Single or double or toddler board

[Hollytrees1]

I have a baby due in end of Dec 2024 and a little.boy who will be 3 by then do I need a double pram?

I think it depends on your toddler, and how much walking you do.

We just got a buggy board for DD who was 2 + 4months when her sister was born. We got the kind with a seat (which I recommend) and she's not a runner so that felt safe enough as we live in an urban area. She'd also stopped napping by then so I knew she wouldn't need the pram for that. I still brought a sling for big days out so she could rest in the buggy if she needed to.

Short answer we got by with a buggy board and a sling!

Definitely depends on the toddler, but my set-up was the same as Bedtime.

DC1 was 2yr6mo when DC2 was born. She'd long dropped her nap, but we did a lot of walking everywhere, so needed something. A buggy board was perfect.

DC2 was also a fussy baby so the sling was needed to calm him down at times. However, DC1 couldn't use the buggy until DC2 was out of the bassinet. But by the time he was in the standard pushchair he decided he hated the sling, so DC1 never really got to use it. Probably explains why she always wants to go in it at every opportunity even now at nearly 5.... We also got DC1 a scooter. She's a rule abider and would never run, so I could trust her to scoot alongside or a bit ahead of me. Plus it's easy enough to put on the handlebars to carry around if you want to go into a shop.

I have a 3yr old and a 4month old. For background, my 3yr old couldnt walk until she was 19months and we dont have a car as we live in London.

For short journeys, she is absolutely fine on a buggy board, but she wouldnt manage a whole day out for example, especially if its on a weekend as she still has a nap on Sat and Sun. Our buggy can convert to a double, so if we know we are out all day (or if i think we need it for a safety perspective such as lots of busy roads to cross), i take it in double mode. Most of the time i have it in single mode eg. Buggy board + bassinet for just pottering to and from the park, supermarket, nursery, etc

In an ideal world, i would have bought a side by side lightweight buggy. But we already have the main buggy plus a travel buggy and i just couldn't justify buying a third!! But also, a lot of the cheap doubles are max 15kg in each seat, which is around 3yrs. For a 22kg or 25kg double, you end up having to spend more, which i really didnt want to do.

So thats a v long way of saying i think it very much depends on your lifestyle, where you live, and how good / sensible the big one is at long walks!

Due in October and DC1 will be 25 months at that point. We have a buggy that could convert to a double, but it looks a faff with needing to get extra adapters and different sest to have the bassinet at the top, so I’m looking out for a buggy board instead. To be honest we sling carried DC1 so much that my general plan is to carry DC2 and DC1 can use the pram. Think it’s what will work best for us (DC1 hated the bassinet anyway, so I’m reluctant to bother with a double pram unless DC2 arrives and we find we have an issue!).