Strollers

My twins are nearly 18 months old. I have sold the jeep s/b/s stroller, but have kept the duo glider. How many of you are still using your strollers? At what age did/do you plan to get rid of it? I'm trying to decide if it is something we still need. There is a consignment sale coming up in a couple of months and I am trying to decide if I want to sell it then. What do you think?

 

I invested a lot of time (and money) finding the perfect stroller(s) :blush:, soooo my boys will be riding in them until they exceed the weight limit!

Seriously though, I really envisioned using them until they were 3 or so (or good listeners with regard to safety/following diretions). However, just this week my boys have started protesting being strapped into the stroller, so I may be reselling them sooner than I planned. :huh:

 

Nathan has been out of the stroller since he was 23mos old (when Brandon kicked him out), William followed shortly after. I haven't carried my double stroller for almost a year now. That said I am going to take it to Disney World in Nov and hope they will ride when they get tired.

 

My girls still eagerly use theirs at 3. When I take them out by myself, I usually give them the choice of riding in the shopping cart or the stroller, and 9 times out of 10 they choose the stroller. They are still small (<27 pounds each), so I see us using it until they outgrow it or eventually rebel!

They are getting a lot better at holding hands and all that, so it's not quite as scary to have them "on the loose."

(Of course, with my Duoglider, I can stash my purse and everything in the basket underneath and don't have to lug a ton of stuff when we go out! I definitely prefer that!)

 

My boys still ride in a stroller occasionally at 3. Like today when we went to Great America. The amusement park is too big for them to walk all over for hours, and I take them by myself so I could not carry both of them if they get tired. The stroller also allows me to store stuff like sippy cups, camera, etc.

 

Mine still do at age 4. Our parks are nearly a mile away and I would rather walk then drive so I bring out the stroller for such occasions. I also carry it in the van when I do drive in case of a car break down. I take it to the mall too- If someone isn't listening or behaving well, they go in the stroller.

 

My girls prefer to walk. We still have our strollers but rarely use them...only if we are going somewhere like the zoo. And even then, they only ride it in it for part of the time and it's under protest. It's been like that for a long time now. I don't think they hyave regularly used the stroller since they were 18 months. The also don't love having to go in shopping carts...I have a small window that they will sit without complaint. So, if your kids are anything like mine, go ahead and sell them.

 

QUOTE(SweetpeaG @ Jul 10 2007, 11:37 PM) [snapback]325593[/snapback]
I invested a lot of time (and money) finding the perfect stroller(s) :blush:, soooo my boys will be riding in them until they exceed the weight limit!

Seriously though, I really envisioned using them until they were 3 or so (or good listeners with regard to safety/following diretions). However, just this week my boys have started protesting being strapped into the stroller, so I may be reselling them sooner than I planned. :huh:


I have the same mindset as you. But I think my girls have a different idea. They refuse to ride in their stroller, they have a melt down everytime.

 

We still use ours and I can see that happening for at least the next year. I am sure it will become less common, but I am definitely keeping it around as well as buying a SBS to join the Duoglider.
It's the only way I can keep them safe in public at this point.

 

I wouldn't dream of going anywhere without a stroller for my just-turned 3 year old girls. I don't feel I can keep them safe & get anything done if I don't have them strapped in. So far, they have never protested about being in the stroller. I had to leave the stroller behind when I was picking up family at the airport - I needed all the cargo space for luggage. We stopped at the outlet mall to buy things for their party at the Disney Store - I was about out of my mind from all the picking up toys, asking for things, running in different directions, etc. Even with my mom & grown daughter to help - I couldn't concentrate enough to really get all the things that I wanted. Nothing irritates me more than children trailing along far behind their parents with no one holding their hands - I think children unde 4-5 are much safer in a stroller. My great niece always threw a fit & my sister & my niece always let her out of the stroller. She has been lost in stores twice because she won't let them hold her hand & she darts away & hides - talk about the cart driving the horse.

 

Mine are 26 months and no way in heck would I stop using mine now. They just aren't old enought to understand every single time to "stop" or "Stay" etc. My kiddoes would run off on me first chance they got lol! With all of my kiddoes it wasn't till after 3 that we stopped. Even when they started listening well there were still many moments where we needed it for long walks. Like when we went to Disney or out of town.

 

We use ours for daytrips (zoo, museum, botanical gardens, etc.) all the time. They don't like it so much but they actually want to be carried instead of wanting to walk and I refuse to do that all day!

 

I can't imagine giving up the stroller anytime in the near future. We did go through a brief period, maybe 1-2 months around age 16-18 months or so, when they resisted the stroller a bit, but we were just consistent with the rule that it was either being in the stroller or being carried, and they pretty quickly decided they'd rather be in the stroller! We live right in the downtown area of our town, so we are always walking everywhere, to the parks, to the farmer's market, to their classes at the community center, the post office, or just out walking, so they are generally quite amenable to the stroller. When we are in it for long periods of time, like at the zoo or the mall or something, we always make sure they have time to get out and stretch their legs every so often. (And of course at the zoo they are constantly getting in and out and getting picked up so they can get a better view of the animals!)

