Stroller in European Cities

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just did Belgium, Germany, and France with our almost 5yo who is extremely energetic and hasn't been in a stroller since she was 2. I did not bring one, but our Airbnb host in Belgium left an umbrella stroller and said we'd probably want it even though I was adamant we wouldn't. Holy crap it SAVED our trip. We used it every single day and actually bought it from her to continue on to our other destinations. I literally left her a review that said she anticipated my family's needs better than I did

Smart host!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get the 5 year old out of the habit of using the stroller. Unless your kid has a disability of some sort, I can't understand why he's still in a stroller.

He's not. They are simply considering bringing it because this trip will require long days and a lot of walking. People are being so weird about this. It's okay for a child who has generally outgrown a stroller to use one under special circumstances. I once put my DC in pull ups when she had the stomach flu even though she hadn't used one in years, because it was preferable to the alternative.

Everyone is being very precious about this, like if you let your 5 yr old ride in a stroller during a museum visit and some sightseeing in London, you've failed some secret parenting test. It's fine. Some kids will do great without it, some kids might do better with it.

Serious question: is there an age where you do think it’s an issue (obviously barring a special need or disability)? Thoughts on bringing a stroller for a small 7 year old?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your Child can’t handle a European vacation without being in a stroller, you really should stay home.

I’m glad I didn’t have you giving me advice when my kids were little. Thanks to my umbrella stroller we went all over Europe, Asia and Latin America without any issues!

Because Americans believe it is all about them and have no care how they are seen in other countries.

Also, what if it were a child with special needs that were not visible to others? Would you fret about how it looks to Europeans? Hopefully not. So it shouldn't matter either way.

Yet the OP has not mentioned “special needs” at all. So why do you and others. I swear some people use statements to justify their position.

Why not just move slower and not see as much and live like a local instead of a tourist. What is the hurry? It is not like Europe won’t be there in the future.

Yes having a stroller is truly me centric instead of being cognizant of how others in the visited area act and treat their five year old able bodied child!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless your kid has some of kind physical disability, I say no stroller (Parisian here).

Agree. Plan on taking the metro or taxis as a last resort. My kids were always entertained by the Metro and random city buses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your Child can’t handle a European vacation without being in a stroller, you really should stay home.

I’m glad I didn’t have you giving me advice when my kids were little. Thanks to my umbrella stroller we went all over Europe, Asia and Latin America without any issues!

Because Americans believe it is all about them and have no care how they are seen in other countries.

Also, what if it were a child with special needs that were not visible to others? Would you fret about how it looks to Europeans? Hopefully not. So it shouldn't matter either way.

Yet the OP has not mentioned “special needs” at all. So why do you and others. I swear some people use statements to justify their position.

Why not just move slower and not see as much and live like a local instead of a tourist. What is the hurry? It is not like Europe won’t be there in the future.

Yes having a stroller is truly me centric instead of being cognizant of how others in the visited area act and treat their five year old able bodied child!

Not everyone has the extra money to travel to Europe frequently. For some people it’s a once in a lifetime trip because of the cost, so they want to see a lot of stuff and not live like a local.

[Anonymous]

I would not plan a vacation with hours and hours of walking with a 5yo in tow. That's that. I would not bring a stroller either. But I would (and have) lowered my expectations significantly when traveling with small children. You can still have a great time and do sightseeing but just less walking. Plus, if it's hot, then frankly neither my kids nor us adults want to walk too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get the 5 year old out of the habit of using the stroller. Unless your kid has a disability of some sort, I can't understand why he's still in a stroller.

He's not. They are simply considering bringing it because this trip will require long days and a lot of walking. People are being so weird about this. It's okay for a child who has generally outgrown a stroller to use one under special circumstances. I once put my DC in pull ups when she had the stomach flu even though she hadn't used one in years, because it was preferable to the alternative.

Everyone is being very precious about this, like if you let your 5 yr old ride in a stroller during a museum visit and some sightseeing in London, you've failed some secret parenting test. It's fine. Some kids will do great without it, some kids might do better with it.

Serious question: is there an age where you do think it’s an issue (obviously barring a special need or disability)? Thoughts on bringing a stroller for a small 7 year old?

It's kid dependent. It's situation dependent. It's family dependent. The vast majority of 7 yr olds would not come close to fitting in a travel stroller -- it wouldn't even be comfortable for them and they wouldn't want to do it. But if a family had a 7 yr old who did fit, that means they have a super small 7 yr old who might also have low endurance or on the late side of the developmental curve. So yeah, if your 7 yr old fits in a stroller and you have some reason to think they would benefit from it on a vacation, go ahead, I don't care.

