Too much research on double buggies and I can't see the wood for the trees! Pls help me decide...

[bbface]

I am paralysed by indecision after over thinking this. I need to buy a double buggy. My DS will be 2.7 when my DD arrives in late Feb (although going by my first, more like mid march!)

I think I have narrowed it down to:-
Phil and Ted Navigator
Icandy blossom 1
Babystyle oyster max

This is the one thing where we have decided no budget because been so careful with everything else and, as I walk practically everywhere it really will affect quality of life. So pls tell me what you think of the above, any experiences, and what would be your dream double buggy.

My only requirement is that it converts to a single, as when I drop DS off at nursery, I do not want to be walking around with a double buggy, added to which DS will presumably stop going in the buggy on the vast majority of occasion around the 3 yrs marK?

Thanks so much in advance,
Xx

For the nursery drop off thing the peach won't turn into a single for a under 6 month old baby because the lower carrycot of the blossom 1 doesn't fit in the upper position. to use the peach 1 as a single you need the upper carrycot or the main one so you can't swap to a single for the baby on the same trip as using it as a double. the blossom 2 lower cot does fit in the upper position though. the oyster max carrycot fits in both positions plus I think the main seat is new born suitable. I'm not sure how it would work with the navigator really as the baby will be in the lower position with the toddler seat in top.

This is my predicament too....although my favoured is the Bugaboo Donkey.

My DS will be 2.6 when my DC2 arrives mid-late Feb and have been toying with the idea of a buggy board for my DS (one of those they can sit on) and a 2nd single buggy for when grandparents or Daddy take one off my hands for the day (we still have the Bugaboo Cameleon from my DS's birth). My concern is that my DS is quite flighty and one day can be very independent and want to walk, but the other day will want to be pushed/carried. If we get a double buggy, I'd like it to be suitable from birth for DC2 and convertible to a single for when I only have 1 with me, and for longevity of use......

I was all for the buggy board option until speaking with friends at the weekend who would go double buggy all the way.

I'll be watching responses with eagerness!!

Hi All, have you seen these:
item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=330793278803&index=1&nav=SEARCH&nid=17137616079

Search Joovy Caboose on eBay if the link doesn't work.

As a mum of 3 boys - 4 1/2, 3 and 14 months - I think these buggies from the USA are brilliant. I can actually get all 3 on this with the youngest sat in the front, the 3 yr old sitting on the little sliding seat and my oldest stood on the buggie board type platform. As a pram it is thinner or as thin as any single pram and no longer either so it's great round shops and busy towns. It is quite basic in style but is very light and has the fastest and simplest opening out and closing down system I've ever seen. Although you technically have a spare seat after the nursery drop off, you won't really notice it and the little seat can slide all the way to the front to reveal a decent sized basket.

Ok so there are a couple of downsides, the main one being that there is nowhere for a newborn to lay flat. However you can get a car seat adapter bracket that allows any make of car seat to sit on the front of the pram completely secure. Personally I made use of the car seat adapter or wore my youngest in a sling until he was about 6 months and big enough to sit at the front. The older ones love sitting or standing behind him and I cannot tell you how many mums tell me how much of a good idea it is!

When we had ds2 and ds1 was only 18 months, we hadn't seen these and actually got a phil and teds side by side tandem. That was fantastic and no boy had to sit underneath another but it was heavy and big around some shops. That said both seats go flat and it can fold quite flat for car storage so also a good double option if you're worried about the set up of the standard phil and teds. You will have a spare seat though.

Anyway, just my humble opinion but good luck

I would go for the Oyster Max because your eldest can go on the bottom with the baby laid flat on the top, or use the carrycot, which then can be switched to the top when your eldest gets to nursery. Plus if you wanted to, one day you could easily add a buggy board, and it works quite well.
The Donkey is a complete nightmare to convert especially if cold and wet, and to be honest, if you are considering doing the conversion twice a day then you are a more patient person than I am. As ihateparties says the Peach Blossom 1 wont work as you are thinking because of the adaptors. The Peach Blossom 2 would work but its not safety approved to use a Blossom carrycot as a single, even though it fits. Keep an eye too on the Micralite Twofold because I am sure it will be out in the new year, and that really is a pushchair that will grow with a family through all stages.

Thanks so much, really appreciate it.

Yes, am going with the oyster max. I have paid my deposit (quite a reasonably priced pushchair actually), and I am crossing everything and anything that it will indeed be released in Feb (Babystyle emailed that they are on track for a Feb release date).

I have signed up and then cancelled which one too many times. Does anyone know what Which says about these three pushchairs?

Thanks again

I have the bugaboo donkey and I find it super easy to convert. So much so that I do convert it back and forth several times a day. I've never found the cold or the wet to make it any harder.

The only issue I have with it is I get comments on how big it is when it's a single. Never mind that its no bigger than a Chameleon, people see the side basket and I think it makes it look wider. It's not issue as such. It just annoys me to have it said over and over.

No, but the Which reviews are flawed in many ways, not least because the reviews I have read talk about the pushchairs being "pushed around the office"!! and one said the seat wasn't suitable for a child over the age of 2 (it has a huge seat) and then at the end, they said they were looking forward to putting a child in the seat!! ie they hadn't actually tried a child in the seat! They also dont weight pushchairs the same. So a low priced good functioning pushchair that offers a lot for the money, may be placed lower than a more expensive pushchair offering the same (as an example).

I noticed that in single mode with the Donkey, people used to "part" as you approached like they did with a single. It is a strange pushchair because the back wheels are no wider than a single, but the front wheels are thus its more square. I had two Donkeys and both were a nightmare to convert at times - probably 2 out of 3 times it was hard whether I couldn't undo, or do up clips, or whether I struggled to pull the chassis apart. You sound like you got a good 'un Ants.

hello, i have the icandy blossom 1 in tomato, I thought I would put a comment on as I have children near to the same age as what you shall have. my daughter is 2.10 years and my son is 4 months so he currently in the lower carrycot, the seat is big and my daughter still have lots of room in it, when it comes to using it as a single for my son for short journeys I put on the car seat clips and pop him in his car seat, this is perfect for the nursery drop off. :)

Thanks all.

So local oyster max stockist have confirmed that will be with them mid feb.

Tonight though I have been looking at the uppababy vista and rumble seat. If I had my time as a one child mum again, I would buy the uppababy vista in a heart beat. Sadly though the rumble seat does not appear a great option.... Any thoughts?

I have just replied on the other thread. Honestly stick with the Oyster Max :)