Cars or walking

[grindal]

Hi
At the moment I do not use my car for minding. I live in north London and the roads are busy and there is a lot to do within a 20 min walk of where I live, and I believe that exercise is good for kids and adults and want to set a positive example. However, DS1 will be going to nursery 5 ams a week as of next week - and it is a 20 min walk away. We have 3 childrens centres near us, but they are all 20 mins in the opposite direction - so would be about a 35 min walk from his playgroup to get there. But there are loads of childminder drop ins and craft sessions and toddler group sessions there. So, should I put mindees in the car and drop DS1 at playgroup and drive there or should I put mindee in the pushchair and spent most of his mornings pushing him around? Mindee is 11 months at the mo. (Obviously I would get car insured before I put mindee in it :eek: )

[youarewhatyoueat]

Only you know what you want to do but if it was me on a nice day walk and then insure the car for business, which many don't charge extra for, and then if the weather was awful you've got the car.As a parent if the weather was really bad I would prefer them in a car.

[Mollymop]

I don;t drive so I have to walk every where. I can't take driving or granted, so I just get on with it. Our schools are 20 min walk away, the town is 30 mins, toddler group about 20 mins, but i am used to it. I couldn't imagine childminding without our walks.

[fionamal]

I walk everywhere as it takes me longer to load the kids in the car, find somewhere to park it , unload the kids, plus its healthier for the kids to be out in the fresh air getting exercise. Our schools are about a 20min walk each way so its not too bad

[sweets]

i have a car and use it too much! i am determined from next week when mindees are back that we are going to walk to lot more places, its just too easy to jump in the car!
one of my mindees is not a brill walker tho, he's 3 1/2 and gets driven everywhere by parents, how far would you expect a child of this age to walk, would 20 mins be ok? i feel guilty sometimes dragging him along when he's moaning away that his legs are tired, am i expecting too much?

[grindal]

Thanks for the replies - interestingly, one of the reasons I never bothered registering the car was that I felt it was quicker to walk than load kids, find parking, unload kids with pushchair cos parking was nearly as far away as home would be, and then walk anyway. However, getting car insured for really cold wet and windy days does make sense. Maybe I will look into it - but then my lazy gene might just start to get the better of me :blush:

[grindal]

i have a car and use it too much! i am determined from next week when mindees are back that we are going to walk to lot more places, its just too easy to jump in the car!
one of my mindees is not a brill walker tho, he's 3 1/2 and gets driven everywhere by parents, how far would you expect a child of this age to walk, would 20 mins be ok? i feel guilty sometimes dragging him along when he's moaning away that his legs are tired, am i expecting too much?

Sweets, my 3 and a half year old walks for ages and ages, as does my 23 month old. They will both walk the 20mins to DS1s playgroup, and DS2 will often walk home again and attempt the collection walk as well :laughing:

[Rubybubbles]

I only drive if the weather is horrid

It takes a good 30/40 mins to walk to school, and yes it does mean the baby can be in there for a while, but as long as you are using the environment then I see no reason why not!

I just signed with a 11 month old and they loved the fact we all walk to school and back each day:thumbsup:

[mandy moo]

my oldest was walking for England at 3 1/2 simply coz I had a 6mth old baby in the pushchair , and couldnt afford a double.

[grindal]

I am just thinking about this myself and have realised that I could actually use a bus for a bit of the journey - DS1 and 2 would love that. They have never been on a bus :blush:

[sweets]

my oldest was walking for England at 3 1/2 simply coz I had a 6mth old baby in the pushchair , and couldnt afford a double.

Right thats it then! i will persarvere(sp?) with the pulling him along then! lol. he will just have to like it or lump it and get used to it. :laughing:

[helenlc]

I drive too much but am going to start walking more. I used to pick up a mindee on the way to school but dont have him anymore so have no excuse really. It is quite far but then I think even if we did it once a week, it would be better than nothing.

I am also going to start walking to toddler group and back as well. I should be setting an example to the children really.

The childrens centre where our drop in and messy play are held is too far still so I would have to go in the car to there though.

[LittleAcorns]

I walk everywhere, and to be honest the younger of the mindees love it as its all they know, I used to drop a little one off at nursery a mile away (30 mins walk) then walk other mindee home, In home for about an hour then set off on the same journey, to collect and the days fly by, you and they get fit!! and it teaches them to appreciate walking, the older of my mindees used to go in the car all the time and hated walking!

