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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To want a double pram

104 replies

mumwhatnothing · 18/07/2017 07:33

I am expecting a baby in December. My DD will be 2 years 8months when the new baby will be born. I think I will need a double pram and want the Uppababy Vista but DH is adamant we won't need a double pram. I think he has no bloody clue just how much a 2 year old will need to sit or nap or be strapped in when going around town. This will be the closest in age our children are. We have 19 year old DS, 7 year old DD and 2 year old DD.

I want and think we will need a double pram. Is he being an unrealistic tight arse?

OP posts:

hotcrossbun83 · 18/07/2017 08:21

YANBU, I have 3.5 and 1.5 year olds and I still use a double occasionally, like the nursery run at 7.30am when they've just woken up. And being able to strap them both in at the shops. But I wouldn't get the uppababy, it's really hard to steer with a heavy child in the rumble seat (I had it for dc1 so added the extra seat when dc2 arrived). I live my city mini double, I'd get that or the mountain buggy duet and get the carrycot for the baby

ReesesPeanutButterCups · 18/07/2017 08:24

Absolutely depends on lifestyle and child. 2.5 years between my eldest two and I never used one. We walked miles as well. When I tried doubles I found them all too cumbersome to push for any length of time.

I bought a decent sling and a good from birth graco pram. We also kept the maclaren buggy we had for the eldest.

On my own I did baby in sling and toddler in pram or baby in sling toddler on buggy board. The pram and buggy board I had was great. It was stepped so it went over the top of the basket underneath and DD stood up between the pram and the handles or sat entirely under the handles so I wasn't falling over her.

HardcoreLadyType · 18/07/2017 08:26

I had a 23 month gap, and we used a sling and buggy or buggy and buggy board. However, we longer journeys were almost always in the car, and not on public transport.

It really does depend on the children, too, though. There are 16 months between my older sister and me, but when my mother would take my 3yo sister to nursery, I would walk, and she would ride in the buggy, then I would get a ride home.

bruffin · 18/07/2017 08:27

I had a 2 year gap and used the double for a year but i didnt drive.

Tried a sling and hated it also baby got wet as impossible to hold an umbrella and push a pram. September when dd was born was very wet
Push chair also had a huge basket so good for shopping

TinyTear · 18/07/2017 08:27

if you are on north london i am selling a 2011 Vista with buggyboard

my 2y3m old does not take a pram anymore, she scoots and she is dropping her naps...

my eldest was 3y2m when youngone was born and we just used 'boardy'

tinypop4 · 18/07/2017 08:27

DD was 2.8 when DS was born. We didn't need a pram, she walked 90% of the time and we had a buggy board if she got a bit weary. I would say it's not going to be a great value purchase at that age unless your DD is really really resistant to walking.

TheFirstMrsDV · 18/07/2017 08:28

I have five DCs
The first two and the last two were both just over 2 years apart.
I used a double.
I bought a cheap ones because although they were vital when I needed them, I didn't need them for long.

The cheaper, old style, tandem style is more cumbersome but it did the job and did wonders for my upper body strength.

I don't get the mania for getting toddlers out of buggies asap. I always kept mine till at least 3 years. None of my DCs were physically delayed or obese because of it.

Ceto · 18/07/2017 08:30

2 year 6 month gap here - I never needed a double.

FlandersRocks · 18/07/2017 08:30

2.3 years between mine and I never bothered.

But I'm not the type to wander round town shopping for a day...when it was just me and the kids, I'd be home for ds1's afternoon nap after lunch and he was more than happy walking the rest of the time.

We got a cheap umbrella stroller so that if we went on an all-day outing we could take that for ds1 and we had a pushchair each.

HeteronormativeHaybales · 18/07/2017 08:31

2y 4m gap, no car/driving. Dc2 carried in sling almost all the time for well over a year. Then pram (with seat in 'buggy' position, obviously) and buggy board which gradually got used less and less.

If you don't want to use a sling you will probably need a double.

Belleende · 18/07/2017 08:32

I am in the same boat. Figured that for local and around town it will be stroller and sling for the first few months, but have bought a 2nd hand phil and teds (£70) for longer walks in the country. Uppababy is lovely, but pricey. I think the chances of getting lots of use out of it is slim. Plenty else to spend your pennies on.

