Please recommend me a single to double, am going round in circles.

[notso]

DC 4 is due in 15 weeks, DS2 will be 16 months.

At the moment I have a Bugaboo Cameleon which I love, it really suits my needs (apart from the raincover which I hate).
I don't drive so car journeys are limited to weekends or trips with my mum once a fortnightish and rarely need to take public transport. I off road quite a lot and also trek around town so would like to be able to tackle shops quite easily.
We will need to sell the Cameleon to help fund the new pram so I would prefer a single to double rather than a fixed tandem or twin.

Was quite set on the Donkey, but am concerned it won't fit in Grandparents car boots or indeed our own car which would mean buying an additional double and given the cost of the Donkey I am reluctant to do this.

I have been looking at the Britax B-Dual which is probably my second choice, have also looked at the I-candy Peach and Pear and the Baby Jogger City select but have not been so keen on these.

Ideally I would like to have both DC facing me hence the Donkey, but I realise I may have to compromise and have one DC or the other.

Posted too soon, TIA

I would try the Donkey out in your cars to see if it would fit. It would probably be the best option becasue it's apparently so easy to push and you can have either child facing either way.

If it's too big, you could buy the B-Dual and have the oldest of the two children in the top seat parent facing and the baby in a soft carrycot in the bottom seat. That way you can still see both children easily. You could probably get away with the top seat facing you until the new baby is about 70cm tall as long as you out the footrest upright on the top seat when the youngest is sitting up. It won't be uncomfortable for the oldest to have the footrest up, he'll probably just cross his legs.

However, I wouldn't choose to use the B-Dual as a single and would sell it when you only need a single. But with the amazing deals on it at the moment, you may not need to sell the Cameleon anyway.

I should have also said, the Peach's back seat may be a bit tight as it is and the new Blossom kit isn't due out here until the end of the year I think. They've also now said they're only going to do the new Blossom kit in 2012 colours so you'd have to wait until they're out too.

I don't know much about the Pear except that the seats are a bit close together. The BJCS was too heavy when I tried my niece and daughter in it at 8.5kg and 10kg and I think you'd really struggle with such a small age gap when you'll need it for longer than most parents.

Thanks aswellasyou great help.
Will try and find a Donkey stockist local enough for everone to visit, DH and I had a look in a John Lewis nearly two hours away.
It probably won't be so bad for PIL as they have been known to take out a car and a van out to avoid folding pushchairs it is more for my Mum who has a citroen C3(I think)

Do you think I should rule out the Peach all together?, I didn't love it anyway. My friend loves her Pear but has very different needs to me (rarely walks far, and her older child only hops in for a snooze in the afternoon).

Out of interest why would you not recommend the B-Dual as a single?

I'm not sure about the Peach to be honest. I suppose it depends on the size of your children. You can take out the seat liner to give more room, so it could be an option. I would try and have a look at it too. The downside to me is that it folds with the seats off, whereas the Donkey and B-Dual fold with both seats on.

I wouldn't use the B-Dual as a single becasue it's wide at 69cm. It justs feels unnecessarily big as a single and somehow I often clip things with the wheels in single mode even though I don't in double mode. But it wouldn't be a big deal if you aren't going in and out of tight shops and cafés. I bought mine from BabyBaby who were very good and you get the second seat, carseat and footmuff for £354. I've just had a look and the new 2012 version is on sale now. Bambino Direct have it with the second seat for £405, but I'd get someone else to price match because BD have a terrible reputation.

I saw the Donkey today and I can't even work out where I can keep it folded in my house. Its the second time I have seen it and the fold is more diabolical than I remembered!! I really can't see it fitting in my car and am sat here trying to work out what furniture I can move in my house to have it stored in my large hall!!!! Oh and that was folding with the seats off and in Mono mode!!

aswellasyou my DC tend to be on the tall side so perhaps the each won't work, plus I don't really want to have to wait for the new release. That package for the B-Dual looks good, thanks.

What is the difference between the current and 2012 versions I can't seem to find anything much on it.

Tiggywunkle Thanks for replying, I don't plan keeping it folded in the house if I have measured correctly I hope to have room to keep it up. I tend to use the pram for daytime naps after the first few weeks.
Is it really that big folded though? Sounds off putting, we won't be getting our 7 seater until the month before the baby is due and I was hoping to have the pram sorted by then.
Dh doesnt think anything bigger than a single umbrella will fit in the boot space when 6 of the 7 seats are up so we are probably getting a roofbox,
do you think the Donkey would fit in one?

Oh and to make matters worse my Mum has stuck her beak in with (aside from the helpful "perhaps you should have thought about this before getting pregnant again"),
"I cannot believe you are planning on putting a baby in a shopping basket".

at your Mum! In relation to the baby in the basket, I had similar feelings about feeling sorry for the one in the bottom, although more in P&Ts than the B-Dual which I hadn't seen in real life. But in fact, you get a really good view of the lower child-much better than the top child when facing away from you-and they can see everything around them. Their feet will sit in the basket, but the basket's so big that it really doesn't matter and they don't take up much space at all. When you have the top seat facing away from you, you have adapters that push the seat forward about 4 inches, so you get a lot more space between the seats.

I really don't think a roofbox is the way to go with a pushchair to be honest. I can't imagine lifting even a fairly light pushchair up onto the roof of a car, let alone a big double. I've seen photos of a Donkey in the boot of a 7 seater with one back seat down (or maybe out of the car, I'm not sure), so it is very possible that it will fit. Also, if you take two wheels off, it'll close a bit flatter and take up less space. It may sound like a faff to take it to pieces, but you get very used to it, as you will have with the Cameleon. And I think the seating options and lovely push will be worth a bit of time getting it in and out of the car if you can fit it in.

I know aswellasyou something happens to my Mum when I am pregnant, that usually ends up with 9 months of me permanently going or behind her back, then the baby is born and she's back to her usual brilliant self.

As for the roof box, it will be DH doing all the lifting etc, he is 6 4" so shouldn't be a problem for him, but am encouraged that you think it may fit in the boot. Like you say, have got used to dismantling the Cameleon, the bits come off and fit on so easily it isn't a problem for us.

I think we need to see both in the flesh and have a good look for ourselves.

Thanks for your great advice

You're welcome. Hopefully it fits in the boot of the new car.

I think you need to see the Donkey in real life. I honestly am no expert on roof boxes but it's a pyramid shape fold and I don't know how well it would fit. It's likely to wedge though with a seat down in the rear. Taking the rear wheels off makes no difference - we tried that! Good luck and I hope it fits because it seemed fab otherwise.

Just to add the Phil&Teds Promenade is starting to arrive in stores.

Have just had a google of the promenade thanks Tiggywunkle it does look good but I am not sure of how it would be off road.

I think I could do with hiring a peugeot 5008 to try and fit the donkey in it!

I think it would be fine on rough ground, potholes, etc but not on soft surfaces like mud or sand - its got similar front wheels to the Verve and the front wheels simply crumpled into dpsand.

The Promenade does look greatdoesn't it?! They've had lots of issues with first batches of new pushchairs in the last 2 years unfortunately, but I'd still have a look. You could always get two pushchairs to cover all bases.

Don't tempt me aswellasyou it's so addictive,this time two years ago I thought my pushchair days were over, I didn't dream I would ever be looking at doubles!

Don't talk to me about addictive! I've had 10 so far and have one child who's 16 months. I haven't bought anything since she was 11 months though because I started university and haven't had much money at all until now...

Wow! I'm only on 8 between three children over 11 years.
One of the reasons I love the Cam is the ability to customise it so I feel like I have a new pushchair all the time, I have a bit of a stash of hoods!

I've got a Gecko which I could customise too, but never have for some reason. I'm by no means the worst offender on here. suzie is!

don't know how you all manage it, takes me months of of careful research and DH persuasion to decide on one!

I just used to spend hours on end breatsfeeding and researching on the internet!

I've jsut thought of another one to suggest to you. It's the Stroll-Air My Duo. It's not available here at the moment (but should be some time relatively soon) but can be bought from amazon.com for £560 including shipping, but excluding customs charges. It's 11.8kg () and is 74x74x25cm folded, which is a really good size for short but tall car boots like you'll have. It has everything going for it,except that it's not as stylish as a Donkey. I'd love to have one myself.

That sounds familiar aswellasyou DH often used to say "are you on the internet again" I always replied "no I'm feeding"

I like the look of that Stroll-Air not sure if I could convince DH into buying before we try though.

I think that's the same picture I saw of the Donkey in the boot. I'm looking at it again now and can't fully work it out. I'm not sure if this link will work but here goes!, or you could request to join the FB group and have a look. She has a Ford Galaxy and it looks like one seat is missing. She has the chassis folded in double mode and the seats separate and there's loads of space left. She says she thinks it would be find with the seats on but hasn't done that before. And I did see her mention her friend puts it into single mode and fits it in that way, but she doesn't bother herself as she has plenty of room. Looking at this I can see why she takes the seats off when putting it in the boot.

I do love our B Dual, but if I had the money I'd love to buy a Donkey, although TBH I'd probably actually by the Stroll-Air just because of the fold. The Donkey will have a great resale value though compared to the Stroll Air

That picture of the boot wasn't the one I was thinking of-the seat was missing on the right not the left. I think the wheels had been kept on too. It might be possibly to stand the chassis up one one side of the boot and stand the seats on end on the other side of the boot.

notso, I can understand not wanting to buy before seeing it. It's a big purchase and you need to be sure you're getting the right thing.