Good off road buggy that folds small for big 2.5 year old

[nahicks]

Hi, our DS is very tall for his age (about 95 percentile) and weighs 35lb. His head is now squashed up in the hood when it's back on our vista and going over anything other than the smoothest of surfaces is now very tricky with his weight in the yoyo (I also think we may have reached the weight limit for this now anyway?)

He is walking for some journeys out and about but we do still need a buggy for longer walks and times we need to get somewhere more quickly. I think at this stage we should probably get a buggy that can cope well off road as we're likely to need it for those types of walk for longer. We also need something that can fold pretty small as I need to be able to get it in the boot of a Hyundai i10.

I've started to look but am getting confused about which all terrain ones would actually be any better than our vista in terms of room for DS.

Any suggestions from real life experience would be very helpful. Thank you.

[TeaPleaseBob]

I think the baby jogger elite has a big seat and high weight capacity. Meant to be good off road and baby joggers fold small (elite probably bit bigger than others but easy to take wheels off if necessary).

I've not got one but have seen it at one of the baby groups we go to with a big 3 year old in who had loads of room.

[Tiggywunkle]

Baby Jogger Elite or Summit; BOB Revolution Pro / SE / CE; TFK Joggster Twist or any I suspect of the TFK larger pushchairs; Easywalker Old MINI Stroller.

[nahicks]

Hi, thanks for the suggestions. I've had a look online but will have to try and see some in person. I did sit ds in a city mini gt at the weekend but he hated it and it wasn't any better than the vista in terms of the hood and his head. Maybe the elite would be better? Ds has got a relatively long body compared to his legs so torso wise he's probably over even the 95 percentile and he hates anything sitting round his head. I've tried looking on other threads and wondered whether the babyzen zen or any of the micralites would be ok? I'm not sure about the max weight on the micralite superlite though?

[NishyM]

The new ICandy Jogger looks great!

[nahicks]

I've spent some more time looking and testing things out and really can't make a decision, especially as a lot of the possible options I'm not going to get to see in person. I was wondering whether an Easywalker Mosey might be ok but then started to think perhaps I'm being a bit silly spending so much and should just try and live without a buggy or get a higher weight limit stroller and not worry about the off road?

[Ihateparties]

I think at 2.5 the obvious answer is remove the hood on your vista, if you haven't already, to try and ascertain if that's really what's bothering him. I can't say I've experienced dc hating any particular pushchair (they went in a lot of different ones) they have looked, from my perspective visually, more and less comfortable in different things I guess. At 2.5 they all were pretty anti pushchair anyway, irrespective of the model, circumstances made it occasionally unavoidable though.

[nahicks]

Thanks Ihateparties, you're probably right. I was just worried I'd need it when it was raining one day and then would be stuck. Out of interest though which buggy is better off road the vista or the mosey?

[Ihateparties]

Can't help you there I'm afraid, I haven't tried either off road, sorry. Have you seen the mini offer on pramworld?

Re the hood.. does the fabric of the hood come off? If so could leave the rods on to support the raincover if and when needed. Or if hood pops off easily keep whole thing it in basket in case of rain?

[nahicks]

Yes I did but I wasn't sure I could live with the union jack fabric and they don't have any other colour way available and easywalker said a new fabric pack would cost 150 euro. Do you think the old mini stroller be better for me than the mosey because now it is "old" I'm not able to see one in person.

[Ihateparties]

I don't know, i guess I was thinking from a cost PoV vs how much/how much longer you'd use it. My last "baby" just turned 3 so I'm thinking more like that myself at the moment and its sneaking out where it shouldn't. Given you can resell (nb easywalker at present do not resell well.. Not very well known brand I guess, not in many shops?) or reuse for further children you'd want to pick the most suitable one for now and any potential later situation. I'm hearing the old mini is better for older dc, roomier seat etc. But the new mini and mosey are much more user friendly and better for babies/younger toddlers. Mosey is significantly easier to tip parent facing if that's an issue to you.

[nahicks]

Thanks for your help. I think I'll try and have a trip into london and see a mosey in person before making a final decision. Not sure when that will be but I'll post my findings in case they're useful to anyone else.

[WLondonMum]

Have you looked at the Micralite buggies? When my son outgrew his Bugaboo Cameleon (he was too tall for the seat and very heavy) at around 2yrs we bought one of these as they are super light, fold up easily and the seat is very long indeed. We used it until he was about 3.5 and there was still head room. The Micralite people are super helpful too. We also bought a Patapum Toddler Carrier which was just brilliant for when we didn't want to take the buggy.... we still use it occasionally now at 5!