Quick double buggy question!

[Ixel]

Which is the absolutely smallest, lightest, and best to fold up a shove in the car? Doesn't have to be too hard wearing, as it'll be for popping out and about, not an in-it-all-day thing.
Was thinking Mclaren, but is there a better one?
It also has to be frequently available second hand!!

I had a Maclaren and it was absolutely fine, but believe me, with two toddlers in it there was nothing light about it!

what car have you got? depends how big your boot is. I've got the mothercare duolite which is great, very light but also very comfy, but folds flat so wouldnt go in all car boots.

It'd have to go in a small car aswell as a big one, due to outings with people. So ideally it'd fold up to the size of a stamp! Titania, I knew you'd have some input.... all I ever see you talk about is buggies!!!

hmmm - cani jump in and ask another question....?(sorry ixel)

i need a double buggy to accomodate and new born and a large 2.5 year old who only just fits into a maclaren double with a winter coat on now (at the age of 2.2 years).....

any suggestions/?
needs to fit in the boot of a focus.....

.... does the Mclaren fold to basically twice the size of a single folded one? Or does it take up more room? I'm trying to visualise it, as haven't been to fiddle with one yet.
BTW, its not for me! As desperate as I am to have baby2, its not on the cards!!!

Ixel - I just bought a Maclaren Rally Twin (from Ebay) and it folds up pretty neat. Check it out at the Maclaren website (www.maclaren.co.uk). I had the Maclaren Volo for DD and was very impressed by it's ease to fold and unfold and it packed away in the boot no problem. I think the Rally Twin is the nearest I'm going to get to a twin version of the same thing. It folds in the same way. The website has a demonstration of how the'umbrella' fold works.

Could also look at the 'best of' on the Mumsnet website for ideas.

Popsycal, why don't you just use a buggy board? I did for ds, who was 2y3m when dd was born, and it worked fine.

i am thinking of a buggy board and also a sling so that we could do ds on buggy board and baby in buggy or ds in buggy and baby in sling......

will decide properly nearer the time - at the moment, he would be on and off it all the time. he goes on one at the childminders sometimes for short journeys and is a complete menace!
cant imagine going into town with him on buggy board
argh

there are lots of threads about the E3 double decker thing where the baby slings underneath the toddler seat.
not second hand tho'

My ds was 2.5yrs when dd was born. Although ds really didn't need a buggy as walked everywhere I couldn't imagine being able to shop without him being strapped in. I also find it hard to deal with ds when dd is in baby sling ie can't pick him up, change nappy easily etc. therefore I bought the E3 and it has been fantastic. We don't use it all the time but it is so useful for those long shopping trips or walks. Also couldn't contemplate a buggy board for risk of him running off when you need both hands to open doors or pay etc.

For the first few months or so of buggy-boarding ds wore reins so that I could keep hold of him in any situation. But I do have a fairly amenable child, so running off was never an issue.

popsycal I wish I knew, I have the same problem. My no2 is the size of a 3.5yo at least but is a year younger and is lethal on a buggyboard. I want something which will fit in shops, be easy to push, be comfy for the baby (4 months old) and be easy to fold cos if I have another day like yesterday I'll expire . Trying to fold a tandem pushchair in the peeing rain with two screaming children when you're running late is not an experience I'd like to repeat. Am thinking of either a Phil and Teds E3 explorer or a Jane Powertwin but don't know if I can justify the expense of either.

btw baby in sling is ok when they're tiny but when they get bigger, it's really heavy work plus the logistics of dealing with shopping/dropped stuff/what to do with one whilst fastening in the other seems to really fox me. Maybe I'm thick, all the sling afficionados I know have no problems

Ixel - I'd try the sling plus single buggy combo for quick trips ( I have a number of slings that I've used for babies from birth up to a 3 year old! )
For longer journeys I have a Phil and Ted's E3 -I think, as double buggies go, it's fantastic - but very rare to find a second hand one - we did bid for one on ebay but it went for almost £300 in the end...so we bought ours new.
My 3 year old wouldn't fit into any other double buggy except the mountain buggy, and that doesn't go through doors so it was ruled out...We tried buggy board but he just refused to stand on it or ran off...when he's tired after nursery he really needs to travel sitting down.

ixel - I have a friend with twins and she said taht the best thing she found ever was a devise that allows you to clip two single buggies together - this means the whole thing is cheaper, easier to fold, more flexible, it sounds fantastic and I wish I'd known about it when i had a 2 year old and baby. She found it on a twins website - can't be more specific but I bet you could find it using google

Message withdrawn

Oh my god it's perfect - I was just wondering why no-one had invented such a thing. And why do I find out now after I've gone and bought a double buggy - grrrr.

I posted a thread a wee while ago asking if I could do without one as I'd thought along the lines of sling and current buggy option but everyone suggested I'd need one. There will only be 16 months between my two. Can't find my previous thread though