Too old for a double buggy, too little to walk?

[Mybobowler]

Boring post alert!

Baby #2 due end of the year. First child will be turning three.

I know a lot can change in a few months but we are nowhere near ready to ditch the buggy - she walks very slowly, constantly stopping to look at things/have a tantrum. If we go out without the pram, she always ends up being carried.

Don't want to buy a double buggy, so should I:

A) get a buggy board (and WHY are they so expensive? I've got a second hand uppababy cruz and the boards are over a hundred quid?! Second hand they're still £50+)

B) ditch the bassinet and buy an infant insert for the seat of the pram. When eldest child refuses to walk, baby goes in the sling and eldest goes in the pram

Do I have any other options? What has worked for others with a similar age gap?

Toddler is like an oppositional teenager so whichever option we choose, she will invariably hate it.

We've got a buggy board with a seat on. My eldest prefers it to the actual pram and it only cost about £60 new. I'll see if I can find it online. We've also used a sling- the mamaruga zensling. Still use it now when my youngest is 11 months- pop it onto my back for doing household chores. Very useful.

Ooh thanks everyone! A lot of love on here for the buggy board, so I'll start with one of those and see how we get on. I loved using a sling and carriers, so I think I'll make good use of that option as well.

My reluctance for a double is because we have a really narrow hallway and a tight doorway, then nowhere practical to store it. My friend has an inline Phil & Ted's double which she loves, but I hate the idea of putting baby so low to the ground! I won't rule it out though, I can see why people love them.

Whoever made the point about faffing around swapping the snugseat/sling/straps is totally right - I'll take that option off the table.

We do a fair amount of walking and I do need to get DD a bit better with it. She's definitely improved over the summer and I'll keep working on it.

The scooter is another great idea but I can already picture her hurtling out ahead of me while I run after her with a pram..!

... oh god, this is just the beginning. How on earth am I going to manage?!

3 yr 2 month gap here. I hated the buggy board and it was quickly dumped for a scooter.

With the scooter you just tell her she can go as far at the red car, tree or whatever landmark and then she has to wait for you to catch up with her.

Don’t know if they’re still a think but Phil n teds was great for this
The bottom seat is removable but when it’s fitted it’s easy for the bigger one to hop in and out if needed and it’s really handy to store stuff

Oh sorry was so slow typing it see you’ve already mentioned Phil n teds.
Don’t know if you’re not supposed to but my bigger one went in the bottom and it was ok

Exactly 3 years between mine. We got on well with buggy board (bought second hand and sold on for the same amount) and only really needed it for 6 months.

www.plumplay.co.uk/globber-go-up-sporty-pastel-green-1.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6tr2neDt8gIVh57tCh0QXgMAEAQYASABEgJxSvD_BwE

Lifesaver!!

I have a mountain buggy duet, fits through doors, in buses etc. I know you said you don't want one and my eldest is rarely in it, but I find i get to have a proper walk still when the he is too tired to walk

Could you put your toddler in a backpack carrier?

@DownWhichOfLate I really wish I could, but we put the backpack in the loft when she started having tantrums while being carried, which included pulling my hair and throwing herself backwards. A 15kg toddler is surprisingly boulder-like when she's angry!

... I haven't been brave enough to put her in it for ages though. Maybe I can plead pregnancy and persuade my partner to dust it off and give it a go?!

Out of interest, when do children learn how to walk directly from A to B?

[quote Mybobowler]@DownWhichOfLate I really wish I could, but we put the backpack in the loft when she started having tantrums while being carried, which included pulling my hair and throwing herself backwards. A 15kg toddler is surprisingly boulder-like when she's angry!

... I haven't been brave enough to put her in it for ages though. Maybe I can plead pregnancy and persuade my partner to dust it off and give it a go?!

Out of interest, when do children learn how to walk directly from A to B?[/quote]
The likely answer to this (and your other point about running off) is that he'll learn when you teach him and he knows there is no other option.

Often coincides when a sibling arrives and you suddenly can't allow previous behaviours to continue.

Get a buggy board now and introduce it as the "big girl" option before the baby arrives so it isn't just another change to have to deal with at the same time. If she has some time genuinely being able to choose buggy or board before hand it may make the transition easier!

You could try improving the walking by breaking it up into chunks and having a little reward at the end of each chunk.

