A 9 & 11 year old in a stroller?

[powellrj]

Very interesting first post. I think I have a new business venture. Since so many people have been asking about strollers for pre-teens, I think I will go to shark tank with a stroller for kids 8-12. How do you think I will make-out?

 

[usnuzuloose]

Very interesting first post. I think I have a new business venture. Since so many people have been asking about strollers for pre-teens, I think I will go to shark tank with a stroller for kids 8-12. How do you think I will make-out?

 

[lauradis]

It's alive!!!!!!

Dont worry it will die.

 

[Sparkly]

If I had told my mum I needed a stroller at 9,10 years old she would have looked at me and burst into laughter!

And no, nobody is talking about special needs kids. Why on earth do people get all offended and start talking about it when nobody cares if a special needs kid is in a stroller?

 

[bdcp]

I know this is an old thread but... My boys were 3.5 and 5.5 in 1989 when we made our first trip to WDW. They both walked everywhere. It never entered my mind to use a stroller as we hadn't used one for either since they were about 2.5. My oldest was always tall for his age, but my youngest DS was always small. At 3.5 he looked to be closer to 2.5, but he kept up with no complaining at all. A couple of times in Epcot, he rode on DH's shoulders for 5 minutes or so, but that was it. I've said it before, kids have a lot more endurance than adults.

 

[3 MEN AND A BOAT]

Dont worry it will die.

And rise again in 3yrs.

 

[Chernabog#1fan]

If I had told my mum I needed a stroller at 9,10 years old she would have looked at me and burst into laughter!

And no, nobody is talking about special needs kids. Why on earth do people get all offended and start talking about it when nobody cares if a special needs kid is in a stroller?

I know this is old, but I think the reason is because you can not always tell a special needs child from a child without needs. It can hurt when observers make comments without knowing, if that makes sense. Just my take on it. I use to be more judgmental and a perfect parent......before I adopted 2 children, one with invisible needs. Now I am that parent people look at and talk about when my son is having a meltdown in the middle of the store.

 

[Planogirl]

I know this is old, but I think the reason is because you can not always tell a special needs child from a child without needs. It can hurt when observers make comments without knowing, if that makes sense. Just my take on it. I use to be more judgmental and a perfect parent......before I adopted 2 children, one with invisible needs. Now I am that parent people look at and talk about when my son is having a meltdown in the middle of the store.

That's a tough one. We've all been around those kids that just throw fits because they're overly tired or just bratty and that gets old. However it's good to point out that some kids truly can't help it. I just try to go the other way.

 

[proud_canadian]

We were at the parks last week and I was shocked to see how many larger kids there were in strollers. Both my daughters noticed and pointed out several kids squashed into park strollers looking very uncomfortable as their parents sweat and huffed and puffed pushing them.

My younger DD is almost 8 and we actually felt silly renting her a stroller a year ago, even though she does have gross motor delays and issues with endurance. She still doesn't have the same endurance as other kids her age, but she just did four park days out of five calendar days last week without issue. She did great, and didn't whine. At the end of the day we were all tired, but she knew that if she complained we would leave early, so she carried on like a trooper

Anyways, my older DD was out of a stroller much sooner. As should most children without disabilities.

I do find though that each time we go, we see more and more older children in strollers. There were some clearly older or at least bigger than my 10 year old. I suppose they could have had some sort of hidden disability, but just seems strange to me that there are more and more each year.

 

[S. C.]

Yup old thread!


Don't care how old someone's kid is in a stroller it's not going to make a difference to me and my enjoyment unless they ram it into my ankles. And that is a whole other thread

 

[ORMom2Four]

Just rent the older kids an electric scooter, that's how most people get around the parks now

 

[AC7179]

I just think kids are kids. It's more of a problem, I am sure, when the stroller is there for a younger sibling. The older siblings feet/legs hurt (I know mine do!) and they don't see that it's fair that brother gets pushed when he doesn't. Just normal kid stuff for me.