Another positive point is you get yourself out there noticed, everyone within that 1 mile radius knows me and my trail of children and they all know Im a minder not a crazy mum with 100's of kids lol x

[grindal]

Walking is getting a lot of votes here. I have just rejigged my schedule a bit and will now only have a very long walk on 1 of 5 days so I dont think I will bother with the car - but still might look into insurance for business use (just in case :blush: )

[chewy sweets]

:thumbsup: I walk everywhere too! I can drive but never registered my car. Because we live in a small town you can walk to anywhere within 15 min(Schools/shops) I love walking and think the is good for the kids. And the ones in the buggy enjoy the sights!

[CherryBlossom]

I haven't started minding yet, but wasn't planning on registering my car.
My OH is selling his car, as mine runs cheaper and we are trying to save money, so OH will be needing it for work anyway.

I am close to a few schools, 10 minute walk from a big park, shops also really close by. So i am hoping this won't be a problem.
I really don't like the idea of having to load all the children into the car, then try and find a parking space etc.

The main thing is getting the fresh air and exercise though, and unless we wanted to go to the Zoo or somewhere far away for the day I would feel really lazy driving lol.

I am glad a lot of other people don't drive, as I did worry that this might be a problem, but registering the car seems like lots of hassle!


x

[FizzysFriends]

I would insure your car anyway, you don't have register it with ofsted as far as I know just incase you needed to get their quicker like if you child was ill and had to be collect.

[devoncm]

I walk almost everywhere as i cant drive yet,dont think it would change much when i can drive as marc will still need car and id only really need it in holidays just to get further a field. Sometimes ill treat the kids to a bus ride if its raining.

when marcs son was 3/4 he would walk for ages and ages with us, his mum would always take him by car as she thought he was always naughty when walking but he was always fine for us, maybe you try walking a little bit first and increase how long it is

[FussyElmo]

I don't drive and although I think about learning wouldn't be able to run another car anyhow as dh needs it to travel to work.

My ds and mindee are both 2 and 1/2 and walk for england. If it rains well we have waterproofs and wellies!!!

I sometimes think that it would be useful to have a car in the holidays but if we want to go somewhere further a field then we get a bus or a train - children love it!!!

[rickysmiths]

I walk quite a lot and always to school and back. Even when years ago we only had one car and dh used it for work I still insured it for Childminding for the holidays and incase there was an emergency. It doen't cost anything, you just phone your insurer and ask for Class 1 cover for Childminding.

You don't have to register your car, not sure what you mean by that?

[CherryBlossom]

I walk quite a lot and always to school and back. Even when years ago we only had one car and dh used it for work I still insured it for Childminding for the holidays and incase there was an emergency. It doen't cost anything, you just phone your insurer and ask for Class 1 cover for Childminding.

You don't have to register your car, not sure what you mean by that?

Lol, ignore me i didn't mean register it..I meant getting it insured for Child Minding..:)

[grindal]

Well, I went to one of the childrens centre childminder sessions yesterday, and we walked. Its not far, but not a pleasant walk, have to either walk along a section of the 4 lane North Circular or try and cross it to (prob not a good idea) take a quieter route. Will persevere with walking at the moment, but may think about getting car insured for colder winter days.... decisions, decisions :blush: :blush:

[mushpea]

I much prefer to walk everywhere , fresh air, excersise and no lfiting kids in and out of cars, we take the dog with us aswell somtimes and go to places like the woods or the local nature reserve to walk them which the kids love infact one of them was fedup in the hol's cause charly wasnt comming !
anyway walking is good for them so im all for it.
as for distance they walk try building it up each weeks so you go a little futher each week, i have a 2.5yrold who will walk anywhere and never moans then i have a 3.5yr old who , although dosent say anything, hates walking because she is put in the double buggy with her sister so isnt used to walking far, she tends to drag behind or walk really slowly infront of the buggy so i make her hold on and find a pace that suits us all. i did have a buggy board but they got too heavy for that (2.5yrold is big).
the only time i really use my car is in the school holidays so i can take them all on outings to different parks etc as the older ones get bored with the same places and once a week to the zoo.

