Jane Powertwin or alternatives?

[DeanAndSarah]

Hello,

We (like many before us) are slowly going insane working out what second hand pushchair to get ready for when nunber two arrives shortly.

Background info: Our daughter will be 1 year 4 months when number two arrives in November. We had a second hand Graco/Mothercare Trenton travel system last time round which we picked up for £40 second hand (and sold for the same £ recently) so arent fussy people. We are only upping the budget this time to save Sarah's sanity day2day with having 2 kids which is apprently 3 times the work :-)

Sarah will be using it for shopping and walks in the park during the week and then we normally go for longer walks on the beach/moors at the weekend. The Graco wasnt ideal for real rough terrain but we just abused it and washed it down after it never thought about breaking!

We are looking for a pushchair suitable for use with one newborn and one toddler. It needs to take one car seat (that preferably has a corresponding base in the car) be reasonbly light and easy to maouvre and enables the newborn to lie flat as we have always felt this to be important. We prefer the three wheeled tandem vibe to the side by side one although Sarah isnt so keen on the four wheeled train like tandems.

So after much deliberation we decided on a Jane Powertwin coupled with a Strata seat/base. But then oh no the newborn problems...

The Jane Powertwin can only be used with the stock seats, or with the standard Strada/Rebel car seats. Neither of which are very newborn firendly, especially for the long walks and days out as the car seat has that two hour limit and the back seat doesnt go totally flat apparently. We would prefer not to use a car seat day to day either. The Matrix/Transporter lie flat car seats dont fit apparently nor does the micro carrycot - despite their website saying that it fits any of their range!

Can someone who has had a Jane Powertwin or who knows them well explain what on earth you do with your newborn with this pushchair? For such a pricey pushchair it seems a bit silly that you should have to 'make do' with no real option of lying baby flat. Even the cheapie singles do that!

Alternative suggestions of a similar style and second hand price very welcome.

As a botch I was thinking you could just plop a standard mothercare carrycot in there for the early days maybe?

Sigh, its so complicated and such a pressurised decision when you are broke and cant afford to get it wrong!

Help1

Thanks,

Dean and Sarah.

[Fisharefriendsnotfood]

We had power twin and the car seat we haad was suitable for newborns. There was an adjustment at the back for under 4 months. We found it great. Dd was 22 months when ds was born

[aswellasyou]

I thought the Matrix did fit. I had a Powertwin for a few months and really liked it. It was for my daughter and niece who were both 7 months when we got it. I think I'd be happy to put a newborn in the back personally as long as I had a thick padded liner. Another option would be to buy a soft carrycot like this and put it on the seat with the baby's head at the foot end. The Graco one (I don't know about any others) has a wedge at the head end so that the baby will lie flat on the seat. Does that make any sense?

The Powertwin is really light to steer and is easy to push over bumpy ground. It also folds down really small when you take the wheels off-it's one of only three double pushchairs I know of that will fit in a Peugeot 207. I'd definitely recommend it. The only reason we sold ours was that the front seat's recline wasn't great for a baby, but I think your daughter will be fine at 16 months.

[flootshoot]

I've got a safety first tandem (that I'm going to sell). The rear seat lies flat like a carry cot and I would imagine you could wedge a car seat in there.

[Tiggywunkle]

I have had a Powertwin very briefly (it's got an issue with it) and I don't like it. The baby space isn't too bad to be honest, it looked pretty flat to me, but my issue is the front footrest. It's almost by the child's knees which gives an older child no choice but to dangle their legs right next to the wheel. The front hood was nigh on useless because it's so narrow and my eldest could barely fit under either hood anyway. She's 2 and 3/4's. The front seat has barely any recline which would bother me if your eldest still naps. You may well be better with a Phil&Teds if you can seriously address storage with some panniers etc because otherwise they are useless for shopping with two, or consider foregoing the car seat and get a Nipper side by side which will be better for the beach. I know it has four wheels but have a look at the B-Dual. There's some cheap offers on at the minute and I think it will deal with everything you are asking and it's also not particularly long. It will handle off road and the beach reasonably well (mine did anyway!) and has space for shopping and will take either a Britax or Maxi Cosi car seat.

[aswellasyou]

Or a Babystyle Oyster carseat! I'm about to get a Britax B-Dual because it seems to cover every eventuality pretty much. If you're willing to give up the three wheels, it's definitely worth a look.

[saoirse86]

I'm aswellasyou's sister and I really liked our Powertwin. The only problems we encountered were with the slight recline on the front seat and the ability of the back child to kick the front child. These won't be so much of a problem with your children's ages. I thought the back seat was suitable for newborns as it really is very flat, just as flat as a maclaren we had which was suitable from birth. I'd still put a soft carrycot or lovely thick liner/footmuff anyway. We never had the car seats so don't know much about them.

I'd personally go with the powertwin now but be willing to possibly need to sell and buy something else when your youngest is maybe a year and can kick your eldest. Then the Nipper would be a good option. Or your eldest might be safe enough on a buggy board so you could go with a single pushchair.

I honestly loved the push on the powertwin, lovely and light and so much easier to deal with than other doubles. Also, if you get a newer model than we had, the front wheel can be taken off and the footplate sort of tucked in so it folds even smaller.

[DeanAndSarah]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the replies you have confirmed and dispelled some thoughts all at once :-)

I think we will definately go with the powertwin, just need to work it all out and get it under the £150 budget (pushchair, carseat and possible base).

I think the older powertwins recline more than the newer ones for some reason. So the newer ones that come with the strata car seat are less likely to be flat at the back.

I have been thinking too about this suggestion of using a regular carry cot in the back. It seems to solve all the problems and was what we had with the old graco. Thing is these three wheelers are a bit unsteady so I would want to be sure that it and baby couldnt fall out in the disaster case of it tipping over. Could the carrycot be fixed in somehow.

aswellasyou - did you or have you seen anyone use the matrix in a powertwin?

Although a phil n teds would be good for some things its got way too many drawbacks. Not suitable for newborns if you ask me, no storage with 2 babies and it cant take a car seat can it??

Didnt know about the front wheel update, thanks for that.

Any other suggestions on how they vary and how they can be used with newborns and cars are very welcome. Shame there is no base for the rebel car seats only the strata.

Thanks,

Dean.

[saoirse86]

There's a way you can kind of secure a soft carrycot in the seat. You put the carrycot's handles down the sides of the carrycot and then have the seat harness really tight and put it through the handles and clip together under the carrycot. Does that make any sense at all?!

If the older style is flatter and you don't have a problem with having the older style wheel at the front, then just get that one. Ours was £100 without the car seats but there were loads on ebay with and without car seats, some even cheaper.

We didn't exactly have much weight in ours with the girls being about 7 months but I don't recall it ever feeling like it was going to tip. It really did feel like a good pushchair and I honestly think you'll be really happy with it.

[DeanAndSarah]

Thanks everyone,

What changed on the newer ones with the wheel and in general?