 

[Disney Doll]

We just recently got back from DL. I have DS7 and DS2. My DS7 has cancer but looks totally normal...although he's pretty tall for his age (about 4'5). He sat on the back of our sit and stand stroller for much of the day. I did get "looks" from people but I don't really care. He has a very hard time with stamina. If DS2 was out of a stroller (but he's a wild monkey runner), we would just rent DS7 a wheelchair. Lots of reply's on this thread have been pretty positive about "unhealthy" children riding in strollers, but I just want to remind everyone that not all disabilities are visual. I can't wait until DS7 actually has the stamina for a week at Disney! I hope it happens soon! On a different note, we went with another couple who had a 11 year old and every time DS7 decided he wanted to walk, she was by my side begging for his seat! Yea...NOPE! You can walk just fine!!! LOL

But as a PP said, there was no indication from the OP that the children were sick or disable in any way. That puts a whole different spin on the story if they are. And one would think that if the children were sick or disabled, that that information would be included in the post, because it is quite pertinent.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Just rent the older kids an electric scooter, that's how most people get around the parks now

Thats what ive noticed too!

 

[U2_rocks!]

I just think kids are kids. It's more of a problem, I am sure, when the stroller is there for a younger sibling. The older siblings feet/legs hurt (I know mine do!) and they don't see that it's fair that brother gets pushed when he doesn't. Just normal kid stuff for me.

This is why my 7 year old DS ended up in a stroller for short amounts of time on his first trip - we rented a double stroller on days we knew we'd be in the park a long time or until late for the benefit of his tiny 4 and 5 year old sisters. The girls were quite short for their age due to short legs. It was much harder for them to keep up with us, and they had never experienced so much walking before. Still, all the kids did like to walk most of the time, and they all took turns having some rest time in the stroller. People who saw the 7 year old in the stroller may have had an opinion about that, but they would not have known that he was only in there for a short time. That's the trouble with witnessing a tiny snapshot of someone's life - you really cannot make a proper judgment based on that tiny snapshot.

The next trip, when they were 10, 8 and 7, we didn't feel a stroller was necessary, and in fact it wasn't. The kids were all strong, athletic enough kids who could walk well and didn't need to nap in the middle of a park day. We just toured in such a way as to not wear everyone out, including my 70 year old parents who were with us! My mother really needed the stroller - her heel was killing her!

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

My oldest has walked since he was 6.
DD will be 5 on our next trips and I'm still going to bring a stroller. She is a complainer, and I want the option for her to sit, lol.

 

[TireGirl]

Beyond the fact that there is no reason why a perfectly healthy 11yr old and even 9 yr old should be in a stroller, my kids ,at that age, would have been MORTIFIED!

I have to laugh just imagining what DH's face would have been like if I would have even made that suggestion when my DS was 11...

I agree, my kids would not ever have gotten in a stroller at that age. Seems crazy!

 

[Arielle22]

My nephew is almost 6 but small for his age. Last January my sister and BIL took him to Disney. He spent most of his time on BIL's shoulders. One day he told my BIL he was tired, that is was tough to be carried all day!

 

[OZMom]

My boys are 5 and 3. I know they will spend 75% of the time out of the stroller, but we are rope drop to close of the park style vacationers and I know at some point even my active and stubborn 5 year old will want to be in the stroller. It also gives me a way to keep them under control in between attractions (they get easily distracted and wander when they are tired). If they don't use it, I have a place for all the stuff I have to lug around

Obviously every parent has to know their own kids and vacation style and make their own decision. I'm not going to judge because, as others have pointed out, we don't know everyone's situation and it certainly doesn't effect me if another mom wants to push her healthy 100lb 10 year old around. However, in 2 or 3 years I will be damned if I am going to lug my giant double stroller around for my 2! I'm much lazier then they are, and that thing is heavy! Also JMO, but why spend the money on a rental stroller for an older kid when there are so many things to waste money on at Disney.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Ohhhh, if it does die, then another will rise...

I guess I see too many other real issues in this world to care about how another parent chooses to do Disney. (as long as it doesn't direcly affect me) And this thing, old or not, is how many pages now.

Does anybody here watch the news?
Have their own disabled child?
Or just not have anything better to do with their time?