Double Buggy..?

[mrsrvc]

Wondering if I really need one. I have ds who is currently 15months and will be 20/21 months when this lo arrives.
He already hates getting into the buggy unless he is really tired, so I wonder if it might be ok to have a buggy board for most of the time, and then transfer baby to a sling when ds needs the buggy for a nap or something.
We only have limited space and I am really not sure where I would even put a double buggy!
Has anyone else had two under two and not had a double buggy.

I had exactly same age gap between my 1st two children. I had a buggy board to put on the back of the pram, which DC1 loved. I also bought a side by side double buggy (which was HUGE and took up far too much space).

TBH I only used the double buggy during the winter months when it was abit too slippy / icy for DC1 to walk. We had a 25min walk into town & so a double buggy was really useful, but it was cumbersome & I wouldnt buy it again, we sold it after 6 months.

It depends how much walking you do....on some occasions, when I didnt take the double buggy into town, I would have DC2 in pram or baby bjorn whilst trying to carry DC1 up a long, steep hill home (not fun!!).

ps realise my post is really unhelpful & inconclusive!! If you can, scour 2nd hand ads & perhaps buy a 2nd hand double buggy to get you through the winter months (worked out you're expecting xmas time?). Otherwise you could become abit housebound, and thats REALLY depressing IMO!!

OOh, good point about icy weather etc. We part own a cheap double buggy with our nanny share so could potentially borrow that for a few weeks if we need it ( it lives at their house! as they have more space!). We are lucky to live very centrally in a busy part of south london so have shops within 1 mins walk and park within 5. Due beginning of feb, but it will be coming at least one week before, so right in the midst of the really bad weather.
Nice to hear though that its not an absolute must, and that we wouldn't need it for long.

I had a 19 month age gap and no double buggy. I didn't miss it and DD2 was born at the end of November. I did use my car more than I otherwise would have done but have always thought I wouldn't really have fancied trudging around in the cold and wet with baby and toddler anyway. The other thing is I think it depends if you have places you have to go for certain times which mean you can't just go with the flow. I have a friend with an older child and 2 smaller ones and I can completely see why she needs the double buggy for the school run.

I never had a buggy board either as I had trust issues with it. DD1 was quite happy to walk next to me or holding onto the pram, but I know not all toddlers are so amenable.

So like icravecheese I think the answer is "it depends". You could try not having a double buggy to start with and seeing how you get on rather than commiting in preparation?

My DD will be 2y2m when DS is born at the end of November and I've already invested in a second hand Phil and Teds (£150 on ebay). She is and will be perfectly capable of walking a great deal, but she's a bit of a monkey and I want to know that I've got the possibility of strapping her down firmly when I need to! I'm sure she'd enjoy a buggy board, but I'm put off by the odd postures that parents seem to have to adapt to push a buggy when they're attached. And I wouldn't trust DD to stay on it!

I went for the P&T, because it's not too wide to push through the front door - if I'd gone for a side by side, I'd have to leave it outside until it was empty of children and I didn't fancy having to lift baby out of it in the rain.

We're going to hang onto the iCandy Cherry we had for DD in case we ever need to take the children to separate places, but I can't see us using it often.

I think I will see how it goes. I really like our little bugaboo bee. I loved that it was parent facing, and there are very few double buggies that have that option.
Having said that, I might keep one eye out for a bargain second hand one.
I probably wouldn't buy it before a safe arrival (bad history) anyway, but its good to have a plan.
Thanks for the advice.

I've been having the same problem. DS will be just shy of 2 when DC2 comes along.

We've decided to get a buggy board with a seat on it. They cost around £45 from Amazon.

We were going to go for a double buggy, but decided we wouldn't get much use out of it.

Treats I'm glad you posted as I'm in a very similar position. Have been humming and haaing about whether to take up the offer of my next door neighbour's P&T's double inline for £150. Your DD is the same age as my Ds and sounds very similar in terms of walking habits! YOur post has convinced me to buy the P & T.

Thinking about it, it's got good resale value anyway so could flog it back on ebay after we're done for probably not much less than we would buy it for.

We've also got a archaic bugaboo which ds loved and a Maclaren so lots of options there too for the future!

How about the BuggyPod Smorph

I have a 16 month gap, and bought a 2nd hand double for £50 including footmuffs (Instep Nipper....the old style fixed wheel one). We are lucky enough to have somewhere to store it though.

I'd say that 98% of the time I've used sling + single buggy, and then sling + walking elder one (or scooting elder one). I used my double when it was snowy and icy, and my parents preferred that to the sling for taking them both to the park etc. But otherwise it has had very little use....so I'm glad I didn't pay a fortune for it.

I'll have a bigger gap 2.6yr but ill b using my P&T. We walk quite abit and i'd rather he was strapped in and safe for most occasions.
I also have a single (with carrycot) for occasions that dont need double and also a sling.