Bad childminder - made 2 yr old walk!!!

[helenlc]

I took my new -ish mindee to nursery this afternoon - only the second time I have done it. He is 4 and his brother is 2.

So we get out the car and are walking up to the school which is not that far but a minute or so walk.

Anyway, 2 yr old objects to this (as he did last week) as I make him walk it. He throws himself on the floor but lands (funnily enough) with two arms reached up for someone to pick him up and carry him. Not me!! I just pick him up and off we go.

So we get to where the mums/carers are standing, looking all sympathetic to A (not me!! ) and one goes Oh whats up with A? I say I made him walk. She says Oh he's usually in the pushchair. I just smile politely.

I wrote in Mum's contact book last week that he had a paddy cos I made him walk as I didnt want the mums to report to her the next day that he was upset. He wasnt upset and was fine before we got out the car and fine when we got back in.

But a 2 yr old who can walk more than competently is never going to learn to walk too far if he is put in the buggy. I know its about convenience sometimes and I have done it myself. But not every time.

I was actually rather nervous walking up with him having his screaming fit as I was worried what they might be thinking. But if I had picked him up at any point before we got there, he would have got his own way.

I feel more paranoid as a childminder about a child's behaviour who is with me than when I am out with my OWN children!!

[Pipsqueak]

Hang on in there, put him on some reins so if he does throw himself down you can reset him on his feet without to much physcial contact. he will soon figure it out - but ohhhhhhh you evil one.....

[huggableshelly]

well done i would make him walk too!

I only use the buggy for my 2yr old mindee when its raining as I need to go faster as she is such a slow walker .. too busy stopping to pick daises etc.

I know its hard but ignore the looks the others give you, you are covering yourself by noting it in the contact book and if mum wasnt happy she would tell you herself xxx

[huggableshelly]

Hang on in there, put him on some reins so if he does throw himself down you can reset him on his feet without to much physcial contact. he will soon figure it out - but ohhhhhhh you evil one.....

yep I use reins too ... they help to keep little one off the floor heehee

[Mouse]

I get all mine walking form about the age of 2...and that's on a half hour round trip!

I suppose you could put him in a buggy from the car to nursery, but that sounds more hassle than getting him to walk. Stick with what you're doing & I'm sure he'll soon learn to love it!
Could you make a game out of it - count how many steps it takes to get to nursery, see what you can spot on the way etc.

[PixiePetal]

I always get my 2 year olds walking. Within reason of course - that's what legs are for

I had one who refused and laid on the floor so I took his muslin away and said if he wanted it he could walk with me. He did, and turned into the greatest walker ever!
Parents did not pander to his paddys and we were working from the same book. He has walked to my house every morning he attends since he was 3 1/2 with his dad. about 20-25 mins fast walking too. That's before any walking he does with me - bless him, he is a star.

[FussyElmo]

I think you did exactly the right thing and I do exactly the same. When my double buggy I said I wasnt getting another one as dd goes in single and the other two walk. Mindees mum did ask me if I wanted her to buy a new double but I refused and explained she more and capable of walking .

I think children spend too long in the car and you can point out so much more to them walking.

I also wouldnt worry about the other parents they've all been there

[Alibali]

Oh yes! Walls have eyes around our area too, and the parents at school/nursery spend a lot of time talking about the cm's, I become totally paranoid about everything!

I had a new lo on settling in last week and he is used to being breastfed to sleep, however with 4 under 5 I can't cuddle him to sleep so after fed, changed etc he was put down for sleep and cried for about 5-6 mins.

Later that day my neighbour came to me and said 'oh do you have one teething? I heard crying coming fro your house and I don't normally hear a thing!!!

[cabby]

i have a problem with one of my mindees walking he's 4 and due to start school in sept, as soon as i ask him to get his shoes on he starts crying and doesnt stop till we get to school, but his mum still takes him everywhere in his pushchair, she has even come to my house at weekends(she only lives up the road) to see if she can borrow my pram for his 6 year old sister to go in ive always said a very polite sorry but no, although last time she asked i said no but " i do have a double one i selling if your interested", she hasnt asked since

[Blackhorse]

well I make my dd walk a lot..well actually I don't have to make her she loves it!

she can walk for long stretches of time and enjoys it too

she is now 17 months old.....

I can't stand seeing older kids in pushchairs...(you know the really big ones, that hardly fit into the pushchair anymore..)

[Zoomie]

My 2y mindee loves to walk everywhere. Infact she tells me each time we go out that she wants to walk.

I feel terrible, but sometimes I have to put her in the buggy cos it cuts down on our time at the playground

[The Juggler]

I have a long walk and it's really busy with school run pedestrian traffic so my two year olds can't wait to get out of buggy when they can! I totally agree from car to school is not a problem.

