Double pushchair help please ?

[lalalauren]

Hi just wondering if anyone has any ideas or advice :)
I am expecting baby no 2 in September and my son will be 27 months but he is currently not walking (but that is another story) so buggy board/making him walk is not a option.
I really am set on a side by side if possible.
I currently have a Baby Jogger City Mini single and thought the double would be perfect as I love the single. But have now found out that you cannot attach a car seat to the double, I think this is a must for us as we live in quite a small village and often have to pop out to places in the car.
I then thought the Bugaboo donkey was the answer to our problems (even though they cost a fortune)
I've now measured the front door and think this presents a new problem :( it is a standard door width but the door only opens 90degrees so i don't know if the door its self would get in the way when trying to get the donkey in the house I have tried to imagine it but its so hard to tell without actually having one to try out.
I am thinking now my only option is the mountain buggy duet but keep thinking the seats look tiny, my son is quite small for his age so may not be a problem now but we have no idea when he will be walking and want it to last.
Does anyone have any experience of putting a bigger child in the mountain buggy?
I haven't found many reviews of it in general so would appreciate any opinions about them, also do they resell quite easily and for what sort of price?
Also haven't completely ruled out the Donkey, how easy is it to covert from double to single? Is it possible to do this with one child still in the pushchair?
Or anyone know of any other pushchairs I could consider?
Sorry I have gone on so much, I really want to buy the right one first time!

[Ihateparties]

Initially I would measure the smallest width of the open door and work from there, then you will know definitively what width you can accomodate. The donkey is 74cm but wider with the car seat on. The out n about nipper v2 and soon to arrive v3 is 72cm but like the city mini doesn't take a car seat.

[lalalauren]

Thanks for replying :) At its narrowest point the gap is 75cm wide, is there a carrycot option for the out and about? Or would the baby always be facing away from me? Thank you

[LemonBreeland]

I think you should rethink the necessity of a car seat attaching. It is not that hard to take a baby out of the car seat and into a pushchair. It is also better for their backs.

If you have the BJCM single then you know how goos it is. I think the double is your best option.

[Tiggywunkle]

I love the Donkey but the conversion can be a PITA. You could find one day it converts great (or you may be lucky and have an easy to convert one) or you could find another day you have tipped the pushchair on its end and there are 2 of you tugging away at it to pull it apart (believe me I have been there). Its generally a pain anyway because you have three clips to undo and do up, plus the pulling apart, and trying to do it in the cold and wet is no fun. I know people do convert it with a child in the seat, but I wouldn't. If you are going to have to convert the Donkey every time you go in and out of the house, I bet you sell it on pretty soon.

However the Donkey is pretty narrow as side by side pushchairs go - I think off the top of my head only the Duet and new narrow Nipper are smaller. It is wider with the car seat on, but that would be no biggy to remove to go into the house (although you probably wouldn't have it on so close to home. If the City Mini Double fits through your door then the Donkey in Duo mode will do. I would get measuring your door.

Personally I dont think the Duet is the best double out there, but if its the only one that fits then so be it. Mine was problematic - it pulled to the side by eldest was on and caused me back ache trying to pull it into line. I dont like how the fabric bunches up around the child's head when they are pullled up from the recline. The handle is really low. Its huge folded and fills a large boot and is heavy and unwieldly to carry. I would much rather have any of the good tandems out there, than the Duet.

If you can get a Donkey through your door and keep it in Duo mode, go for it - but again think about lifting it into your car in Duo mode, because again converting it in a busy car park in wind and freezing rain is enough to make you want to get back in the car and go home again (yes I have done that as well! I got to the point where I didn't want to get out of the car any more).

[Tiggywunkle]

There is a carrycot for the V3 Nipper.

[Tiggywunkle]

Have a look at the TFK Twinner Twist Duo. Its 74cms wide and has carrycot and car seat options and a pretty neat fold. Its one of the best double pushchairs out there.

[MortifiedAdams]

Would the Stokke Crusi work? Not sure if its compatable with a carseat - I think it is.

[lalalauren]

I do keep wondering if I really need the carseat option as I was so set on the bjcm double but looking at it now its just half a cm too wide for our door space so will have to rule it anyway, I will miss those huge hoods tho.
How long have you used the donkey for? Do you have any problems with it? If I end up going for it I really want it to be the one lol as its so much money
Now going to look up the TFK

[Ihateparties]

I saw the crusi in the flesh for the first time recently

My duet didn't pull to one side like tiggy's did, nor did i have a problem with the handle height but I rarely notice that anyway. I expected to love the duet but I just didn't, a personal thing really.

Haven't tried a nipper or donkey, did have a bjcmd but that didn't fit through my door, which tbh wasn't the end of the world but in hindsight I wouldn't make that decision again.

[MortifiedAdams]

A lady in the shopping centre today had an iCandy with a car seat and a full seat on, looked quite nifty!

[forevergreek]

I would go for the nipper. The donkey will annoy after a while as you have to take apart to put in car ( which you say you do a lot)

The nipper is narrow, but large seats so even say a 5 year old should fit. You can face newborn towards you in the new v3 one with carrycot. No car seat but shouldn't stay longer than 30-45 mins max anyway which it prob already is after driving so just take baby out

[Tiggywunkle]

The Stokke Crusi quite frankly is ridiculous on lots of levels - access to the lower child, the inability to alter the upper seat recline once its in situ without removing the child and the seat (useless if a child falls asleep and then wakes up and want to sit up or vice versa, they fall asleep), that the lower child only reclines. Plus most of the Crusi's I know of fell apart within weeks and got returned.

