Cheapest pushchair + 2 car seats combo?

[babybabynamechange]

Ok, it's very early days for me and I'm not going to be buying anything for a while but it comforts me to be doing research :)

I live in a flat, there is a short walk from the car park to my front door, up some shallow (shallow enough to bump a pushchair up) steps. I think the most practical solution for getting twins in and out of the house will be to have two infant carrier car seats which click on and off of isofix bases and on and off of a pushchair. I'm aware of not keeping the babies in the car seats for long.

Does anyone have any recommendations for which pushchairs and car seats I should be looking at? I have an older child (will be 3 when twins are born) but didn't have an infant carrier with him and his pushchair isn't adaptable into a double so I am starting from scratch. Cost is a MAJOR consideration for us.

Best I've come up with so far is Britax B-agile double - c. £280 with britax car seats c. £70 x 2 and bases c. £70 x 2 which is a total of £560 for the package. Any alternatives? TIA

Watching with interest. I'm only 10 weeks but trying to do research like you. I had my heart set on the Oyster max 2 but a friend with twins has warned me that after a year or so it will be heavy and one child will have a very restricted view... :(. She suggested something like the Baby city mini or mountain buggy duet. At first I thought these looked like tanks but am now thinking maybe one purchase to last rather than wasting money on aesthetically pleasing prams which will be impractical after a year or so.

I like the look of the Mountain Buggy Duet calibee but I worry that a side-by-side buggy will be hard to manage round shops/through doors? That said it'll be much easier to put the babies into than one when one seat is basically underneath the other.

I know several people with the "stacking" type buggy's such as Phil and Teds (my friends all have children of different ages so it's not quite the same) and there is never a particular problem with lack of view - the child at the bottom has a good view of mum and can interact easier than the child on the top. I expect it is heavy but the two families I know who use them have a 2yr old and a 4yr old and manage ok...

Phil and Teds aren't great for twins. They are designed for a toddler and a baby or two toddlers. They don't have a two babies combo and you can only attach 1 car seat.

Just to say I have a city mini jogger and as long as the doors or shops are ok to fit wheelchairs I gave been able to get in and around shops with no problems. Sometimes it is a tight squeeze through the doors but my biggest battle has been on the pavement when not everybody wants to move over to allow me through....bit daft really because it's not like I can make the buggy smaller to squeeze past.

I would forget about the car seat thing and get a out and about nipper. The one in front of the other will get to heavy. You could get a single and a sling second hand. and have one child in a carseat and leave one seat in the car.
The b agile only takes one carseat. The deut takes 2 but is wide when u have two on it and you would also need carry cots as the carseat only go on without the seat fabric. with the seat fabric it is very narrow but it is also heavy to lift in and out of the car.
There is the britax b deul but I think they must be discontenueing it so you will have to be quick. from memory you can get a adapeter for the bottom seat for the carseat. it will depend on if you an get that bit still or not b deul

2015isgoing can I ask if you can fit car seats on the baby mini city? I'm thinking a side by side may not even go through my front door which could entail some faffing of getting babies in once pram is put up outside.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Baby-Trend-Universal-Double-Snap-N-Go-Stroller-Frame-/251991464891?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3aabdc9bbb

This might work

Great tips everyone, thanks. I do use a sling but can just think of numerous incidences when it would be so useful to click the car seats on and off - it was the b-agile double that I was looking at which is side-by-side and not being discontinued according to britax.

calibee the mountain buggy duet says it's 62cm wide - am going to measure my doors later! It looks odd with two car seats though - one up high and one down low...

That's the sort of thing I guess I'm thinking of not but would need to be a UK one as American car seats are different (bigger) so British ones wouldn't fit I think...

