone for long walks on the weekends and they are not given a choice about it. I'm sure that if they really hated the stroller, we would have given this habit up at least a year ago, but so far, it works.

As far as letting themselves out -- Amy can, but Sarah still can't. The buckles on our MB are really hard to open! She can get her arms out, so if she were really, really trying, I suppose she could wiggle her body upwards and out of the stroller, but we have disciplined them the few times they tried it, and they gave up. I'm sure it depends on the child though, whether that works.

 

When mine started trying to climb out of the stroller I got a 5 point harness stroller. Really, not until they were like 2.5-3, did I feel okay just letting them walk with me in the store. It's too hard to keep track of them both so it needed to wait until they would listen to me.

 

My two aren't allowed out either unless they have their harnesses (monkey backpacks) and are holding my hand. And yeah, they can get out themselves but they know better. :girl_devil: