Mountain Buggy +One

[TartyMcFarty]

I think I've asked about this before, but I'm going round in circles trying to decide on the best option for DD who'll be 2.8 and DC2.

I want the baby to have a comfortable, parent-facing carrycot. I was thinking of simply buying a new puschair and using a buggyboard/carrycot or puschair/sling combo, but having looked at a few options I just don't feel a buggyboard is secure enough, and have doubts about how well it would work with a carrycot.

So I'm back to considering the MB+1. Has anybody tested this? What I'm wondering is whether you can actually see baby in the cocoon easily - it looks a bit confined in there and I remember that DD used to love to look at trees as a comfort. Secondly, does it work well as a single? Ideally I want something that will work until DC2 reaches about 3.

Otherwise I suppose it's a double with a carrycot attachment, but I'll also need to buy a decent pushchair as neither of the ones we've had for DD have been up to much ( a second-hand Jane Slalom Pro, then Britax B-Active).

Hi, go and have a really good look around here under the middle green "reviews and information" tab. There's heaps of photos which should help including photos of the cocoon, an older baby in the rear section (you almost certainly will not use the cocoon until the end of 6 months), showing the +One in use as a single as well as a double, how the hood can move forwards and back and up and down. The only downside is that long term once your baby is 6 months+ they will be in the front seat and may need reclining a fair way for naps (there is enough recline on the front seat) but this leaves them vulnerable to the child behind, but hopefully by the the eldest will be walking. I love my +One and had put it in the car to take on an all day outing tomorrow but then I realised I needed something different which is a real shame!! I use mine as a double, single and for carrying shopping home :)

So Tiggy, being the fount of all pram-based knowledge (I hoped you'd be along ), are you telling me that this is your favoured model?!! How old are your DCs, if you don't mind me asking? If you say so, I'm going to go for it!

Its not my most favoured model..... but it does what I need it to do, when I need to do it brilliantly - especially carrying a trolley load of shopping home whilst juggling two children!!
My two are now 3.7 years old and 21 months old. We have had it now...hmmm about 6 months - November I think?
I think the +One works if
a) you are 100% sure how it works, what it does
b) you accept the various limitations ie a toddler can't really sleep in the back, the baby will have to go in the front seat at 6 months which isn't ideal but it depends how laid back you are as a parent I think as to whether you accept the compromise is fine, or whether you want your baby to have a proper seat unit.
d) that you will have to lift your eldest in and out of the back ultimately
c) you are able to lift it in and out of your car boot if you need to. I am fine with it once or twice per outing but its not one to nip in and out from the car several times in a row. I once did a nursery run followed by a shop then a garden centre, then back to the nursery and my arms were hanging off by the end.
d) you have the floorspace to open and close it.
For us it stands neatly right by the front door, its open in seconds and off we go. I find it easy, and especially neat for shopping in shopping malls and to park in small cafes.
I love the versatility of it - you have the choice of two single modes - either a full lie flat single mode like say the Urban Jungle, or you have the front seat with hidden rear seat single mode which gives you a recline but less of one. I like the hood options although I do have the hood right down to keep my children cosy and I find it a little odd not being able to see them (that probably sounds nonsense though because most pushchairs have hoods). The only downside re the hood is if the baby is napping and we pull the hood over him for darkness, but the eldest wants to see out - the view is a little restricted for her.
Like I said, I think if you read everything on Best Buggy, you really will know a lot about this pushchair and hopefully you can think through each stage and know how it will work. It does work great for us though (but I do also have an iCandy Peach Blossom and a Bugaboo Donkey so its not my only double - but it will be the double that stays right to the very end because having the second seat there just in case is really useful, along with the large weight limit).

I think it's the 'just in case' factor that's most important for us, in that DD will want to walk, but then so will I, and quickly! That along with the conversion to single.

About the baby being right at the front - well I am fairly laid back in that sense, but I've come to realise that compromise is unavoidable with the second baby.

