Double buggy dilemmas - regular bus user in London

[HandMini]

Hi clever ladies of Mumsnet - help me out here! I live in central London, use buses a lot for getting around and from Jan will have a newborn and an 18 month old. So...

I really like the look of the BJ City Select, but it seems to have the biggest width at about 65cm...anybody tried this buggy on buses?

I like the iCandy Peach Blossom as well but the seat configuration is less good than the City Select. Also, is there a big difference between the Peach Blossom and the Peach Blossom 2 (I'll be trying to buy on eBay if poss so likely to be older models I guess)?

All the other mums-of-two in London seem to have a Phil & Teds. I'm not keen on these looks-wise and I do think the child on the bottom looks pretty low down / vision restricted. BUT I have heard its the nippiest for getting on buses etc.

Anything else I've missed?

Thanks in advance

but Happy, there's a difference between the width of the sitting bit, and the wheel width. It's not a mathematical thing. Mathematically they may be the same, but you can overlap wheels in a confined space, you can't with the sitting bits. IYSWIM.

So, I know for a fact that you can fit a P&T and a maclaren, for example in the wheelchair space on a standard London Bus. I also know you can't with a Mountain Buggy side-by-side double. And I think lifting any buggy with 2 infants /toddlers in is bloody heavy. That said I'm a titchy 5ft 1", and I managed to heft the P&T on and off buses etc pretty easily, and I had mahoosive baby and very big for her age toddler in it.

Look, I agree that, for example, the mountain buggy is lovely to push, and lovely for them both to sit in (although my friend has one, and her two fight, constantly when in it - a situation avoided when they can't get at each other in a P&T!). But on a busy bus, in London, side-by-sides are a bloody nightmare.

I also tried the single and sling and buggyboard option, but I found my massive babies and small frame made it too difficult day-to-day. DD1 wasn't really good on the buggy board, properly until she was nearer 3.

HandMini - no, I know that's what you were getting at. It was just a heartfelt plea from someone who had just had to spend an additional 20 minutes in driving rain and wind with two tired children because of someone taking up the entire space on a bus with a MB double. Driver "You can't get on, there's a double on already...". Me [fume].

IMHO P&T works really well for what you want to do. It's not perfect, but they're easy to pick up on Ebay for not much ££, or even, as I did, borrow from a friend to test-drive for a few weeks first. I gave mine (bought on ebay) to a friend, otherwise I'd have loaned it to you... :-(

db
xx

Mini, doesn't the techno lie flat? I'm sure mine is got newborn onwards and you can get a cocoon for them for when they're tiny (which you can bundle up underneath when toddler needs the buggy...)

Maybe I'm thinking if the wrong techno though...

The Duet is the newer side by side Mountain Buggy. The older Mountain Buggy Duo is 10cms wider which is probably the one designer baby sees..but even so, is still one of the smaller side by sides TBH. But the Mountain Buggies are quite long too.

Hand just come back to this. I had the original bee and it worked great. I agree that getting a second hand one from ebay should make it more affordable and you don't need the plus...

Oh and ceeveebee, the reason I don't fold my umbrella fold buggy, and end up having to wait for another is that my DD in it is DD2 (so not PFB if that was a side swipe as I am assuming) so I would have to wrestle DDone (usually with at least 2 school bags and a scooter) dd2 her folded buggy and nursery bag, plus a laptop bag, large work bag and usually a bag of shopping or two. On a bus which is usually standing room only. No thanks...

So if the dear soul would just get a buggy more suited to her day to day lifestyle (which is clearly city job + nursery run rather than gambolling across fields or, indeed up mountains) I for one would really appreciate it.

'Cause at the moment it's a bit like having the land rover with cream leather interior when you live in Chelsea...

I don't know why so many people are so anti P&Ts. They're hugely practical, easy and cheap to pick up second hand and seem to go on for years and have the added bonus of being able to fit through doors, down narrow aisles in mothercare and, oh yes, on a bus alongside a second buggy...

(shrugs)

Wasn't a side swipe at you - I know you have two or why would you have recommended a p&t- , it's just what I experience most days, people with foldable buggies usually with a walking age child in taking all the space up. Or even worse a mahoosive single travel system wider than my side by side!