Children have legs for a reason. Long school runs maybe not the place but a short walk and lots of running in the park etc..

[LittleMissSparkles]

I had one mindee I used to walk everywhere, he starts school in september with my ds, i termiated the contract a few months ago, his mum still pushes him to school and back in a pushchair aged 4 !!!

[Daddy Day Care]

My son is 2 in july, and about 4 weeks ago I started walking him a lot more, my daughters nursery is only 5 mins away (15 mins with him walking) but he now walks every afternoon there and back to pick her up. Hes getting better everyday and gets excited now when I say to him shall we go and pick Leoni up.

Leoni was a little over 2 when Alex was born and at the time couldnt afford a double pram, couldnt even afford a buggy board, so she walked everywhere, the tots group we go in the morning is a 30 minute walk, but again she loved it and rarely complained about it.

I think its important to get them walking as soon as possible, some of the children at my daughters nursery shock me, theres a couple who get took there and picked up in buggies, and theres one who lives 2 doors down from me whos mum has to drive to the school becuase he refuses to walk. It takes longer to drive than walk because of the one way system.

[Twinkles]

We go out for walks most mornings and I like mine to walk as soon as they're able.
It sometimes means that it takes us ages to actually get anywhere but they get used to it.
I always take my double buggy and they can have a turn in there when they've really had enough.
But how else can they collect sticks, examine ladybirds and talk to snails ?
When we, as a nation, are looking at scarey statistics of childhood obesity I don't think anyone can/should be critisised for exercising a child.

Okay off soapbox



But as to the other point, yes we are under the microscope as minders.

[Cazz]

Well done for sticking to your guns - I agree that you should get them walking from a young age.

My dd (18 months yesterday) loves to walk whenever she gets the chance but I have to keep putting her in the buggy for a rest every now and again as I've noticed if she's done loads of walking in the afternoon she takes ages to get off to sleep in the evening - I think her little legs must be aching so much!

Carole x

[jessie1]

You are not a bad childminder. I think kids should be encouraged to walk if they can and dont have any problems. At the toddle walk last week there was a little boy that looked about 5 or 6 in a spiderman outfit that refused to walk at all and he had 2 carers with him either mom and granny it looked like and they kept on saying come on get in the buggy now. Not even encouraging him at all. I can understand that people have disabilities but after it was all over he was running around with the other kids wenn they ate their lunch so he looked healthy.
My DD is 19 months and started walking since 10 months. When she reached 13 months I would take the buggy with and have her walk little at a time and now she walks into town which normally takes 15 minutes or the scenic route which is longer but she stops for daisies and birds.

[helenlc]

Thank you for your words of encouragement and similar stories.

I did talk to him about fish have fins for swimming, we have legs for walking etc.

We (well, me!!) sang the Wheels on the Bus on the way back to the car for distraction - only he was screaming so loud he couldnt hear me!! But I found it rather distracting and therefore kept me calm!!!

My daughter was 18 months when we moved into our house. It was further away from my son's pre-school that we had been before. I could walk it in 20 minutes but with her it took a bit longer. So when we went back for him we left at 11.30 so we had 45 minutes for her to walk there!! She loved it.

Likewise when my son was little he would walk to my nans which was a 30 minute walk (for 2 1/2 yr old little legs!!) no problem. My cousin and her LO lived up the road from my nan and LO got pushed down in her buggy!!!

My 9 yr old holiday only mindee complained in half term cos we walked a bit further than he wanted to. Even his 3 yr old brother was walking along with not too much fuss!!! Well not as much as his brother anyway!!!

[nannymcflea]

I had one mindee I used to walk everywhere, he starts school in september with my ds, i termiated the contract a few months ago, his mum still pushes him to school and back in a pushchair aged 4 !!!

One of mine who left me aged 4 went through reception being taken to and from school in a push chair....he was 5 in the September too! That child walked fine with me!

[mushpea]

we are a family that love going for walks (we have a labrador so have to enjoy them really!! ), but i always seem to end up with children that hate walking and whose parents never make them walk anywhere
I had a 18mnth old that hated walking anywhere, i slowly built him up and now at 2years and 5months he walks everywhere i have even stopped using the buggy board, part of this is because he is a large chap and is to big for a pram and to heavy for the board but he loves walking now. I now have a 20month old who is the youngest of 3, she hates walking anywhere and even throws a wobbler walkin to the car from my house which is about 10 steps for me, if she sees the pram she thinks she should be in it, so will start training her soon, only trouble is her 3yrold and 6yrold sisters feel sorry for her and you can see in their face they hate me letting her walk cause it makes her cry bless, we will get there eventualy and so will u, you can always explain that they EYFS states they need fresh air and excersise!