[Pudding Girl]

I don't drive so I have no choice but to walk or use the bus.

CCO commented yday at inspection that she could see the children had plenty fresh air and exercise because of simply that, never mind the other stuff we do and was impressed that they met their reqd 60 mins just coming to and from my house! ( I pick up and drop off both lots of mindees at mo).

Of course it means we get wet and cold but again she saw that as a positive ( I don't I have to say!)

[Nicky]

I don't drive and therefore we walk everywhere, the kids love it and its amazing what they spot as we walk along!
We also use the bus and trains and they also love this as some have only ever gone by car!
Downside to not driving is that you get wet when it rains but then if you look positively the kids love puddle jumping! :laughing:

[Tired]

I'm going to go against the popular vote here, and say I use the car.

I do go for walks, to interesting places, chosen for the children's enjoyment, but I don't walk to school, toddlers etc.

if I walked 40 mins to school, then 40 mins home, get home at about 9.30, then at 10 leave for the 20 min walk to toddlers, then 20 mins home, then lunch, sleep, and 40 min walk back to school and 40 mins home again, the baby would do nothing but be in a pushchair all day.

we live on a busy road, very noisy, so I cant talk to the child as I walk, and all they get to see is cars.
So I really prefer to drive, spend more time doing activities for the benefit of the children, and getting our fresh air and excercise by driving to the park, woods, beach etc

[grindal]

Leanne, that kind of is my point! It is great for the kids who are walking to get exercise, but my concern is more my little 11 month old who seems to spend the majority of his day in the buggy
ie 20 mins to drop DS1 at playgroup and then 35 mins to get to toddler group, then another 35 mins to get back to DS1s playgroup followed by 20 min walk back home. Thats nearly 2 hrs in a 4 hour morning. And like you say, mostly along busy main roads with a lot of buses and police cars to look at!! I am starting to think I may get insurance to be able to use car a couple of mornings a week - but will see how things go in the meantime.

[hayleychildcare]

I walk every where. Even today when its poring of rain and quite cold. mindee with wellies and umberella running across field and jumping in puddles (now fast asleep as shattered).

I wouldnt use the car as walking makes the days pass quicker and i often do mini beast hunts on most walks even if its across the road to the shop:jump for joy:

Kids love been out in all weather ... me on the other hand im freezing and im sitting cuddling a hot water bottle and a cup of tea :clapping:

[Pudding Girl]

If you have a very long way to go then obviously it's better to drive if you are able but for me, the nursery is only 10 mins walk away so not a problem.
Something to take into account when you accept babies though sin't it, the fact thay they may with the best will in the world be stuck in a carseat or a buggy for a part of the day.

[Louise_Oaktree]

Leanne, that kind of is my point! It is great for the kids who are walking to get exercise, but my concern is more my little 11 month old who seems to spend the majority of his day in the buggy
ie 20 mins to drop DS1 at playgroup and then 35 mins to get to toddler group, then another 35 mins to get back to DS1s playgroup followed by 20 min walk back home. Thats nearly 2 hrs in a 4 hour morning. And like you say, mostly along busy main roads with a lot of buses and police cars to look at!! I am starting to think I may get insurance to be able to use car a couple of mornings a week - but will see how things go in the meantime.

Yes but at least you go to toddler groups - and I bet little ones sleep most of the way home ;) don't forget little ones need rest too - and a walk is such a refreshing change to being stuck in the house all day - this holidays we have gone on loads of walks just a change of scenery is sometimes what's needed.

Some CM's sit in all day every day so I wouldn't worry about a couple of hours in a buggy TBH I think the benefits far outweigh the negatives and whos to say you can't take turns with the reins or wrist strap and let them stretch their legs if they can? Even babies don't need to spend all day rolling and pulling themselves up, they learn from observation and watching the older ones jumping puddles, collecting fir cones, holding hands....JMHO

I use both but hate the struggle with booster seats and in my experience I feel even though my walk is along a busy road, it is much safer using buggy and reins rather than trying to keep an eye on kids while you strap others in car seats, even in a car park - your eyes are all over the place trying to make sure they aren't in danger and so much better for the environment too :D

Also even if I use the car I still have to take the buggy to get everyone to the school from the car park or into the toddler group safely...I try not to carry 2 babies at once if I can help it :panic: