Preschool runs with newborn and toddler

[Peonyyyy]

Im trying to think ahead of how to manage pre school runs once our second baby is here. Currently our toddler goes in the pushchair as nursery is a 10 min walk (for me) occasionally he wants to walk but for speed we usually do the push chair so he’s not stopping for every leaf/car/pine cone.

wondered if anyone in a similar has handled it by continuing to use a pushchair for toddler and putting new baby in carrier/sling? We have a baby bjorn carrier we loved using with our now toddler, I guess the only days it would be more difficult would be if it rains, then I’d need an umbrella and would be pushing the pushchair with one hand?

I was thinking then push chair could be turned back into pram for a when it’s just me and the baby during the day. (We are limited on storage space at home so trying to figure what is best for all scenarios)

I have seen prams with buggy boards and tandem push chairs too - so unsure which is the best option so suggestions of what worked best welcome ☺️

For now keep the new baby in a sling and then get a toddler board, they are great for getting somewhere fast.

How old the toddler is will determine if a tandem pushchair or a buggy board is better. If early 2s, then a double buggy might be better. 3+ then a buggy board. Anywhere between 2yr6mo - 3, then it'll depend on your toddler. Would you trust them to stay on the board?

With my first, her brother was born when she was 2yr6mo, but I could definitely trust her not to run. We got her a buggy board, and a scooter (with a strap so I could carry it if needed) so that she could scoot alongside and go on the board if she was tired. She did regress a bit after a few days and wanted to go into the pram, but we'd bribe negotiate with her to use the board instead.

We did preschooler in the buggy and baby in the sling, then progressed to baby in the pram and preschooler scooting.

With hindsight we could have got a buggy board, but I'm quite glad that the preschooler gets plenty of exercise.

How old is the toddler? I’d assume you’ll be able to carry the baby until at least 6 months. (So I had a 23 month gap but thought about 29 months onwards). I still carry my toddler at just turned 3 on occasion (with an Ergobaby omni 360 on my back, don’t know about the baby bjorn). We got a buggy board but used it about twice. I wouldn’t bother with a double buggy, it’s more faff than it’s worth imo, unless you have a smaller than 18 month gap or twins.

We currently have a 14 week old and our DS was 2 in June.

We've just got a double pushchair second hand last week for exactly this situation, dogwalks etc. 14 week old is MASSIVE and with him in the carrier and 2 year old in the pram it was getting unwieldy and heavy.

I'd see how you get on with what you've got and you'll figure out if you need anything else further down the line.

Also expecting here. DD will be 24-25 months when newborn due. I've bought a buggy board (but more thinking that's going to come in hand a little bit further into the future). For now I'm expecting toddler in pram and baby in sling. But we used a sling a lot with toddler, and toddler hated the basinet when a baby, so seemed most logical to us. Our pram could theoretically convert into a double pram, and I have been looking at buying the necessary bits but not sure its worth it

So my DD was 3.5 when DD2 was born so we didn't bother with a double buggy or buggy board. We were luckily a few minutes walk to preschool and she walked very nicely with one hand on the pram.
I used a sling for DD2 occasionally.

If your toddler is more like 2 though I would get a double buggy or buggy board because you will use it a lot.

Don't bother with an umbrella, get a waterproof with a the type of hood you can tighten so it doesn't blow down

@dbeuowlxb173939 i was thinking if need the umbrella if it’s raining and baby is in the carrier. Currently when it’s just me and toddler I have a rain coat and the push chair has a rain cover but we’d have nothing for the baby in the carrier 😅

Thanks everyone, our toddler will have just turned 3 when baby is born. I’m thinking carrier and push chair is best option, and then converting into a pram for when I want to go for walks with just the baby, but just not sure how we’ll manage poor weather 😬

@Peonyyyy just get a rain cover for your carrier :)

You can get a rain jacket with hood for baby? I haven't used this, just seen them advertised when I was looking!

I have a two year old and a baby - 2 years and 5 months age difference. I really swayed with needing a double buggy, and also thought of keeping toddler in stroller and using carrier for baby - but eventually mainly used pram with a buggy board, and it was totally fine.

Would agree with PP that it totally depends on age of toddler (massive difference between just turned 2 and nearly 3!) and your toddler specifically.

@2mumlife i didn’t even know that was a thing! Thank you, mind blown!

I thought I could manage 2.5yo and newborn with buggy. Arrival of newborn meant way more tantrums. Impossible to pick up toddler and sort her while wearing baby in sling. Kept having to put baby down on grass/hand to random passers by.

Within a month I got a cheap secondhand pram, it was money well spent. Sometimes they'd both fall asleep at the same time, which is gold dust.

@Peonyyyy You can also get coats (for you) with a panel to make the coat bigger for wearing a carrier (so carrier is underneath your coat) and some of those have hoods too.

I got an outnabout nipper 360 and can't recommend enough - I'm going to use it for my next baby even though my almost 3yo won't sit in it because it's just a great pram...the other seat can carry the luggage front the 5 and 3yo 😂

For a buggy board it might depend on weight of toddler/how far you’ll have to walk. They say up to 20kg I think but I found my two hard to push after a while.

Get a baby wearing coat. Problem solved. Stick baby in the sling. Coast over you both.

I have the same age gap with 2 autumn borns. Although I had a tandem pushchair, i generally used the Baby Bjorn and single buggy.

By the time DC2 was too big for the BB, DC1 was really too big for a buggy of any sort. One of my parenting lows was pushing them both uphill on cobbles in the tandem buggy from Whitby Harbour to a campsite at the top of the town about 1 vertical mile away. DS was 4 the following week and I decided he was far too big for pushing!!

You can get an inside out umbrella, they have handles that are almost complete loops so you can hook it on the pram handle and balance it on your shoulder. Makes it a bit easier to hold