Knottyknitter · 18/07/2017 08:36

DD will be 2 & 11m when our new baby comes. I'm going for buggy board for when baby in cot part of pram and sling (gorgeous wrap just ordered) with lightweight buggy for when DD needs a rest and eg nursery run where she might walk a bit.

We do both drive though and I will have my car throughout mat leave, which does make things easier. I figure I'll need the buggy to carry All The Stuff as much as anything!

MrsPringles · 18/07/2017 08:38

Buy it. Pram regret is a real thing.

DS is nearly 3 and we have a stroller now (because I dong drive, walk everywhere and his little legs get tired) but I still look wistfully at the pram that I wish I had bought when DS was tiny

SparkyBlue · 18/07/2017 08:41

My eldest was 2 years 8 months when my second dc arrived and my double out n about was the best thing I bought. It allowed me to get out and do errands without any fuss or drama.

CryingMessFFS · 18/07/2017 08:45

I have 23 months between mine and we got a cheapish double. I used it about 4 times before I realised it was such a fucking faff. Just bulky, heavy and annoying. I walk everywhere btw I do not drive so DS walked. Just got a buggy tug (it is meant to be round the mums wrist to stop buggy blowing off or whatever) and taught him to hold that at all times and walk. That's been fine.

starsinyourpies · 18/07/2017 08:49

I had similar gap and use buggy board all the time, not yet used double buggy! Toddler stopped napping pretty much when baby arrived (thanks DD ).

Alittlepotofrosie · 18/07/2017 08:51

I wouldn't recommend a side by side. Next time you're out and about take a look at all the places you won't be able to fit with a side by side pram. I've got a Phil and ted in line and its great. Plenty of room for both and easy to drive, and same width as a normal pram just a bit longer.

AtHomeDadGlos · 18/07/2017 08:52

We bought the Vista with this dilemma in mind. DD will have just turned two when our next is born (all being well). We'll get the adaptors and make it a double I think.

Look for a second hand one. They're so expensive new. We (partly) decided to have number two as we still have so much of the newborn stuff.

juicekite · 18/07/2017 08:53

My son was 2yr8m when my daughter came along. I didn't buy a double, he was out of his pram a year before that so there was no point

astrantiamajor · 18/07/2017 08:56

Purely from the safety/peace of mind aspect I would get a double pram. Trying to control a pram and a toddler is a lot more difficult than your DP thinks. Stick to,your guns

MyPepper · 18/07/2017 08:56

I would wait until the baby is here and you are getting a feel of what you want to do, your olderbdd etc...
I was adamant I would NOT get a double pram. So I struggled for months before giving in. Only to have given in just a couple of months before Dc1 really didn't need a pushchair anymore .....

What i have learnt is that it's very hard to predict how a child will be in 6 months time at that age. Whether you need a pram or not also depends a lot of what you are doing on a day to day basis. So if you are walking your dd to school everyday and it's a 1.5 mile trip, then I suspect yu will need one. If you are using mainly the car and usually go out as a family (so always have an extra pair of hands) then not so much.

juicekite · 18/07/2017 08:59

Just to add, I don't drive. My son's nursery is 25 minutes away, the town is 2 miles away. Never used buses, we just walk everywhere. We are a bit slow yeah but at least I'm saving seven hundred pound

Fl0ellafunbags · 18/07/2017 09:01

My eldest was 2y7m when DC2 arrived. I couldn't afford a new pram so we went with the buggy board. It worked fine for us.

BenFolly · 18/07/2017 09:02

22 months between my two and I wasn't so glad to have a double buggy!

We got an icandy single that converts to a double, can't remember the type! It was an inline one, I think the side by sides are wide and cumbersome!

Get one if you feel you'll need it! They sell on very easily.

Enidblyton1 · 18/07/2017 09:02

Not sure if YABU. It totally depends on your lifestyle.
I had a similar age gap and wouldn't have used a double buggy more than a few times. I just had a buggy board. BUT, I wasn't walking miles with the pram (my older DD was in nursery 2 days a week when I did a lot of walking with the baby in a single pram). If you will do a lot of walking with both children at the same time, then you may get a lot of use out of a double.

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