OP has a very specific situation:
5 yr old
Hasn't used a stroller in a long time
Multi-week vacation abroad that will be very walking heavy
Older kids who clearly have more endurance than 5 yr old

She wants to make sure they can do the stuff the older kids will want to do but not overtax the youngest kid. A stroller is an easy, functional solution to that. People in this thread are making it complicated with all these weird feelings about older kids in strollers and it's not complicated. The stroller is the obvious answer. This isn't some major moral quandary or a parenting test.

[Anonymous]

Many of you are missing that OP has older kids. Thus they cannot tailor the entire vacation just around the 5 yr old's needs -- they also want their older kids to do things that are ages appropriate for them.

To everyone saying it's terrible to put the 5 yr old in a stroller so they can do a long day of sightseeing, would you be fine with cutting short excursions that were interesting and engaging for a 10 yr old because the 5 yr old is complaining about walking? Earlier in the thread someone suggested just staying near some playgrounds and not sightseeing. So I guess your older elementary kids don't get to take advantage of this rare opportunity to wander around Paris or Rome because you think it's sacrilege to let a 5 yr old spend an hour in a stroller so that you can go walk the check out the Louvre or the Tuileries on your last day in the city.

[Anonymous]

Because a reasonable person would either wait to their kid is older instead of being an inconvenience on crowded streets and small shops because they had to bring their stroller.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get the 5 year old out of the habit of using the stroller. Unless your kid has a disability of some sort, I can't understand why he's still in a stroller.

He's not. They are simply considering bringing it because this trip will require long days and a lot of walking. People are being so weird about this. It's okay for a child who has generally outgrown a stroller to use one under special circumstances. I once put my DC in pull ups when she had the stomach flu even though she hadn't used one in years, because it was preferable to the alternative.

Everyone is being very precious about this, like if you let your 5 yr old ride in a stroller during a museum visit and some sightseeing in London, you've failed some secret parenting test. It's fine. Some kids will do great without it, some kids might do better with it.

Serious question: is there an age where you do think it’s an issue (obviously barring a special need or disability)? Thoughts on bringing a stroller for a small 7 year old?

My NT daughter used a stroller at Disney until she was 8. We had the Maclaren for tall kids/parents so she easily fit. She mostly used it at the end of the day but it was great to push our bags around too and park them when needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because a reasonable person would either wait to their kid is older instead of being an inconvenience on crowded streets and small shops because they had to bring their stroller.

What if waiting a couple years means that now you don't have time for that trip? Or your oldest is just starting to enter the phase where they prefer friends to family time. Or the trip is schedule to coincide with visiting dear friends living abroad. Or you're bringing along a beloved grandparent who probably won't be up for this kind of travel in a couple years.

My guess is that with a 5 yr old, you wouldn't bring the stroller on crowded streets or shopping excursions. You'd bring it on travel days, or for a long day at Vatican City or Versaille. Or maybe a short excursion to go get ice cream after dinner but the 5yr old is clearly exhausted.

[Anonymous]

This thread is filled with parents of onlies or who have two kids close together, or people who don't travel a lot with kids in the 4/5/6 range. Just weird lack of understanding about what is even being asked.

Bring the stroller.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of you are missing that OP has older kids. Thus they cannot tailor the entire vacation just around the 5 yr old's needs -- they also want their older kids to do things that are ages appropriate for them.

To everyone saying it's terrible to put the 5 yr old in a stroller so they can do a long day of sightseeing, would you be fine with cutting short excursions that were interesting and engaging for a 10 yr old because the 5 yr old is complaining about walking? Earlier in the thread someone suggested just staying near some playgrounds and not sightseeing. So I guess your older elementary kids don't get to take advantage of this rare opportunity to wander around Paris or Rome because you think it's sacrilege to let a 5 yr old spend an hour in a stroller so that you can go walk the check out the Louvre or the Tuileries on your last day in the city.

It’s not like the older children magically have limitless stamina either. I took my twins to Europe at age 7, 8, 10 and 11. They still needed breaks and were jet lagged. Cousin came along as a 3 year old on one trip and a 6 year old on the other. Her mom brought the stroller at 3 but the cousin refused to go in it! Was generally up for anything until she WASNT and then no stroller would have helped. One parent needed to take her back to the room or the hotel pool if there was one. The meals are late and long in some of these countries. Families need to set expectations appropriately and just be flexible. Being a parent to a 5 year old sometimes means you miss certain parts of a trip if a kid has had it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is filled with parents of onlies or who have two kids close together, or people who don't travel a lot with kids in the 4/5/6 range. Just weird lack of understanding about what is even being asked.

Bring the stroller.

this is a 5 year old - too damn old to be in a stroller. I think you have forgotten what 5 looks like! They aren't two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your Child can’t handle a European vacation without being in a stroller, you really should stay home.

I’m glad I didn’t have you giving me advice when my kids were little. Thanks to my umbrella stroller we went all over Europe, Asia and Latin America without any issues!

Because Americans believe it is all about them and have no care how they are seen in other countries.

Correct, Americans aren’t judgmental snobs.