Stroller needed for 5 year old?

[Aliceacc]

This is a hotly debated topic around here. Know that people on both sides of the issue can be insulting and rude.

When my kids were 5, we used the stroller. Sometimes it was for the kids, sometimes it was for the stuff we schlepped along for a family of 5. But we were always glad we had it.

When one of my kids had a huge fear of characters during our first trip, being able to push that stroller (empty or full) was a huge help; it acted as a barrier.

 

[roseaster]

I don't think anyone was was "insulting or rude" the OP asked for opinions. I have had five 5 year olds. By 5 all of them were capable of walking in the parks. By 5 all but 1 wanted nothing to do with a stroller (other than to push dolls in) because they were "for babies."

...but there was the last one. He refused the stroller, adamantly, from 2-4, but at 4 refused to walk LOL. When we went on his 1st stroller-less trip at 5 I sat him down and explained to him that we were not bringing a stroller (and after finally getting to be stroller-less we realized how much easier it is to not have to worry about it)

We explained to him that he would have to walk. We also explained that if he were that exhausted and complained, because he was complaining it was "too much walking it would hurt his legs" that one of us would take him back to the room for a nap, so he could rest.

We never had a problem. The only time we had whining about not wanting to walk, and that was from all the kids at one point or another, was between the bus and the room and the end of the night, and mostly that was because sound asleep on the bus and wanted to go back to sleep.

I have a bunch of kids. I get that they whine about being tired to get out of doing things they don't want to do, like, maybe, shopping, but if they are physically healthy, then there is really no reason that they are incapable of walking those types of short distances.

The OP may consider having a discussion with her child, I think 5 is old enough to understand a lot of things, and he/she may want to start a walking program with her child if stamina is really the issue, which it probably isn't.

Here is my kids behavior issues. I had 1 whiner, but I had 3 arguers. The 1st 3 are kind of close in age, and they used to bicker amongst themselves about stupid stuff. Who was 1st in line, who was touching who, you know, stupid kid stuff. I remember 1 trip to WDW where they were particularly bad while playing with those bead doors waiting in line for RnR. I finally had enough and told them that if they were so cranky and tired that they were arguing over stupid stuff like who is playing with beads on a door it is time to head back to the room for a nap and a cooling off period, and I mean nap. No swimming, no TV, lights out nap. It stopped. No one wanted to miss out on fun. They also know that when we say something we mean it.

 

[Aliceacc]

I didn't mean to imply that anyone HAD been rude, just that this topic tends to bring out the rude in people here. It's a topic that people tend to feel very adamantly about.

 

[BigAlsGal]

I personally would. You can move at your own pace. You avoid the whining about legs hurting and breaking your back carrying them. They eventually fall asleep which I always enjoyed that little break. It holds most of your stuff!

Keep in mind that the average day at one of the parks people walk 8-15 miles depending on your touring style. Little legs have to take twice as many steps to equal our size steps. Just a thought!

 

[ktlm]

We have taken DD(10) every year since she was 2. DD was an extremely high energy kid who NEVER rode in a stroller after she took her 1st steps at 12 months, EXCEPT for at WDW. She would not use one at the zoo, malls, or anywhere else that involved a lot of walking. At age 5, we weren't sure she would still need one at WDW. We made the decision to bring the umbrella stroller thinking we would take it into the park the 1st day, park it if she didn't use it at all, and then leave it in the room the rest of the trip. We were so glad we had it because she used it a whole lot more than we thought she would. Even as a very high energy child, at age 5 she just didn't quite have the stamina for open to close days in the parks without a stroller. Plus, there were times when we needed to move fast to get to ADRs, etc., and it was so much faster to push her in the stroller than to have her walk. Also at the end of the day when she got very tired it was great to have it, so she wasn't trying to get DH to pick her up or whining she was tired. I think our trip would have involved shorter park hours, a whiny kid, and generally not been quite as enjoyable without the stroller at that age. We thought we probably would not need it, but we were extremely glad we had it because we did need it.