When is it socially unacceptable to push your older kids in a stroller?
Baby Strollers
Woodland Hiker asked:
I plan on taking my almost 7 yr old child to a large mall that is very far away from where we live. Since I plan to shop many hours, she tends to get whiny because she eventually wants to sit down. I still have a stroller - does this seem a little too extreme? It doesn’t seem socially acceptable, but I just don’t know what else to do other than find a wheelchair or take frequent sit-down breaks!!!!! She really wants to go too.
Roberta
I plan on taking my almost 7 yr old child to a large mall that is very far away from where we live. Since I plan to shop many hours, she tends to get whiny because she eventually wants to sit down. I still have a stroller - does this seem a little too extreme? It doesn’t seem socially acceptable, but I just don’t know what else to do other than find a wheelchair or take frequent sit-down breaks!!!!! She really wants to go too.
Roberta
December 4th, 2008 at 7:57 am
Yolanda
If you are ok with it and she is ok with it…who cares what the rest of the world thinks! If she is worried about the looks, have her bring a doll to push in the stroller, people will smile when they see her in the stroller…doll in lap assuming she got tired from pushing the doll around and decided to take a ride.
December 5th, 2008 at 2:09 am
Fred
7 is not too old. I think it depends on how well behaved he is in public.
December 5th, 2008 at 2:30 am
Amber
I love the answer given by “Mom of two” it sounds really sweet. I also am of the mind that what others think can’t be more important than a day filled with Mom and daughter togetherness.
December 7th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Kyle
It’s none of anyone else’s business really. Let them think what they want to. They have the rentals at our mall and I did use one for my 6 yr old right up near Christmas. Kids get tired. And it’s not like a 1 hour trip, you plan on being there all day so take it with you.
December 9th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Eugene
well a stroller isnt very good unless yo can pass her as a 5 year old
December 10th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Melinda
The problem is not with society’s view of older kids in strollers; it’s with the idea that a 7 year old can put up with many hours of shopping. Sure, she thinks she wants to go, but she most likely just wants a miniature version of what you’re proposing here: a two-hour outing with Mom that includes shops of interest to her and a good long break at a little eatery or ice cream shop. Save the marathon trips for when you’re not toting your 7 year old along.
December 12th, 2008 at 12:36 am
Julia
This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I was just at Disney in December and couldn’t believe the amount of post-toddlers in strollers. It’s one thing if you have a handicapped child but carting an able-bodied kid around in a stroller? This is either a good time for her to learn about “Big Girl Trips” or a good time for your shopping companions to realize you have a 7-year-old and make adjustments. If it is just you and her then shop less and break more. You don’t need to go in every Bath & Body Works (my guess is there will be at least three) because they all sell the same lotion.
I NEVER remember being in a stroller. When I was 6 I walked all around Williamsburg and Bush Gardens 3 days in a row; when I was 7 I walked around the World’s Fair 4 days in a row and when I was 8 I walked around Disney, Epcot, and the Space Center for 5 days in a row. I thought other kids in strollers were dumb then…the same is true now.
December 12th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Justin
Umm I wouldnt do it but my daughter will be seven next week and is a rather tall seven yr old and I go to the mall in our town. I think around 4 you stop pushing your kids in strollers, but who cares. Do what you want its not like you’ll know anyone there right. What are people going to do look at you funny youll never have to see them again anyway. I wish I had a stroller for my six yr old trick or treating this year she whined the whole way back while my three yr old walked I had to carry the older one on my back.
December 14th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Gregory
I don’t want to assume anything, but I have seen that many of the older children being pushed in strollers are overweight. Allowing a child that is capable of walking for long periods of time to be pushed in a stroller influences laziness. If you want your daughter to grow up to be healthy, then you should take every opportunity to show her ways to be healthy and not take the easy way out.
December 17th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Bernard
Either shorten your shopping trip or build up your child’s endurance. I haven’t put my kids in a stroller since they were less than 3 years old. We don’t have a car and we walk everywhere - for miles and miles - and my kids haven’t complained yet. If they get tired, we stop for a break, get a drink or a snack and start again.
7 years old is ridiculously old for a stroller for a healthy child.
December 17th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Jim
It is socially unacceptable to push a child in a stroller that the child is big enough to push themselves. However, it is a free country.
December 20th, 2008 at 3:34 am
Anthony
why would you put a 7 yr old through that?