Walking to the shops- How old was your DC?

[NickyEds]

DS is 14 months and I'm pregnant with dc2. I'm due in July so DS will be around 19 months. He's a pretty good walker, as in he'll toddle around the enclosure play area in the park etc but getting him to walk alongside the buggy or in a particular direction seems miles away.
DP and I are having a debate about a double buggy and we've had several people say that we shouldn't need one as "your ds can just walk surely??".

So, how old was your dc when they could walk alongside you to the shops etc?

I'm thinking of getting a sling for the baby to use with ds in his normal buggy for short trips but it's days out and things I'm more concerned about (I'm not crazy about slings but they seem to be completely essential if you have 2 dcs close together). I've been looking at double buggies and they do seem pricey (the i candy I've seen will set us back £800ish- ouch) but I just can't imagine doing without one. I don't drive so we walk/bus/train it everywhere.

I would say you will need a double buggy.

DD was good at walking and holding my hand but would get tired quite quickly and sometimes you just want to get home without a toddler wanting to look at every stick on the floor!

my smallest gap was 2 years and 3 months. we managed without a double buggy - just. And ds was a great walker. Even so we had some times when sling/buggy or walking/buggy was really hard - usually when ds was tired.

At the time we also walked and bused everywhere. One of my worst memories is 5 minutes away from home and ds decided he didn't want to walk any more and sat down and had a temper tantrum.

if you had a car and drove most places you could probably manage, after all he keeps growing, it is only for a few months, but i really would get the double buggy.

If you can afford one I would really recommend it, will you oldest still be having daytime naps? For getting further afield/ not taking 2 hours to walk 100 m I think they're essential.

You're lucky having a summertime baby so you could get away with a cheaper buggy board but think double buggy would be more useful. gumtree/ facebook groups can be great for picking up quality but cheaper second hand buggies, especially as people don't tend to use double buggies for a long time.

We had a 15 month gap and never had a double.

So I def wouldn't buy one first, try without and see how it goes.

We roughly used sling for baby with eldest in pram at first. But had a board on buggy so would sometimes put baby in pram, and eldest walk or on board for speed. By 2 years neither used a pram so it's only really 6 months max to get through. A pram that doesn't need carrycot works best as can swap between them

Practice now gradually with youngest by say using pram but taking out and getting to walk a bit before you get to destination. Gradually increasing. Then add the board in before baby arrives to get them a little used to it.

We had a sling that could be used from newborn to toddler. So if say toddler was walking well and baby in pram most of the time, but toddler flagging on way home, could just pop them in the sling on back also the last 5 mins. Something like boba 4g, manduca etc

I had 2y 3m gap and definitely needed one as at that age there is little you can do about it if they refuse to walk. Tended to use it when we had to get to places by a certain time or a lot of walking involved whereas used single buggy and buggy board when it was less of an issue. Personally I always found putting sling on and baby in a hassle that wasn't easy when you were on your own with baby and impatient toddler so tended to only use if either DH with us or toddler at nursery.

But you don't need to spend £800 on one! Was 7 years ago but ours cost about £300 new (and there were cheaper ones). Or get one secondhand as unlike single buggies don't tend to be used for long.

DD will be 20 months when DC2 is born and I've had the same comments. I'm ignoring them and getting a double buggy. I don't want to have to restrict the distance we walk in case it's too far for DD, and if she's under the weather she might not be up for walking. Do whatever you think will be easiest for you and ignore everyone else!

We are going to look for a second hand double I think. We weren't planning on 2 so close together and can't afford a brand new one less than 2 years after forking out £800 for our first pram!

Well, my DS is now 26 months and although he can walk quite a way, he's certainly nowhere near not needing a pushchair. When he walks in the right direction, he is very slow and stops frequently, which is fine when I have time, but no good when we need to get somewhere. He is also prone to not listening and running off. Although we use reins, he demands my entire attention wen out as about near roads. It's also very difficult to get him to stay with me and listen when in sgops, so I tend to put him in the pushchair, often, for his own safety (and my sanity).

For what it's worth, DC2 is due when DS will be 30 months and we are not planning to buy a double, but that is only because 1) we hope DS will have improved in his lite bing by then, and 2) we love using slings, so envisage the pushchair being more for DS than the baby.

