16 mth age gap - did you cope without a double buggy and if so, how?!!

[spongebrainmaternitypants]

Looking for some advice from wise mumsnetters!

I am pg with DC2, due in October, DC1 will be 16 months old.

At the moment we have a Mamas and Papas pram/pushchair and a McClaren pushchair. I had, until recently, set my heart on getting a double buggy (P&T, icandy, zoom, for example), but have recently started to think about whether I really need one. They are so expensive and sooooo huge - can I do without?

I do alot of walking - mainly into town and back which is a 3 mile round trip, but also round the local park, along the seafront, etc. So here are my otions:

• double buggy from the word go

• stick with single buggy for DC1, and carry DC2 in a sling

• DC2 in the pram and DC1 on a buggy board

Lots of my RL friends are wading in with their two penneth but they all have 2 year + age gaps and surely that makes a huge difference?

If I were to use a sling all the time what would be best? I used a babasling and babybjorn with DC1 but he was mainly in his pram, lying flat, when tiny.

And, is DC1, at 16 mths, too young for a buggy board? He's only started walking in the last couple of weeks and is a few weeks away from being a confident walker IMO. Won't he find it really tiring standing and holding on for long walks?

Any help, advice, opinions, gratefully received before I go and blow £600 on something I don't need!

TIA

P&T is not huge, folds down same as a single.

Yes you need a double buggy.

No it need not cost £600.

Mine was £300 from Kiddicare with a travel cot thrown in.

i think you'll have to get a double. sorry. A 16mth old will still get pretty tired - and you are limiting yourself to no daytrips if he still sleeps during the day. A sling is great and we used one lots, but babies get heavy quickly - and it's useful to be able to take off the sling at times imo.

Maybe you will find a cheaper buggy on here, or ebay, or another parenting site?

I have a 14 month age gap between my two littlest and couldn't have managed without my double buggy.

But... I only really needed it for about six months, then dd2 wanted to ride on the buggy board.

It may be an idea to see if you can get a second hand one (or even one off freecycle) when the baby's first born to see how you get on with it, then spend the money if you think you are going to use it a lot.

You should be able to get a fairly good one for a couple of hundred though - you don't need to spend £600. (well unless you want to, that is!) We got this one

Yes you need a double, I had a 14month gap and tried everything on the market.

I ended up with a Phil & Ted - so I'd take your time and buy a 2nd hand one of those. Keep your maclaren.

What M&P do you have, is it worth selling?

Maclaren twin techno - We got ours from e.bay it was about £90 quid and in excellent condition.

I have 21 months between my two. We live in town and only run one car so I do alot of walking too. It is great for if they both need to sleep, it lies flat for the newborn, the time flys by so quickly it will only be in use for 10/12 months so don't spend £600 quid in it!

I have a 20 month gap and thought we could make do with a buggy board. Well, we did make do, but I so wish we'd just got even the cheapest double buggy. My toddler will only walk the shortest of distances before getting all, "but mummy I'm tired" and the buggy board is so awkward to walk behind for both me (short) and DP (tall) that I just want to swear whenever we use it. It would put me off going any distance with it.

I think you are right that younger ones find even the standing and holding on tiring, and there were a couple of times when he fell off as he wasn't sturdy enough with the stance.

I'm sure it's different for others (I reckon we're just a family of lazy gets!) but if you do a lot of walking I think you would get a lot of use out of it.

And they can't nap on a buggy board.

Wow, thanks for all the speedy replies !

No, don't want to spend £600! We wanted an in-line rather than a side by side and they all seem to be at the high end of the market. Haven't seen the Graco - thank you.

Our M&P was 2nd hand anyway, so yes we would sell it but probably wouldn't get alot!

Do you know anyone who managed without or is the general consensus that they're an 'essential' item?

I have the same age gap and yes I think you need a double buggy, We do occasionally have a single with sling/buggy board but DD1 is not really old enough for the buggy board. She will use it for a quick 5 mins to the park (and even then it is stop start stop start and hard work!) and the sling is OK when it is not hot but on a hot day it is just unbearable! And also, if we go to the park with DD2 in the sling, I can't help DD1 on the climbing frame etc very easily, which I would be able to do if DD2 was asleep in the buggy. AND you can't bend over a shopping trolley with a sling on! (Maybe irrelivant but wanted to stop you making the same mistake I did! LOL).

Anyway, there is no way you have to spend £600! Ours came from freecycle! And I see them for sale for £20ish all the time!

My one is the Mothercare Pheonix Tandem and I love it. I think it is only about £100 brand new.

That's interesting about the buggy boards - they don't look like the most comfortable things to use, for parent or child.

Maybe we need to shop around a bit more - we're being too PFB about our No 2 (an unexpected miracle!) and trying to buy a Rolls Royce, when actually he'd be happy enough in a Vauxhall !

Do you find the side by sides very wide and difficult to negotiate pavements, etc?

And are they flat enough for a new born?

My dd1 didn't walk until she was 17 months, and I have a 15 month gap, so obviously double buggy was essential. I used it full time for a year (£20 second hand maclaren techno double) then got a litaf seat to go instead of a buggy board.

I found it easier to push (I kick regular buggy boards with every step I take) and dd1 could and did go to sleep n it!

