be honest..do you really take your double buggy on london buses???

[mamaesi]

I am getting very worried about the double buggy and how it will limit me getting out and about. I dont drive and depend on buses to get everywhere. I am expecting number two (with a 20 month gap) and have been debating double buggies for a while...

None seem to tick all the boxes, but I just dont understand how doubles fit. yesterday I was on the bus with my bugaboo bee and a lady with phil&teds could not get into the other space, got stuck by the door and everyone was cross with her for blocking the way.

Now that winter is coming walking everywhere will be so unpleasant. Please tell me which double is easiest for transport??

Even though London buses are generally more forgiving than the hunks of tin that pass for public transport round my way, it still won't be easy with a double. Can you put 20mo in a cheap, light umbrella-fold and have the baby in a sling?

yes of course thats what I wanted to do but I have posted here before and absolutely everyone said with that age gap I need a double.

Well for trips on the bus, I'd use a sling plus pushchair. The double would be better for local trips. I'm having DC2 with a 26 month gap and still debating. My friend had a smaller age gap (18 months) and really misses her bee - she has a P&T and says it's so bulky she only uses it for "big" trips but the rest of the time uses a sling!

I've no idea which is easiest but just wanted to reassure you that it will be fine. I used to take my twins all over the place by public transport in a side by side graco even 12 years ago. You have as much right to use the buses as anyone else so just ignore any tutting.

yes but I get on a bus every single day. they are all big trips. there is only one playgroup that I can walk to! I hate the area I live in because there is nothing within walking distance except tesco metro for milk... but thats another story.

but this discussion does make me think I should not sell my bee for a double, but rather have both a single and a double...hmmm

If had any issues at all - and you shouldn't do - then if you got a City Select then you could always quickly pop the front seat off and slide it underneath in the basket (or balance it on one finger!). If you got the Verve, you could always flip the back seat up. The B-Dual lower seat could be slid underneath. Yes it may take a bit of planning but these three are easy to flip into single mode should you ever have an issue!

Get a second hand double and see how you go?

I don't know whereabouts in the UK you are but in London that would be horrific. I've lost count of the number of buses I've been thrown off of with my single buggy and three year old. The grief the lady with the P&T got is pretty typical IMHO. My theory is that bus drivers get so much grief from horrible passengers that they dare not challenge for fear of being stabbed that they take it out on mums with buggies...

I'd experiment with the sling and single buggy combo for as long as you can bear it.

I use either a P&T or a maclaren side by side double

honestly, the side by side is pointless because you'll never get on with it! But I VERY rarely have any problems getting on with P&T...I'm in London and travel all over through it, often at rush hour

Being confident with it andknowing which angle etc to put it at is very important

tiggy-- pop off the seat? get a child out and fight to get on the bus, with my bags and touching the oyster and stearing the loaded buggy into the space while holding the toddler??...not to argue, but I really dont see that happening, just thinking about it makes me anxious.

milknosugar--again I am not trying to argue, but how do you manage the angles? the phil and teds are so long, I rarely see them negotiating a bus unless the bus is totally empty.

In my area of london the buses are really crowded. I am trying to be confident, but I really do hate how unfriendly london can be with children..I get sooo many dirty looks, horrible comments on public transport.

So my debate is to get an easy to push side by side literally just for the few things I can walk to and not attempt a bus....or to get a tandem and try to get on a bus with it... oh and my other problem is that my first child is on the 98th percentile for height and weight so we will out grow many doubles and many of them which people say are heavy to start with will kill me and my weakling arms!

Not arguing :) just saying it is possible

If you look at the buggy area, and divide it into, the bit with the pole and the bit without. in the bit with it then fold the handle up as high as it goes the wedge it in the corner (It will be at a very big angle though)

In the bit without the bar, Put the front wheel towards the top left corner of your imaginary box (Against another buggy if need be) and have it at an angle but a much smaller one then before

or have it at a slight angle and sticking out straight

The Britax B-Dual is also fantastic and is slightly shorter I believe

Are you in an area that only has one type of bus or something? Near us there are bendy buses which could take any kind of buggy, double deckers that are ok if you get on at the middle doors and hopper type v small buses which would be difficult with a double. But legally buses have to be able to accommodate a wheelchair so most can theoretically fit a lightweight side by side buggy. Any chance of you learning to drive if the situation round your way is so difficult?

yes the buses could fit a double, but only one double, so not if there is already a buggy on there, which in my area is 9 times out of 10.

I am looking at the B-dual too but am concerned about the weight limit of 15 kgs (as are a lot of the doubles) on the seat as my daughter is 18 months and 14kgs already.