There's a MB stockist locally - I'll see if they've got one in.

How do you rate the peach blossom in comparison? I've at least made the decision that I want to be able to walk for pleasure with 2, so I think a double is back on the table!

I love the Peach Blossom 2 - it works better for me personally than the +One for one main reason - its smaller and easier to lift! We have been out on an all day outing today - left home before 8am and got back at 10pmish. I originally put the +One in the car for going around a shopping mall - because its neater for cafes and toilets (although the PB2 isn't an issue but the +One feels like a single), but I realised I had to do at least two other stops en route and I didn't think I personally would be up for lifting the +One in and out of the car those three times (and in the end it ended up being 5 stops) on my own with both children to lift etc. (I dont have a good back after two pregnancies and CS). Its been in single and double mode on and off all day. Admittedly DD walked a lot of the day, but she did go in the second seat after lunch when she threatened a melt down and later in two shops - one with china on display and the other I just needed to get on!! Otherwise Peppa Pig sat comfortably underneath!! I think for the baby, the level of comfort is much better with the PB2. Its also better for the eldest, but at 3.6years old she is growing out of the seat but its been fab for the time we have had it and its been used a LOT until very recently. Twice today I had to use the Peach for my son to sit at, at the table (just to be near us) and the Peach pushed right up and under the table no problem and he sat with us. I got all the kit we needed in the basket - and whilst you can pull the bags out from the front, its easy to simply pop the lower seat off to access the bags, and then put it back on when we had finished eg lunch time. I have to say, the PB2 is definitely my choice for the children and ease of use, options etc. but the +One is a completely different kettle of fish. The +One really has a lot of compromises, the PB2 has few and gives proper seats for the children.
But we use these two pushchairs differently. The Peach Blossom 2 is definitely our car based, outings pushchair (thats not to say we dont use it locally because we do) but its easy to put in the car, easy to erect, easy to use. It's just easy and doesn't fill the boot up. The +One is better for our local more off road walks to the lake or park, and especially for supermarket shopping as it can carry tons back!!

Ha! I saw this pop up and thought of you Tarty, and lo and behold twas you

Have you picked yet?

Tiggy, there are no words to do your pram knowledge justice

Hi - just wondering if anyone knows how much the total package would be for the Peach Blossom 2, roughly, for a newborn and a toddler....I feel it is a pricey option, am I right?

Leaning towards the +one because of this (and the off-roading abilities)...

Also, I am having trouble finding out when the PB2 will be available, does anyone know?

Well I bought it! It's in the porch - took less than 24 hrs to arrive with free postage, from PreciousLittleOnes. Waiting for DH to get home to lift the box for me.

Like you Poppyjen, price is a big issue for me. I need to buy just one pushchair that will work as a single and a double. I also don't like that baby has to be front facing on the Peach Blossom.

Thanks for the advice Tiggy. You need Stetsons as an apprentice - she's pretty good!

Ooooh Tarty please let me know how you get on with it - when if we get a +one I think we'll go for Preciouslittleones.com too as the customer service lady I spoke to the other day about the +one was so helpful and told me that if, once we had taken it out of the box and put it together we felt it wouldn't work for us then as long as we hadn't taken it outside (or damaged it obviously) we could return it for full refund less cost of courier. I have to say this was a huge relief as we won't be able to get to see one before the decision is made!

I eagerly await your first impressions

Hurray Tarty what do you think? Be really critical looking at it and think through each stage ie pre 6 months, post six months and check it will work. Let me know what you think / decide.
Lol re stetsons :o

The Peach Blossom 2 is approx double the price with no sign of it as yet....
The price list is on the iCandy website for download but off the top of my head I think it's approx £595 for the single Peach, just under £200 for the Blossom kit, £80 for two liners if you wish, i can't guess a carrycot price but around £150-200??

