Did anyone else not use a stroller ?

[Judy from Boise]

I'm not needing to hear from people who use strollers, since that is your business.....but I am curious how much of a minority I am in !

Background: I recieved a stroller as a gift, but my DD always cried when we put her into it, so we ended up never using. She was our first, and ended up our only....so it was always a two parent one child situation, of course sometimes with grandparents thrown in. But even f I went to the mall by myself it was me holding DD. of course at about 6 months she held to me so I could still have both hands free.

so how strange is this ? Did anyone else pretty much never use a stroller?

 

[worm761]

I never had a stroller for DS. He is almost 15 now. I either carried him or he walked when he learned how. I just had no need for one. If I did, I borrowed or rented one.
Now, I recently had DD. She is 13 months old. We have a stroller for her. She loves her stroller. She also loves walking at her age.

 

[nathalee81]

I'm not needing to hear from people who use strollers, since that is your business.....but I am curious how much of a minority I am in !

Background: I recieved a stroller as a gift, but my DD always cried when we put her into it, so we ended up never using. She was our first, and ended up our only....so it was always a two parent one child situation, of course sometimes with grandparents thrown in. But even f I went to the mall by myself it was me holding DD. of course at about 6 months she held to me so I could still have both hands free.

so how strange is this ? Did anyone else pretty much never use a stroller?

We don't have any kids yet, but my parents did not use a stroller for me (or used it very rarely). I was the first grandchild and an only child, so I was always being carried around by somebody. Then I learned to walk.

 

[bdcp]

I only used a stroller for both my boys for about 18 months. After that they walked everywhere. They were 28 months apart and I never had a double stroller either. At 3.5 and 5.5 they both walked all over WDW including Epcot with a ride on dad's shoulders by the younger son a couple of times. I really don't get the point of putting a 3 or 4+ year old in a stroller. LOL kids have more energy than we do anyway. There were also plenty of times we didn't bother with the stroller either. sometimes not worth the hassle.

Once they started walking, they pretty much walked or were carried everywhere. They're 24 and 27 now and it didn't scar them for life to walk.

 

[bumbershoot]

I carried and wore DS just about everywhere. For Disney I rented a stroller for the day, but then for a longer trip we actually bought a Disneyland stroller. Only used for that! Then I got a jogging stroller, which worked nicely for about a year, but then he outgrew it.

So while strollers were around me, I never took it to the mall or store or anything like that...Disney and fitness were the only reasons.

 

[LadyZolt]

Three kids -- no stroller. I tried using an umbrella stroller with my first kid, and he didn't like being in it. He preferred to get out and push it along himself -- used it in place of a walker, I guess. LOL! I think he was about nine months old at the time, and we used it two times at the mall and that was it.

We lived in Kodiak, Alaska, from the time my second-born was six months old, and that is where my third was born. The terrain is so rocky, a stroller is completely impractical. So I just carried them until they were able to walk.

No stroller -- no playpens, either.

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

 

[DisneyScraps]

I used a stroller with my DD almost everywhere we went until she was 5 and she outgrew it physically. She missed it and so did I.

She was the kind of chid that would color or play with stickers for hours and the tray in the stroller allowed her to do that. I could shop as long as I wanted and she was happy coloring or playing. I never had to worry about what she was touching or if she was going to run off.

Once I was in a really nice gift shop and the woman that owned it thanked me for having her in the stroller. She didn't have to worry about what mischief my little person was up to.

That stroller went with me everywhere.

Lisa

 

[Magpie]

I didn't use a stroller at all with my first baby. I preferred my sling, and later my hip carrier, and I thought it was good for my baby to get down on her own two feet and walk whenever possible.

I really found a big advantage to using the hip carrier when I was riding the bus and shopping - I could maneuver a lot better through narrow spaces and I could keep a better eye on my kid when she was in that grabby phase. Also, I couldn't get kicked off the bus if a wheelchair person got on (the disabled have priority over strollers).

But, when my daughter was about 17 months old (walking since 8 months!), I started bleeding part way through my second pregnancy. The doctor told me I couldn't carry anything heavier than ten pounds. So we had to buy a stroller for my daughter. It was awful! She hated it with a passion. I used to have to forcibly strap her in and then push her screaming self down the street as she grabbed at lamp posts, people's legs, anything to try to haul herself out of the stroller. She would fling herself head first out of her seat and dangle by the strap!

As soon as my son was born, I went back to using a carrier most of the time. My experience with the stroller wasn't good, so even though my son never hated it as much as his sister, I only used it when I absolutely had to.

My kids were great walkers. Although, when my daughter got a little older (about 2) she started wandering away from us and hiding, so we used the old stroller as a threat. "Behave, or you're going in the stroller!" "Noooo!" It worked.

 

[Tinkh]

We tried it the first year, but he never got into it at all. Hated it actually. At the zoo for the first time when he around 2, we took it with us hoping he would want to use it when he got tired. Nope. Never missed it and we have done everything with him without one. He is 16 now. I bet he would love me wheeling him in it now so he could act silly lol.

 

[MiniGirl]

We had one and used it rarely. It was just easier and faster to use the sling. Also, my girls really didn't care for it. They preferred to be held or to walk. Like Magpie, we used it more as a threat when they were misbehaving.