I don't have a mountain buggy, I have an icandy peach blossom (60cm wide) and an Obaby umbrella fold side by side (73cm). Have been on many buses with both of them and always able to fit alongside a single if they just budge up a bit or stand sideways on. In fact I have been on buses with my icandy and my friend and her mountain buggy so I know they fit together.
I prefer side by side as much easier getting babies in and out (particularly at groups where you have to leave prams outside - I can pick them up together), can feed them, they can see each other etc. and it's much lighter and easier to get onto buses, trains, up stairs etc.

Just been reading this with great interest as DC2 due next year and will have small age gap and live in central london.

Just had a question I hoped someone could answer. There are four large steps up to my front door. I currently bump my bugaboo chameleon up them very happily but could I still do this with a double and would a tandem be easier or more difficult than a side by side to achieve this?

Also need something that folds well for when I have to take two children to nursery. Can anyone tell me which would be better for this out of a Phil and Ted's and a Mountain Buggy?

Thanks

Jumping on the bandwagon here as in a similar situation (in London, can't begin to imagine getting a side by side on and off the bus). Tried out a P&Ts Navigator today but my son (2.5) only just fit in the toddler seat... does anyone happen to know if there is an inline double buggy with a bit more life in it?

How about a mountain buggy +1 jumblequeen

I have a 2.5 year gap and find it really works. Ds1 is tall for his age and is still comfy in either the back or front.

I have taken it on buses, trains, tube with no problem. It does feel long and sometimes hard to jiggle into place with both boys in.

I also have a bee with a board which I also use for short trips which works well for us too.

Ooh thanks fishy - I'll look into it.

The +One is fab - I own one - but you need to be very sure of where and when each child will be. There is a patch between about 6-12 months where the baby will not be able to recline much in the front seat and this is a compromise you need to consider. If you can get through this then its fab, but I have to be honest and say I think two smaller children are better in proper seats. The +One is fab once they are older.
Have a look at the Babystyle Oyster Max, iCandy Peach Blossom 2 and the new Micralite Twofold. The latter isn't out as yet, and I haven't seen it, but if you watch the videos there may be options that are better say for public transport or ways you can convert to get on a bus. Its definitely a pushchair that truly seems to "grow" with your family.

Blobby I struggled to bump a P&T's simply because so much of a P&Ts is at the back. If you look at something like a B-Dual, there is more of the pushchair at the front than the back. I have a Babystyle Oyster Max and I happily bumped it down a lot of steps a few weeks ago. I needed a hand to lift it up but I knew I had a lot of weight in the pushchair. Can your eldest get out and walk up the steps? I have to say I think I would be looking at something like a Nipper or a TFK Twinner Twist Duo or a Bumbleride Indie for bumping up steps. But you really need to try them out first to check that things like brakes dont catch and the handles dont "give".

I've a p&t sport and have got on really well with it. I'd be wary about spending loads of money on a double unless you are thinking about selling it on in a year or so. I just don't think many people get the full use out of a double unless they have twins. The good thing that I've found about the p&t is that it has gone from a double to a single which I have used over a five year period with different DCs. The sport has chunky wheels so works OK off road and also has a huge seat that my four year old was quite happy sitting in last year (I used it when it was raining so he didn't get soaked). The sport is not perfect, but I don't think it is a bad compromise.

Just to let people know. The new mountain buggy duo easily fits on a London bus next to a bugaboo cameleon ( so you can estimate size). I have the cameleon and often get the bus with a neighbour with the duo.
It actually is small enough to go on first and be turned so that the buggy is in space facing the front of he bus ( if that makes sense). The bugaboo slots in nicely next to it

Ps we had a Phil and teds which I couldn't use on a bus as was a nightmare. It's still to long to fit in properly without blocking the aisles, and no way would it fit in where the mb does. It's also super heavy

Can I please again point out the Mountain Buggy Duo and the Duet are not the same pushchair. The Duo is about 10cms wider than the Duet, and things like the bigger wheels Duo make a difference if they are pointing forwards rather than tucked in, and also to the manoeuverability.
But you will be glad to know that no more Duo's will be made in future :o

oops i ment duet!

We have had the peach blossom but with two babies and a changing bag its just too heavy. Ended up getting a maclaren twin techno off eBay for 49 quid and a single maclaren for 45 off ebay. We use the single and sling for short trips and the double for all day trips, it fits on the back of the bus lovely. Now selling our peach blossom and mamas papas sola. We have two girls a year apart