So if it were me, no way would I get rid of the stroller. I think we will be using ours to at least age 3 and beyond; it's just such a part of our way of life!

 

All 4 of mine pretty much quit using strollers at age 2. I did keep them until around age 3, in case we went somewhere especially dangerous (the bat bridge in Austin, TX, is right on a very busy street), or somewhere with long walks, like a zoo. Since they rode in the cart for grocery shopping I hardly used them at all past age 2.

 

Mine are not much older than yours, but I certainly plan on keeping our stroller (Mountain Buggy double) for the foreseeable future, for all the reasons that PPs have listed.

 

We go through stroller rebellions sometimes but we've overcome it each time so far. I have to be firm with Grandma because she likes to take out the one who is complaining which reinforces that complaining is the ticket out of the stroller. It helped for them to become interested in fastening the buckles themselves so getting in the stroller is more fun (ditto with the carseats). The window of tolerance is shorter than it was before they could walk but keeping them busy with toys they don't see except when riding in the stroller helps (so does having a baggie of animal crackers along in case of meltdown ). They are so active that I can't imagine trying to run any errands without help if I wasn't using the stroller. They'll walk nicely holding my hand for a little while but just try and pass something interesting. So, I end up doing a walk/carry as needed routine but if I'm doing that with both of them, then I have no hands free. I was just reading a post about leashes but I can picture them pulling me along like a couple of sled dogs.

 

We still use our strollers all the time. I have a double jogger for big trips like the zoo, amusement parks, and walking around our neighborhood/town and the Maclaren is for the mall and short trips. The Mac is great, it reclines if they get sleepy and they can get themselves in and out. They are really sturdy and functional strollers and I think we will be using them for quite awhile longer. I got rid of my duoglider when they were about a year. It just didn't work very well for us.

-Kimberly

 

QUOTE(SweetpeaG @ Jul 10 2007, 08:37 PM) [snapback]325593[/snapback]
I invested a lot of time (and money) finding the perfect stroller(s) :blush:, soooo my boys will be riding in them until they exceed the weight limit!


Just curious, which stroller(s) do you have?

-Kimberly

 

I still have the DuoGlider but can't even remember the last time I used it. Dh wants to keep it though just in case. I did use the little umbrella stroller the last time I took one to the ER so I think having one of those around is good just in case.

 

My girls are 21 months and I CANT imagine trying to do anyting w/ the stroller by myself. I have one fast walker and one really slow unsteady walker....plus I have to hold hands at this points since they try, but are not very good listeners.

I hope to use it as long as I can since that way I can get errands done!

 

I will keep them in one FOREVER!! LOL!

 

At almost two, yes I still use the stroller and don't see doing away with it completely for a while. Even if yours are OK walking for errands and quick things, keep it for when you have an outing like a fair or amusement park where there is lots of walking. Mine do protest the stroller, but for some things, it's still a must until they know how to stay with me. I tried a trip to the mall with no stroller and it was a disaster. I also have the DuoGlider, and I do like having the room in the basket for items instead of carrying everything. I have also used the DuoGlider as a makeshift high chair on numerous occasions. So I say, keep it for now

 

As you can see, it really depends on your life style. I've rarely used mine in the last year, but even though we have a small house and could use the space, I'm not getting rid of it anytime soon. It does come in handy for trips to zoos or out vacation places and on long walks we take it along, but they don't always ride in it (it's super light so I don't mind pushing it empty.) We have a dreamer design jogger and at almost three my girls aren't anywhere near the weight limit. My parents bought it for me, but I also want to make sure I get their money's worth cause the thing wasn't cheap.

For those of you who want to keep their kids in strollers as long as possible--dreamer designs does make larger one's now.

 

2 1/2 here and we still use our strollers.

 

Thank you for all of your responses. I appreciate it! I figured that I would regret getting rid of it. I also have a small house and space is prime, but so is sanity! Again, thanks everyone!

 

We just turned 3 and I'm definately keeping my jogging stroller. While the girls are out of the stroller the majority of the time, they still get tired and want to be carried which we'll only do briefly. Then they either go back into the stroller or walk. If I'm alone, I still almost always take the stroller even if we walk. They have recently started running away from me (laughing) with no regard to safety, so then they are immediately put into the stroller (once I catch them). They did this when they were much younger, but then stopped. Well now that lovely phase is back with avengence.

Also just flew to NY from LA with them (Daddy stayed home) and I was very happy to have it in the airport. Try pulling your luggage, two carseats and managing two excited toddlers on your own. We got rid of all our other strollers, but have held on to the jogger since it is so versital. It stays in the trunk of our car and probably will for another year.

Ellen with
fraternal girls, 6/3/04

 

We're still using our mountain buggy and they're 4 years old. I don't know what we'd do without it. DH's mother doesn't drive. The park is about 6 blocks away and the library is almost a half a mile so she still uses it every time she cares for them (3 days per week). When my dad cares for them, he takes them all over town in it. I love that we can go for long walks and bring it if they get tired of walking. I don't know about next summer, but we're still getting a lot of use out of it this year.

 

Hopefully until 3 years, or longer if they'll let us.

 

Still use em. I'd lose them otherwise