If you visit your local twins group you can chat to lots of twin mothers. My twins are nearly 3. I had an iCandy, it was utterly shit and I sold it and bought a Nipper. The only twin mums I know with tandems are ones with twins under one. We soon learn a side by side is best :)

I have a double baby jogger city mini but not for twins. However I wanted to recommend the soft Graco carrycots that you can attach (rear-facing when seat in full recline) to the seats using the D rings in the seat and it will fold with the carrycots attached. You can pick them up fairly cheaply on ebay and it was great when my baby was small (can see them through the viewing window in the hood too)

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GRACO-QUATTRO-GREY-SOFT-CARRYCOT-VGC-/271894915081?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3f4e332809

I wouldn't think the car seat carrying will last long, remember how heavy one car seat with say a 4 month in is, x2 you won't be able to carry. Plus how will you hold 3 year olds hands at crossings?

Personally I would get out and about nipper ( cheaper than mountain buggy and lighter), plus x2 slings. Then for quick journeys into house you can sling one baby and carry the other, put both baby's in one sling when small ( can with several wrap slings), or can wear baby in front and one on back once they won't fit in together ( handy when you need to go places with stairs/ no prams). All leaving you a hand free for 3 year old

Then you can just get car seats that stay in car

I can't imagine the car seats are the best way - as they are so heavy so quickly.

We have an oyster max for our 3 Ns nearly 2yo and it is convenient and not too heavy. I also had a graco side by side (cheapo) which was convenient but is now too heavy, and although narrow I struggled with quite a lot of doorways.

You can put two car seats on the oyster. A twin mum friend of mine does.

Have to say....I am loving the Bumbleride Indie Twin. My choice may be made

Everyone I know with twins has the mountain buggy duet! Due to the way the wheels are it's no wider than my single uppababy vista.

You can't add on the car seats to the city jogger although on their website they do have a picture of one car seat added on so there maybe a way to do it that I don't know about. I thought it wouldn't fit through our front door but it does-just! When we were buying we also looked at the nipper and it is just that little bit heavier than the jogger and wouldn't fit in the boot of our car which is also why the m b duet wasn't even considerd because you need an enormous boot for it to fit in. Just to add, I second the comment about carrying car seats plus babies getting too heavy. Post c section I couldn't lift the maxi cosi pebble plus 5llb baby and could just manage cabriofix plus small 4 llb baby. Even now six weeks on it is a struggle to carry both so I prefer to just go straight for the buggy

The b agile only takes one carseat.

I'm 13 weeks and found out on Wednesday I'm having twins! Too early to be buying anything just yet but planning ahead also makes me feel more reassured about the costs involved with having two.

I originally had my heart set on the Uppababy Vista but for twins I hate the way they are almost stacked on top of each other. My best friend had twins just last week and went for the Vista so I will wait and see how she gets on with it.

Having done some research last night, it seems like the Mountain Buggy Duet is current favourite though I am 5'10" and my partner is 6'8" so slightly concerned that if they end up being tall they'll be a bit cramped. The other thing I loved about the Uppababy was how high the handle bars were ass my partner stoops pushing our nephews Bugaboo. Though the Duet does appear to have an adjustable handlebar so I guess will have to go and test one out.

This is a minefield so great to see other people's tips!

Try second hand? I got a baby jogger city select with two car seats, two carry cots, two pram seats, two rain covers, two foot muffs... the whole world for under £400 off my local twin site. Plan is to use that for first 6-9 months then sell it on and get an Out n About Nipper. I've got an older child too so just got the matching buggy board.

Another thing to consider is how much car boot space you have? Once babies are too big for infant car seats and you need to use pushchair seats, buggies that have separate seats take an awful lot of space. I wrote off that option as we didn't have the boot space, and we have a pretty big boot.

My choices were then between Baby jogger double (didn't push as easily, despite the single being the most amazing buggy ever!), MB duet (heavy for lifting into the car), and Nipper (what I went for. Not the neatest folded, but lovely to push and fits through doors).

I second the suggestion of using soft carrycots when babies are small. You can use these to carry the babies to and from the car when little, and they are great to use around the house