I can drive, but my husband needs the car for work and we cant afford two cars! Oh there is just no easy answer. thanks for everyones input... its such a dilemma

Again I am simply saying it's possible if a bus driver or the space was an issue!!! It shouldn't be. Both the City Select and B-Dual are shorter than the average P&Ts but my 20 odd months your eldest should be able to get on the bus in front of you enough for you to get on and get her sat down. Both the B-Dual and BJCS have large baskets or are sturdy enough to hang shopping off the handles (not recommended by needs must). Like I said it was only another option ie it easy enough to do if you had to!

Hi, I have an 11 month gap between my two DS's and a Phil and Teds double buggy and live in London AND catch buses
To be honest I do avoid buses unless necessary but have no issues with buggy
It is long but if you get the right angle on it then another pram can still fit next to you if necessary
I love my buggy and wouldn't be without it

A Phil and Teds should be fine - there's loads of them near me. Sometimes you get the adult being too precious to bump the pushchair round the bars to park it, but that happens with single pushchairs too. You just have to swing out into where the back doors are, or get on via those doors. And lots of calling out "Excuse me, excuse me, mind out, sorry!"

I have been on buses with Maclaren side-by-side. On a bendy, no problem. On the rare occasions I've needed to take it on other buses, I've waved frantically at the driver and got on via the back doors, parked it, and then I or partner have taken my Oyster to thwap. I wouldn't recommend that more than once every few months! Waiting for a bus without a buggy can take forever...

One trick is to get on as early in the route as you can, so for me it's worth pushing up to the bus garage (10 min walk) and then getting on a bus that starts there. And trains were much easier (once there was a lift at my local station!) - is there an accessible station near you?

i have a p&t verve and my 5 year old sits easy in the front, as for taking it on buses, i have taken it on park and rides and managed to swing it round very easy and just get it in the gap, but to be honest the bus was not busy, if it had had people stood up in the gang way and the gap had a buggy in already i would have struggled, what about the tandem buggys you can get, i had the mothercare one, they are ok to push and i think would be easier to get on buses, but measure the length and width of what ever you get.
www.mothercare.com/My-Child-Sienta-Tandem-Stroller/dp/B003YM58XU?ie=UTF8&ref=sr_1_16&nodeId=598247031&sr=1-16&qid=1318234966&pf_rd_r=1WK3G2F4R3W73R52GYXY&pf_rd_m=A2LBKNDJ2KZUGQ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=598247031&pf_rd_p=231490867&pf_rd_s=related-tab-3-5

or one of these
www.mothercare.com/Joovy-Caboose-Ultralight-Tandem-Stroller/dp/B0037LEWLC?ie=UTF8&ref=sr_1_7&nodeId=598247031&sr=1-7&qid=1318234966&pf_rd_r=1WK3G2F4R3W73R52GYXY&pf_rd_m=A2LBKNDJ2KZUGQ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=598247031&pf_rd_p=231490867&pf_rd_s=related-tab-3-5

trying to juggle a 20 month old and a buggy will not be easy,

I managed a phil and teds on buses for ds1 and dd and dd and ds2 as don't drive - was fine once I got a sport so could fold the handlebar down. By choice though I always preferred having the bubs snuggled in a wrap and the bigger kid in the maclaren (and I've 17 months between my first two so really did need a buggy for the eldest)

There's always tandem babywearing - not that I ever managed it!

There's a 20 month gap between my first 2 and 22 month gap between the second and the third. I hardly ever used a double buggy. I made the older one walk/run everywhere (with the pram on the side of the path near the road). And didn't go anywhere so far the older one couldn't manage.

You might be thinking that sounds very limiting, but having a baby and toddler IS limiting, you can't do as much as you can with just one. It's not long before the older one can manage to walk, and stay next to the buggy pretty reasonably.

(Oh, and I used jelly tots as a bribe for holding the side of the buggy while we crossed the road).

I don't drive and use a phil and teds a lot on buses, although mostly short journeys, and I consciously try to avoid rush hour and school home time. I always get on at the front to do my ticket and ask the driver if I can take the buggy on at the back, and then get off the bus again to load the buggy. Avoids negotiating a narrow corridor full of feet, shopping baskets, walking sticks and so on. My P&T with 2 children will not fit lengthways in the space behind the pole, but many smaller buggies will, so it is often possible to have two buggies next to each other. Stick out a bit towards the doors, but can usually be accommodated.
Sling and single buggy works well right at the beginning, but is tiring once the second child get hefty.

You can fit a double MacLaren or Graco, plus another single in the space.

The smaller the better, especially if you are a regular user.

Move to single plus buggy board as soon as you can!

get a good sling, one that takes the weight on the hips and not the shoulders, plus the buggy. slingmeet.co.uk is a good source of information. your dc is nearly old enough for a buggy board, so maybe that is an option, too.

I'd recommend ergo carrier if you'll be out & about lots it's really comfy for long wearing times. Then ds in folding buggy.

I do have a sling I like, but am still trying to find the correct double.

does anyone know of a cheap double??