So we are going to walk to the end of the road and then we are going to have a square of chocolate. Then at the end of the road you give the chocolate and the next destination, the reward there can be swinging her around two times…etc etc. If she likes the plan she will walk fast to get the next reward, then you can make the walking chunks longer and eventually get to, we are walking to the shops and you can help me choose a pudding for dinner tonight when we get there.

@SeaToSki that's a great suggestion, I'll try that this week!

Good tip as well from @EducatingArti - I'm bracing myself for some upset and jealousy when the baby arrives, so anything I can do to minimise disruption or change to her before then is a priority.

I know that she just will have to get used to walking more when there's a baby around, but she's the most wilful and stubborn child I've ever met. The more I urgently I need to be somewhere, the more she digs her heels in. Which is usually why our pram-free walks currently end up with her screaming and squirming while I carry her. It's a lot of fun, very relaxing.

Same age gap here. The buggy board was essential as I walked long distances every day. There still were times that the three year old was exhausted needed to sit in the buggy, and the baby be carried, but mine was a lie flat buggy, so fine from birth up until 3 +. We also used the scooter a lot at that age. Scoot the 30 min walk to playgroup, and then buggy board it home.

I've agonised over this with a younger daughter that likes to walk but I've also sort of conditioned her that going into a shop means she sits nicely in the pushchair. I've got my single pushchair and sling from first baby but after taking loads of advice from on here in the end I kept an eye out for a well-priced second hand double and got a Phil and Ted's (because I can pop the car seat on it for quick pops to the shops with both of them. I paid £50 for it and I'm confident I'll get my money back if it doesn't work so to me it was worth it, but it did take a while to find one at a sensible price locally. The one thing I haven't gone for is a buggy board as I think it would give me rage having it in the way plus we have a lot of no/crap pavements to navigate to get to the park etc so I wanted something I could strap both of them into. I'm hoping in time as DD gets bigger it will be back to the single with sling/backpack for the baby depending on how long it takes for DD to outgrow needing to be pushed. She's very active but when she needs to sit, she NEEDS to sit at the moment.

Watching with interest, I also can’t comprehend why double buggies are so expensive. It’s eye watering some of the prices I’ve seen! Winter is fast approaching which means lots of rain where I live so there really isn’t a better solution than a double buggy but I can’t justify the price.

I couldn’t have managed without my double.

I tried a buggy board but my oldest was a difficult child, wouldn’t just stand nicely on it. Also you can’t really manoeuvre / reverse with one on. And it isn’t great on uneven pavements. I had the lascal one so a decent one too. Hated it.

Sling and single? Tried that too. Reality was me hot and stressed trying to wrestle with a sleeping newborn plus keep hold of toddler. Maybe it was just my difficult child but I just bought the double and it made life so much better. Life is hard enough with a newborn!

I had 2 year gap and did a mixture of double/single with board/single with sling. I preferred the eldest in the single when I knew youngest would need feed/change but eldest was a runner. Definitely couldn't put eldest in a sling if he was having a tantrum. Switched it around depending on dc1's mood, the urgency of the walk, whether dc1 needed a sleep as he wouldn't in the sling at that age.

It became a lot easier when dc2 was old enough to be in the seat rather than bassinet because I could shove sling under pushchair and then swap as needed. Double got packed away when dc2 was 6 months.

I found one of those backpacks with lead helpful too because I could slip the lead on my wrist and I still had the toddler if he bolted. Yours might be more sensible at 3 and not a bolster.

Honestly, if she isn’t great Walker now, I would get a second hand buggy just to see you all through the winter.

You can get a board as well for current pram and practice and use locally, but I just think with a tiny newborn baby, sometimes it’s just better to take the easier option. You don’t want to get stuck soon after birth having to carry a limpet screaming child. It won’t do your muscles any good recovery wise.

It will be winter as well. A cheap double off marketplace, use 6 months when needed and resell it afterwards.

You can get buggy boards with little seat things. That might work. Sorry I don't now what they are called

Similar age gap here. Didn't do buggy board as my older one would just have refused to get on it when he didn't want to, i.e. when you most needed him to.. Didn't fancy double buggy as awkward on the bus etc. So went for having a pram with carrycot and also keeping the small foldable pushchair. Did sling plus pushchair for longer walks, tbh most of the time, used the pram when older one in nursery or when able to walk.

I bought a double buggy, as older DD was only 2 but we got a buggy board too. They're currently 2 and 4 and we still use the buggy board for getting to nursery and when DD1 gets moany so it's been well with the investment.