Unless your back is very strong and your dc1 is very independant, full time sling is a non-starter imo.

14mth gap,could NOT have survived without a double buggy!

Check Ebay if you don't want to spend a fortune?

My side by side was easier to steer and lift up kerbs (the heavier child always sits at the front of inline ones, making them very heavy to lift), and ds managed to tip over a p and t the second time I used it so not an option I would seriously consider.

It fitted through my front door and all but one shop in our town, but I think newer ones are slightly wider so you would need to take measurements before buying.

It laid flat for the newborn, too, and I would have preferred to have the baby facing me and flat but I don't know if that is possible with any doubles.

i had the graco tandem too.
my age gap is 24mth but i could not have got out of the house without it !!

can always sell it when not needed as not too expensive to buy new

Thanks for the tip on the litaf - never seen those before, they look good.

Jas, that's another issue for me with side by sides, none of them are parent facing . I love having DC1 parent facing and do wonder if, on long walks in to town, I'll miss that interaction.

AFAIK only the zoom and the icandy offer the option of flat carry cots with parent facing option - which is why I thought we were going to have to pay a small fortune for it.

Thanks for everyone's contribution - keep them coming. Don't think one person has said "no, don't bother" yet, which means I certainly justify getting one, it's just which one!

I had a 16mth gap between dcs 2&3 and could not have gone anywhere without my double buggy.

DC3 was 10lbs 2oz when he was born so I only managed with a sling/single for a very short while. DC1 was at preschool just over a mile away and there was no way dc2 could have managed on a buggy board for the whole trip.

The Litaf is as awkward to walk with as a buggy board, imo. It still sticks out quite a long way so you whack your shins/knees with every step and you have to adopt a very odd stance to reach over it. Plus, although they can sit down, they can't fall asleep because they're not attached in any way.

When he gets a bit older a Strolli Rider is a good bet for your ds. It's like a little bike that attaches to one side of the buggy so he rides next to you. You don't trip over it constantly and he's sat on a little seat with footrests and a handlebar which is very exciting . A friend of mine had one and her dc2 rode it on the school run until she was about 3.5.

The one thing I would say about side-by-sides is that although they are forward facing so they can't interact with you, they can interact with each other. My 2 loved being next to each other, dc2 could make dc3 giggle from about 4mo by tickling him and dangling toys for him. So it's not all bad.

We had a 15 month age gap too. I tried a tandem and found with my toddler up front I had trouble with the weigh when going up kerbs, steps etc. Then I tried a 3 wheeler but found the fixed front wheel a nightmare and it wouldn't fit in some boots of cars.

In the end we bought one of these

www.mothercare.com/Mothercare-Duolite-twin-pushchair-Lightning/dp/B00116QM54/sr=1-2/qid=1247353619/r ef=sr12/279-9001211-6314921?_encoding=UTF8&m=A2LBKNDJ2KZUGQ&n=76420031&mcb=core#productInfo

It's brilliant and folds up really small and will fit in most boots with shopping.

I'd say get a sling and keep the single buggy.

For the first few months a stretchy wrap sling like Moby, Kari-Me, Hugabub and various others would be fine. Or if you don't care for wrap slings, the Close is recommended or even the TotsBots Papoozle.

After three months pretty near any time of sling will do.

Baby Bjorns aren't comfortable once babies get heavier and Babaslings haven't had great reviews for comfort either, plus one shouldered-carries tend to need one hand free for support.

I also have a 16 mth gap, and although we were given a second hand double buggy I hardly used it at all, and gave it to another family as soon as ds was comfortable on the buggy board. I had dd in a BabyBjorn up to about 10mths (same as ds). I found it much easier with an ordinary folding pushcair and the sling, as the double was very cumbersome, a nightmare to fold down for the bus (this was before the days of buggies on buses) and pretty heavy to push. also dd had a tendency to pull ds's hair, which made him very upset!

I really liked the buggy board set up, although I did have to walk weirdly, and sometimes we just stuffed ds down the back of the buggy instead (didn't do much for it's longevity!). It got ds walking quite fast though!

However as a caveat, I should note that as I went back to work full time when dd was 3 mths it was our nanny who probably pushed them around most, and I think she used the double for a while (she never used the sling).

I would look for a Phil and Teds on ebay, we bought ours for £250, with all the extras. We also do a lot of walking and don't drive anywhere, unless dh drives us. We had a 14 month gap between dd's. I've just given it to a friend (dd1 is 3.4), but dd1 still gets tired so have a buggy board (dd's take turns using it), but there is no way I could have managed without a double up until now.

I used to use a sling sometimes, but it killed my back, and it was nice if both dd's napped in the pushchair and I could sit in the library or a cafe, without having dd2 in a sling. Also some babies don't like slings very much, dd1 screamed the place down every time I tried her in one.

I had a fourteen month gap and went for a Maclaren double, it fit through most doors (including my own victorian), not problem with front heavy, folded down quite small for the car and storing in the house. Meant that from a young age the boys would hold hands, which was very very cute!!!

I had late walkers and so buggyboard would have been useless.

PS If your new baby is hard work you may find the ability to go on long walks even near nap time is a lifeline.

I had a 19 month age gap and managed with a sling and single buggy.