Why We Used a Buggy with an Over Four Year Old

I don’t really remember at what age I stopped using a buggy with Chloe and Dylan.  I do know that it was way before they were five and half.  I have thought many a time that I can’t imagine not needing a buggy with Erin.  Of course she was always going to need one longer than your average child after being diagnosed at nearly two years old with DDH.  

Let’s remember that Erin has learnt to walk three times now, the first at 19 months when the limped concerned us.  The second time after 18 long weeks in spica and the third time after a pelvic osteotomy and a further 6 weeks spica.  Only in June we were using the buggy daily to get her to school as she had a hip infection known as transient hip synovitis which thankfully she is now well recovered from.

The buggy is always in my boot, ready to be used on day trips and shopping trips if we have parked away from the shops.  Yet we made a decision the night before going to Spain, we decided that with four suitcases between the five of us we would not take the buggy.  Where we stay is a good twenty minutes walk to the centre where the bars and restaurants are that we like to go to.  Often we wouuld do this walk twice in the day.  Once for a wander, maybe have a coffee and sit in the square people watching and then again in the evening.

It was gong to be asking alot of Erin to walk this distance daily but we decided if we didn’t have the buggy we would have to manage.  And manage we did.  We did change things and I never once walked into town twice in a day, instead I kept Erin’s effort for walking there and back in the evening.  We went for a coffee a little closer, we spent more time playing in the garden and just letting the children enjoy the pool.

She aced it! Finally at 5 1/2 we have ditched the buggy.  I take that as another point for us in the continual battle against hypermobility and ddh.  My little lady is getting stronger and we celebrate each of these achievements.  For many ditching the buggy probably isn’t a date etched in the book of childhood milestones – yet our copy of that book got ripped when Erin was diagnosed and we have adjusted the milestones and probably celebrate more than others when we reach a new one.

We don’t take walking for granted.  Never will and that is why ditching the buggy at 51/2 brings a smile to my face.

If you need tips on what buggy to use when a child is in spica, read this post.

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