Bugaboo Donkey versus Phil and Teds dot/navigator

[snowchick1977]

In around 8 weeks time i will have a newborn and a 14 month old (gulp!) I currently have a bugaboo chameleon which has been great with my daughter. I thought I would be able to get away with not buying a new double by using baby carrier & pushchair or pushchair and buggy board but I am slowly realising that this just won't be doable really!!!!

I havent done hours of research but went to John Lewis to briefly look at doubles and spoke to a lady there and kind of narrowed it down to these two....although I know they are very different.

I was wondering if any users on here had anything good/bad to say about either.....or at least the older versions of the Phil and Teds.

I have a maxi-cosi car seat so ideally wNt to be able to use this still but I'm fairly laid back about needs etc. We live near woods and walk a lot so just need to be able to do this easily with 2.

The Chameleon has been great (having bought another set of bigger wheels for terrain) but I dont really know much about other brands and doubles in general.

Any advice/experiences would be really welcome.

Thanks so much x

You could get a sling - something like a connecta or a manduca (if you could get to a sling library that would be the best option) and keep the bugaboo. Then when your baby is bigger get a double maclaren or something like that.

I still carry my 14 month old in a sling sometimes rather than take a buggy. I managed to avoid a double buggy as had a larger age gap.

You can also get a P&T on ebay / gumtree / netmums. My friends had them and got on with it. You do seem to get a lot of use out of them. I thought they were compatible with a maxi cosi too.

I think the nipper 360 is also supposed to be good if I was lucky enough to have a smaller age gap I would have got one.

I do have a mental friend who had her little boy in a carrier until he was 1 and then bought a P&T second hand. She had a similar age gap to you.

I didn't get on with a sling, so bought a bugaboo donkey. I love it and it's been worth every penny. I love being able to make it a single when I've just got one of them with me. It has a bulky fold, but once you get used to it, it's not an issue (all doubles will have a bulky fold compared to the chameleon).

The nipper 360 has a known problem with the brakes. A friend has one and the brakes do not work at all. She hasn't had it repaired because the buggy is used every day, so she doesn't have a week or two to send it off for repair.

I have a P&T explorer and love it.

If it went in the car more often I think I'd feel differently, but twice a month is fine to dust off a handle and it's no heavier than a quinny buzz.
I'm a bit gutted I can't get a navigator seat for my explorer, it is a lot better. I have found the UV net invaluable when out walking, that is what made us go for a P&T over others.

I've seen both the navigator and the dot, the dot seems a lot smaller, I like the large bucket seat on the other models, the dot is not as deep.

If its a choice between these then the Donkey is absolutely the one to go for. Your age gap is tiny and a double pushchair really will get used. The P&Ts is riddled with issues. The first one is where will your eldest sit in newborn mode so that they can nap?
Just bear in mind that adding a Maxi Cosi seat to the Donkey will make it wider than a standard doorway.
I have a new narrow Nipper and it's great. I also really like the TFK Twinner Twist Duo but if I were starting again I would almost certainly buy another Donkey to give parent facing (the new slim fold chassis would have transformed things for us) or the Baby Jogger City Mini GT. look also at importing a Stroll Air My Duo with the caveats that importing brings. The My Duo has an easy fold, reversible seat with car seat adaptors. For a tandem the Peach Blossom 2 and Smyrhs Dimples Duo would be on my list along with the Britax B-Dual.

Tiggywunkle the new P&T behind seats now recline and they have added a parent-facing seat, it's almost like they listened to what people didn't like -bitched- about them

Yes but you can't use the lower seat in newborn mode - the lower seat goes on top and can't recline. The parent facing seat is only for single mode and only up to 9kgs. Given its the same angle as a ar seat, you may as well use that and save your money and put the other child underneath as well!

Car seat ^^

If money wasn't an issue, we would've got the donkey. As it happens, we have the P&Ts Vibe. It's come in really handy, and definitely well used when DD2 came along (DD1 was 24 months at the time).

Down sides: quite clunky to push, front wheel sometimes not steady going up/down curbs, baby not facing you, older child not entirely comfortable when napping, a big boot space required to transport it in the car, lack of basket storage space.

Otherwise, a good, solid double buggy. And great when both are sleeping.

Another vote for the Donkey here! We adore ours, it really is brilliant. The only downside is that it takes up a lot of boot space - but once you know where everything fits, it's not too bad. It's one of the only few that are 74cm across - life saver when it comes to doors (most openings we measured were 78cm).

There's also a good one for sale on eBay - TwinGo. Worth a look, if you don't need a convertible (single-double).

I just tried my DD in the donkey today (due Dec with DD2 and will be 18 months between them) - got my heart set on the donkey but there wasnt much head room for DD even though she's only 1 year old. Am I actually going to get much use out of it? Would be interested to hear how long others have been able to use theirs for (I know it depends on height but my DD isn't particularly tall).

Thanks :)

Have a look at the mountain buggy duet. It's as narrow as the single version. Can have carrycot/ carseat/ regular seats combinations. Great off road but narrow enough for most shop doors and London buses

The Donkey seat is huge - I bet the hood was on the lower setting. I have a really tall almost 4 year old and she fitted in great until we sold it recently. The leg length is brilliant - and remember after about the age of 2, its legs that grow down rather than the back and head upwards. My two even though they are 2 years apart and one is tall and one is short - have the same harness settings for their shoulders on a lot of pushchairs. Its rare I have to alter them. But legs are where the difference is and the long leg length on the Donkey is great for older children.
Just look at how you will store a Donkey - or even a Duet. Both are bulky folded. I had a TwinGo as well once upon a time which I loved. It was much easier to store than either of the others as it laid flat on its side. Look at importing a Stroll-Air my Duo too with the caveats that importing brings. Its a fab pushchair and is better than the Donkey if you plan to use a car seat as the car seat sits inside the frame rather than adding to the width as it does on both the Duet and the Donkey. The Duet car seat adaptor only holds up to 9kgs too - approx 10 months?