Now, WDW is a different story. Since I often take them by myself, it was easier to keep track of them and get through the crowds with them in a stroller, so we would rent one. That was years ago though.

 

[Tinkh]

I used a stroller with my DD almost everywhere we went until she was 5 and she outgrew it physically. She missed it and so did I.

She was the kind of chid that would color or play with stickers for hours and the tray in the stroller allowed her to do that. I could shop as long as I wanted and she was happy coloring or playing. I never had to worry about what she was touching or if she was going to run off.

Once I was in a really nice gift shop and the woman that owned it thanked me for having her in the stroller. She didn't have to worry about what mischief my little person was up to.

That stroller went with me everywhere.

Lisa

LOL. Not picking on you, just found it amusing that OP said they did not want to hear from people who used strollers.

 

[luvsJack]

WDW is actually one of the very few places I ever used a stroller once the kids got above the infant stage. I couldn't get used to a sling, always felt like I was dropping them so I used the stroller that my infant car seat locked into.

Once they got a bit older, they rode in the buggy in stores that had them, walked at the mall or I carried them. I just did everything veeerrrrrryyyy slowly walking with a two year old .

I don't see anything wrong with using one, even for an older child (have seen some older preschoolers in strollers on Black Friday when their mom's are trying to rush around the stores), it was just a lot of trouble to get in and out of the car and I never had a car that could hold the car seat, the kids, me and dh, packages AND a big stroller--until now. So, just never got in the habit of using one.

DS and dil rarely put dgd in one either.

 

[Art 1]

We very rarely used them.

 

[Art 1]

LOL. Not picking on you, just found it amusing that OP said they did not want to hear from people who used strollers.

That's how the DIS forum is. A few weeks ago a guy asked for opinions from other guys about circumcision. It turned into many, many responses from our lady DIS members who are experts on the topic.

 

[Tinkh]

That's how the DIS forum is. A few weeks ago a guy asked for opinions from other guys about circumcision. It turned into many, many responses from our lady DIS members who are experts on the topic.

Shocking haha

 

[hulagirl87]

LOL. Not picking on you, just found it amusing that OP said they did not want to hear from people who used strollers.

OP said that she didn't need to hear from, not that she did not want to hear from. I'm just sayin'


And OP, how did you get your 6 month old to hang on to you at 6 months so you could have both hands free? DD is almost 11 months and I couldn't imagine not putting her in a stroller to go to a store (not like the grocery store where she sits in the cart, but like the mall or something). I wouldn't be able to hold on to her and just "let go". DD will sit in the stroller and observe what is going on around her, play with a couple toys and it's fun to wheel her around. Plus I love taking her for walks around our neighboorhood.

Yes, that's right, another poster pro stroller.

 

[suejai]

We very rarely used a stroller for DS, he just really didn't like being in it. We used a backpack once he was old enough to sit up in it until he was about 3 yrs old. I would take him for walks and he loved sitting up high being able to see everything. After that he walked everywhere.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

Another non-stroller user here. But DS is only 5 months old, so things could change once he gets bigger. He doesn't like the stroller, so I used a sling with him until he fit into the Ergo (and had the head control) at about 3.5 months. Now, I were him everywhere in the Ergo. We were at WDW a couple weeks ago and everyone convinced me that I'd want a stroller, there. We tried if for about an hour on the first day until DS lost patience, and then I wore him in the Ergo while someone else pushed around the empty stroller. The next day (and every day after), the stroller stayed in the room.

I do have a $400 running stroller sitting in the garage right now, though, and I'm hoping I can convince DS that running is fun. I'm running a full marathon in June, doing a triathlon in July, and running the Disneyland half marathon in September... so I may be wheeling a screaming kid down the path to get all those miles in!

 

[npmommie]

OP said that she didn't need to hear from, not that she did not want to hear from. I'm just sayin'


And OP, how did you get your 6 month old to hang on to you at 6 months so you could have both hands free? DD is almost 11 months and I couldn't imagine not putting her in a stroller to go to a store (not like the grocery store where she sits in the cart, but like the mall or something). I wouldn't be able to hold on to her and just "let go". DD will sit in the stroller and observe what is going on around her, play with a couple toys and it's fun to wheel her around. Plus I love taking her for walks around our neighboorhood.

Yes, that's right, another poster pro stroller.

I am with Hula girl, I am wondering how a 6 month old will hold on like that long enough for you to let go and shop

I used a stroller, baby bjorn most of the time, and the kids enjoyed both,
they were out of the stroller shortly after walking though, they wanted to move on their own.

I used to have my dd bring her own baby stroller along to the grocery

 

[dogluva]

I had six kids, I went through soooo many strollers I can't even count! Umbrella, double, jogging, any stroller I could find. I had strollers that stayed in my car, strollers that I kept outside, I had a stroller for in the house! What can I say, I am a bad mother! I also used swings, playpens, bouncy seats, walkers (my oldest loved his walker, it even had wheels!), I used any prop I could put that baby in! Yes, my kids are ruined.

I finally just got rid of the two strollers that were up in my attic-leftovers from the good old days! I can't wait to have grandchildren, I can push a stroller again! Oh, wait, I have one for my dog-never mind, I'm good!