[MultipleMama]

There are also carrycots for the BJCM... I think.

[lalalauren]

Thanks everyone for all the replies. The door is the main problem really the only options that will fit are the out n about, mountain buggy and possibly the donkey at a tight squeeze. And to add to it all we have now found out that we will be moving house when baby is 3/4 months old (husband in the military) so am praying for a house with a nice wide front door and giant hallway lol!

[CruCru]

I have done a bit of research on this. My door is similar to yours and I was quite fixed on a side by side. After going round John Lewis I decided that the most practical will be the P+T (which I initially didn't like but even the Nipper is going to be awkward getting in and out the front door).

The Donkey looked awesome but was quite bulky in "person" and is a couple of cm wider than the Nipper.

[HandMini]

Anyone seen the Babystyle Oyster Max? I've been considering this one for a while, but I'm yet to make the decision save the money. Our double Maclaren techno is cheap and cheerful and folds up small. I think it claims to be from 6 months, but largish DD2 has been happy in it fully reclined from 4 months.

[InsanelyBrainDeprived]

Try the baby jogger city select. I love mine. Easy to handle, looks good and nice large seats. Can have them in a variety of positions plus attach car seat and there is a carry cot kit. Also works as a single when oldest walks. A buggy board specifically made for the city select is available too. Brilliant

[lalalauren]

Yes the city select is one of the tandems that doesn't look like one child is staring at the back of a seat which is what I dont like about most of them. Haven't read that much about them though as I've been so set on a side by side.

[Ihateparties]

The day comes when the select gets too heavy to push, they're brilliant in the options they offer, but you need to be aware of how much time you would get out of one.

Re tandems and staring at the back of a seat.. I get what you mean but children in them don't do this, they turn their heads. I keep thinking of those stickers on the back of lorries - if you can't see my mirrors then i can't see you - if you as a passer by can see the child then the child
can see you. There is a decently large blind spot though obviously and as you will have two children in the pushchair full time (as oppose to hopping in and out depending on situation as is fairly common with toddlers) a side by side is better for that imho.

Do you know anyone with a double buggy that you could trial driving through your door?

[HandMini]

The City Select looks amazing and I would have it like a shot, BUT it's big (both long and wide) so I would urge anyone with smallish doors, staircases, access issues to measure carefully. It has some great positions, esp front seat forward face and back seat parent facing but that makes it very long. I know it sounds like a small difference but the iCandy Peach, Phil and Teds Dot or Babystyle Oyster Max all at 59/60cm width feel and look a lot nippier than the BJCS (65/66cm).

[lalalauren]

Oh dear I can't believe I am starting to look into tandems now too just adding more choice when I can't decide anyway lol. I have a friend with a out n about who has already said I can try it through my front door but I have now idea what model it is. The icandy and oyster max do look nice and very similar what are the differences between them? I am hoping to pop to kiddicare and possibly john lewis at the weekend and have a better look at all my options and put my son in the seats as I think the seats do look small on a lot of them but then I suppose that is the price you pay for a small pushchair and he is currently has a huge seat in the BJCM so most do look small in comparison

[Ihateparties]

Yeah coming from a fixed seat and esp a city mini they will seem smaller. Defo a good plan to try things out and see where he looks comfortable. The oyster max could work well, the hood slides up the seat frame for extra height and older children can put their feet on the front on the chassis, good pics here with bigger older children

[Tiggywunkle]

I was having a conversation only yesterday with a mum about tandem pushchairs. We were both saying how neither of our eldest children will sit in the front seat, and "bags" the lower seats before we even get the pushchair out. Meanwhile our LO's love the front seats and wont go in the lower seats! Children dont do what you expect, and a know a good number of children who given the choice will always choose the lower seat - I think they see it as some kind of den or hiding place.

Kiddicare dont stock the Oyster Max - I think John Lewis or a good independent shop would be better for tandems although Kiddicare is good for side by sides. This shows the Oyster Max next to the Peach Blossom 2.

Please lose your perceptions of how a seat looks and take a tape measure. The Upper iCandy Peach seat for example is 0.5cms bigger than the BJCM seat and is 0.5cms deeper just as an example. Yes, some tandem seats are smaller but literally by a cm or so ie not enough to quibble over unless you have a giant 4 year old. As Parties says DO make sure that you set the pushchair up right - slide the hoods up the seats, strap you child in tightly (them leaning forwards will always make a seat look smaller), adjust the footrest to suit them, consider where else they could put their feet (and indeed that some children like my youngest hates using footrests and will prefer to dangle feet whatever I do!) and if necessary remove the liner. Ask your child how he feels. I know the advantage of an older child is that I can ask her if she is comfy or not - and believe me they will tell me if they aren't or even if they love something.

I also dont realistically think you would have an issue with a side by side like the BJCM where the width is under 76cms when you are about town - unless you like old shops with tiny doors. We popped into Chester the other week, and we have no idea how anyone there shops with a pushchair!

Happy shopping - just rememeber there is no perfect double - you just need to work out where to compromise!