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Travelling to and from school

C

Hi all,

A friend has 2 boys. The eldest (A) has just started in reception this term and the journey to and from school is a stressful experience for all three of them.

It's a 20 minute walk that can take over an hour. At school A is very quiet but on either the journey there or the journey back it can quickly become a meltdown. As they walk both ways there are concerns around road safety. A enjoys running and isn't aware of the dangers presented by the busy road. It usually results in the mother carrying the eldest but this is difficult and stressful for both mum and A (who will struggle and kick/hit to be released). It also makes it hard to keep sight of the younger child when crossing roads (he currently holds on to mum but that also increases the chances of getting caught in the struggle).

 They're trying to arrange for transport to and from school through services but that's not something that will appear any time soon. 

Has anyone experienced this? Any advice is welcome at this point.

Thanks in advance

  • Hi

    I can empathise, I have been through something similar with my daughter. She’s five, and we’ve had a similar 15 minute walk (which in reality is usually 30 minutes) to and from nursery/school for the last two years. She can’t be trusted not to suddenly run into the road, so I have to keep a tight hold on her hand, and often she will have a meltdown and refuse to walk forcing me to carry her. As I have fibromyalgia this can be quite difficult, although fortunately I don’t have another small child to handle at the same time. I don’t have ‘the answer’, I’m afraid, as this is still something we struggle with quite often, but I can share what sometimes helps for us. 

    With my daughter, it sometimes helps to make a game out of the walk, saying ‘ready, steady, go!’ and running with her for a bit (while keeping hold of her hand of course). She likes leaves, so it can help to play ‘find the most interesting leaf’ as we walk along. If it has rained then jumping in puddles is a great distraction. Sometimes it helps to give her something to carry, like her book bag or lunchbox or even a little toy. Sometimes it helps to sing a little nursery rhyme to her as we walk - although I know not everyone would like doing that, you can get some funny looks!  Also I try to avoid the busiest times because she doesn’t like it when there are too many other people around, so we go in early. On the rare occasions when my husband’s doing the school run he tends to pre-emptively put her up on his shoulders to carry her, as she likes being up high, although that’s not something I can do.

    Another thought is would it work to introduce a scooter or bike with a parent handle for A, or a pushchair for the younger child? I know it doesn’t work for us because my daughter can’t abide the pushchair and she can’t use a scooter or bike due to development delay, but I’ve seen it work for others.

    Hope that helps, and that the transport comes through as quickly as possible.