Fnar, I don't know nearly enough about prams. I just spend a lot of time on these boards beating myself up with pushchairs I can't afford

Are you going to use it straight away? I don't know if I could restrain myself until the new baby arrives!

Oh no, I have big reservations.

It's enormous - it won't fit in the back of my 307 without the back wheels coming off. Although that's easily done, I can't see it being so convenient in a situation where it's chucking it down with rain and I've got a narky toddler and a hungry baby to deal with. It's also very loooong! (Though I expected that). On swivel, with the front wheel sticking out, I fear I'd be a danger to toes and ankles everywhere.

The recline on the front seat would be right in DD's face. I think she would be more inconvenienced than the baby might - I very much doubt she's be able to reach out for quite some time.

On the plus side, it's very easy to manoeuvre. I'm a bit overfaced by the whole thing though. I don't really like it That said, I haven't tested it properly - DD is staying at her gran's tonight. I intended to take it over there tomorrow when I join her for the weekend, but I won't be able to fit it in the car along with her usual buggy!

Gah, what now?!

Stentsons, I will if I keep it. That was the idea - something for now and when DD is too grown up for a pushchair to replace the heap of junk I've already got, but also a solution to the too-far-to-walk problem. I really think it's too huge to use as a single. And I can't afford a new car to put it in!

Bugger

Did you ask about a buggy board on the B Smart? You know you're welcome to try mine out if you like.

Lol re ankles - I have bumped a few, but people shouldn't stop suddenly in the middle of a walk way. As you walk along, the wheel will be tucked under the front of the pushchair.

The +One isn't much bigger than the Urban Jungle which is a single. Its actually one of the most compact tandems there is :)

You are saying exactly the things I expected you to say to be honest - if the +One works, it's brilliant, if it's not going to work, then don't force it to work. It spunds like you dont like it, so I wouldnt keep it. You need to be happy pushing whatever you get. But the choices for an older child and newborn that work are fairly limited. Just remember that by the time the baby is 6 months old your eldest will be in a completely different place re walking. The car sounds a bit of a pain though :(

What other options have you looked at?

I have to saying, I've been thinking about that hypothetical point in the future when we might have another, and whether we will need a double, and what sort of double that might be.

For example: I've never really 'got' the P&T style, double decker pushchairs. However, if your DD is going to be walking most of the time and just using the double to hop in if she's tired (or you need to walk faster than she's willing to), it is sounding more and more to me like a good compromise. It's just a case of getting your head around DD sitting in the basket (I know it's not technically the basket, but YKWIM).

Potentially you'll only need a double for a few months, especially over the winter, so would you consider something like a P&T or B Dual, then you can whip the underneath seat off once your DD doesn't need the lift anymore.

I don't know what sort of size they are when folded though.

Well you see now Tiggy, I kinda fancy the Peach Blossom but there's no way I can spend that kind of money I could do with a pile of cash for either one of those or a big family car!

Stetsons, I tried a buggy board the on a BJCM at that showroom the other day but just didn't see how it would be stable enough up down kerbs and things. Then I got thinking well actually I still want to be able to walk at adult pace and go for miles, hence the +one idea.

It's doing my bloody head in now. I hate shopping at the best of times. Out of ideas except for maybe a BJCM double with a carrycot.

To be honest a lot of children love being in the seat underneath - my eldest fights for the lower seat! However just watch with a P&Ts as the eldest starts off on the doubles kit on the front of the main seat, not underneath and you have to watch for things like hood height, raincovers etc.

Jane Twone as a cheaper PB2? Apparently it should be along shortly. In a couple of weeks if you believe the Kiddicare website. In all honesty I don't know if there is a convertible apart from maybe the Peach that is a sensible single, they're all going to seem quite huge.

I had a Jane Slalom Pro with DD and it's not great, so I'm reluctant to buy another. What I'm thinking now us that eBay is my friend - maybe a BJCM double as well as a single puschair that I can use now with DD and with DC2 when DD is older.