To double the pram or not!?

[huggiemom]

Hi,

I'm hoping for a bit of experienced advice before I fork out yet more cash on travel systems.

At the moment i have iCandy apple jogger which has been great, and mclaren techno. Stopped using icandy about a year ago and mclaren not used that frequently as DS prefers walking. I'm Currently pregnant with number 2. When he/she arrives DS will be 2.5yrs. I'm wondering whether to bother getting a double pram or not. Does anybody have any advice on transporting v independent first child and baby?

We live in v rural location so any trip involves car so suspect baby will be in car seat quite a lot of the time.

Thanks!

I also live in a rural location, and will not be bothering with a double pram. DS1 will be 2.5 when his new brother arrives, and DS1 likes to walk a great deal and likes to hold hands. I've also bought a ride-on board, for the times he gets tired, and I'll use a sling for the new baby if we're planning on walking for miles and DS1 can use my jogging stroller.

I have the same age gap and tried one day without a double... It was hellish.

I find a double essential and have an Icandy Peach Blossom 2 and a separate pram with buggy board for shorter journeys.

The resale of Icandy is really good so I'm hoping to not need it for too long and then sell it for a fairly good price.

I think you need to consider the weather (DD refused to walk in the heavy rain and got very upset) the ground... (It has been really muddy and she was slipping all over the place, being able to put her in the pram was a godsend.) and also, naps. My DD still naps in the afternoon and being able to just let her fall asleep in the pram if I'm shopping or out with a friend is great.

Also, day trips like the zoo, farm, theme parks, DD1 gets too tired and I can just pop her in.

Sorry, one more thing, when we've been somewhere very crowded like a show in london or a fireworks display or even Christmas shopping, it feels a lot safer to have them both strapped into one place while we navigate through a crowd.

That was a bit of an essay, sorry

I think it's mainly about three things:

• does your older one nap in the buggy at all, if he does, you may miss it. DD1 napped until quite late, but actually would only do 10 minutes in the buggy so it was better to keep her awake until she got home rather than having her fall asleep in a buggy.

• is he a bolter or will he stand nicely on a buggy board.

• do you need him strapped in and restrained at all?

I had a 2.2. year gap, never had a double and never missed it. Other friends loved theirs.

we did have a bugaboo bee, so if DD1 ever totally flagged whilst out I could put her in the buggy and put DD2 in the sling.

I bought a second hand nipper 360 double for days out and trips when DC1 was likely to be tired. DC1 was a good walker but I think she found it hard when DC2 arrived, she went from being a good little walker to sometimes needing to be in the pushchair because she would sit down where she was and refuse to move (or do other naughty stuff that she had never done before like run off)!

With DC2 and DC3 there is a much smaller gap so the nipper came in handy again, or else DC2 was in the maclaren and DC3 was in a decent sling that I could wear for hours if I needed. The double didn't get used loads but on the occasions that it did it was very useful, it was great in the country but a nightmare for shopping.

Thanks everyone so much, really good advice and massively appreciated.

DS1 doesn't nap so no need for buggy sleeps. He is normally pretty happy holding hands, and when we're out in busy places I put him on reins for added control (I know some folk really disapprove!), that said he has bolted a few times so I ought to factor in potentially increased naughty antics when DC2 arrives!

I used sling massively first time around, had actually forgotten about this option, for the reminder.

Think we'll do buggy board and sling and see how it goes. A cheaper double as back up if things go awry can come later. I'm just so loathe to spend more than I need to this time around, I used the basinet about 5 times with DS1...a total waste of cash!

Stopgap, it sounds like we're in similar shoes. Hope the rest of your pregnancy goes smoothly and next wee one arrives safely.

Thanks all!

I've been in a similar situation with each DC (pregnant with DC4 now, 2-3 years between all of them!) and basically the sling has solved the problem for the first six months. Either that or the older one walked if it wasn't too far.

We did have a Phil & Teds double which was used quite a bit to be fair. But it was used almost entirely on long walks which is something I do a lot of. Outside of those long walks we could get by with the sling still, or having the older one perch on the end of the Out N About I got last year for a little while. A Buggy Board works fine with some pushchairs but do look into "real world" experience with particular models. We had one for a bit (Maclaren Quest) and I ended up with a bad back from being hunched over the child and would often kick it with my shins.

There's loads of American options like Sit N Stand and Joovy Caboose but they're difficult to source over here. They're basically cheapish buggies with a seat on the back for the older one to perch on! Unfortunately they're no good for off-road or particularly wobbly pavements/kerbs - ideal for shopping and other nice smooth surfaces though. (I bought a Joovy Caboose Ultralight when we were in the US back in 2010, hence my experience!)