bike trailer/stroller instead of a double buggy.

[KLHL777]

Hi,

I have a 1 yr old DD atm and I'm 22wks pregnant with baby number 3, also have a 7 yr old DS.
We currently have a mountain buggy swift which my DD, myself and the hubby all love. It does exactly what we want it to, in and out of the car easily when picking up DS from school and handles the local forest walk which we do about once a week with ease. The suspension is amazing and it turns on a pin. We love it.

So now that we have another bub on the way we need to think about getting a double stroller. My first instinct was to go for the mountain buggy duet, we went to mothercare and saw one and it is just basically a bigger mountain buggy so we're pretty happy with it and familiar with how it works.

BUT we are quite outdoorsy, and I would also like to get a bike trailer so the whole family can bike round to our local pub and park (a bit far for little legs to walk) and take around the near by cycle routes. Looking at the bike trailers it seems that to get one with any decent suspension (and the youngest two are still very young so I think it's a must) you're looking at the high end big money stuff, so we couldn't afford the mountain buggy duet and a stroller. Does anyone use a bike trailer/stroller as their main buggy? I've heard of people with kids close together not even buying a double buggy as they just sling the youngest and then when the older one is a bit up they use a buggy board.
I know you can't tow a newborn in a bike trailer but you can push them in the stroller mode of some models. If anyone is doing this what model are you using? It would have to fold up pretty small and be pretty easy to do so to get in and out of the car to do the school run. Also we love in northern ireland so it's raining most of the year, I was thinking a solid bottomed trailer would be better as the water frm puddles etc would come through a canvas floor? And a swivel front wheel would be easier to handle.

Help please!

[fluffypacman]

Hiya. We have a Thule Chariot cougar 2. It's a double (enter the comp on mums net to win one, then you could have both!) You can get stroller, running and even cross country skis to go on it. It's fab although has a fabric base. You can get a sling for the newborn baby to use inside and use as a stroller initially. There is also the Thule 'ctx' which has reclining seats and comes with all the extras included. look at leisure lake bikes. They don't fold down that small though and like most doubles are heavy. Ours does fit in our estate boot but you'd need to check. They retain brilliant resale value. We bought ours with interest free credit.

I don't know whether I would have wanted ours as our main buggy as the kids can easily thump each other as there's no separation between them. Also the lack of recline in ours would have ruled it out as my toddler would have been too uncomfortable to have a decent nap in it. It's a breeze to push though and it now is shandy if we're walking miles an need a double because our 4yo will get tired. If your outdoorsy also have a look at the outnabout nipper 360. Pushes like a dream. When we're cycling though they generally sing or fall asleep so I suppose it can't be that uncomfortable!

[LaughingHyena]

I used a burley d'lite for several years of school runs.

As a bike trailer it's great, and I didn't find it affected my balance or anything while riding, though I did notice being able to go somewhat faster on the occasions I didn't have it.

The trailer is considerably wider than my Maclaren double, there have been quite a few places I've not been able to get through gaps very easily, even the entrance to the cycle path opposite is a challenge. Also, on ours at least the stroller kit is a wheel which clips onto the front of the tow bar, so it ends up being quite long as well. There is no way I would attempt it in my local supermarket.

It does fold down reasonably easily, but even with the wheels of it's a challenge to fit it in the back of the car, the tow bar doesn't fold so the whole thing is still very long.

I'd have no problem buying a 2nd hand trailer though, ours is on at least it's 3 owner and I know the last person and I have both used it daily for several years. Other than a some fading and mud stains it's still fine.

[KLHL777]

Thank. Maybe I'll just get a decent secondhand double buggy and a decent secondhand bike trailer if that's the case.