Anyone who tells you that you won't need a double buggy is surely deluded...

DS1 was 18months when ds2 was born and we've managed without a double buggy. I have ds2 in a sling and ds1 on the reins. But I think it just depends what you and your child are like really, ds1 can walk for ages and loves it and I haven't found it too hard to get him to go in the right direction and I am able to allow lots of time to get everywhere and have always preferred slings to buggies, also we shop in small local shops which couldn't fit a double in! The only problem I've had with the walking is that you can't keep them contained in the shops so you do have to have methods for keeping them from grabbing stuff off the shelves, I get Ds to help me put things in the basket! Also ds1 will not go in a buggy or sling at all at the moment because he prefers walking - on the plus side this means we have avoided the battle friends are having to get their older children to walk rather than go in the buggy. It's swings and roundabouts really but I agree with Artandco that it may be good to see how it goes before making an expensive purchase, a sling/carrier is a much cheaper option and will leave less regret if you don't end up using it.

get a double. you'll need one for cold, rainy, tired, grumpy, tantrummy and poorly days.
There's no law that says your older dc will have to sit in it all the time but at least you'll have the option.

Thanks everyone. DS has been described (lovingly of course!) as "mustard" and "spirited". There is no way he could be loose in a shop at the moment without displays being brought down, staff crying, escape attempts made! the idea of doing it with a newborn is unthinkable. He's a good walker though, it's just direction etc that I can't see being easy any time soon.

Do you think most people who don't have a double drive?? I wish I'd thought about this before we had ds and got the i candy then GGrrrr. I think I'm definitely going to look more closely at slings. I never really like the idea of one with ds so just got a second hand papoose thing and it wasn't very comfortable. I think I'm going to have to go with a cheaper one though. As some of you said I might only need it for a few months/a year. I just felt a bit unsure as a few seemed so certain ds should be able to walk everywhere by 19 months.

Nicky - we don't have a car, live central London. A double would have been mad for us, flat so stairs and buses/ tubes/ tiny shops. Like I said 15 month gap and sling/ buggy/ board worked well.

You could always get him walking outside on reins or standing on board, then if you needed to be in shop a while and concentrate just swap baby into sling and eldest into pram so contained if needed..

I think that you have to think in terms of ds using the buggy and newborn in sling. Or newborn in buggy and ds on buggy board.

I think assuming that ds will walk is a non starter

Our sling was a bjorn sporty one, bought second hand. It was good for the back as it was very supportive. But I have to say it was very tiring having large baby in sling and pushing buggy etc

I had my 3 within 3.5 years and never had a double buggy but I did use a sling for the first few months with the second and third. I loved the sling and I used it around the house too if needing to get jobs done whilst baby was awake. We only had one car and DH used it to get to station so I did have to walk with them. They managed although I think for a few weeks I also borrowed a friends buggy board to keep my options open.

I had an 18 month gap at one point and the sling/buggy combo was the best and I used that for some time. Some slings are better than others at distributing the weight so you can wear them for longer (google Boba, Tula, Ergo, Connecta, Rose and rebellion for some ideas).

The other thing that I found with double buggies is that it is easy to pick up a good second hand bargain, unless people have loads of DC's then they only ever need a double for a short space of time. I managed to get a Nipper 360 at a rock bottom price and still sell it on, I used it when I wasn't in the mood for the sling. Because the DC's were so close in age they loved sitting side by side.

There's a 23 month gap between mine. For the first 5 months of DC2's life we got by with the buggy / buggy board / sling combo. This was mainly because we lived in central London, in a second floor flat with no storage. As a previous poster mentioned, trying to take a double in a London bus will win you no friends....

When we left London the first thing I did was buy a double! It's been great. We could be out and about all day and both children could nap at the same time if they wanted to. We have a Phil & Ted's Navigator which is a compact inline. You can take the second seat off or use it for shopping / coat / child-related-crap storage when it's not occupied.

If it's literally just for popping to the shops then you can probably get by without one, but if you walk everywhere and want to be out and about throughout the day (and can afford one, have space to store one and don't live in central London) then I'd recommend a double.