Buggy boards - which one and how does your toddler stay on?

[Janus]

I am due my second baby on 5th April by which time my daughter will be 3 months off 3. I think a buggy board is the solution for going out rather than a double or tandem pram (although still not convinced on this one) but need your advice.
For the first few months I shall be using a travel style pram rather than umbrella pram which I think take a certain type of board, does anyone have a particular favourite board? Also, I think after that I shall go back to my old fold up pram so can anyone recommend one suitable for that type too?
Almost more importantly, how do you get your toddler to stay on the things? I just know mine will be trying to run off at any given opportunity as she can't sit or stand still for any length of time. I don't mind getting her down once we're in a shop but by roads etc I feel I really need to make sure she's somehow restrained. Do I put her in reins so I always have her on the end of something? How did yours cope when you first started using the board too, did they like it? Lastly (!) is it realistic to expect her to stand up like this at her age?
Hope that's not too many questions!! Thanks.

I bought a buggy board for dd1 when dd2 was born (dd1 was 2.9). I HATE IT. It is really hard to push and dd1 gets in the way when she stands on it. I make her walk now (I can push my Maclaren Techno one-handed) and hold her hand. She only ever stood on it briefly anyway and then walked.

In the early days I used to put dd2 in the sling and dd1 went in the buggy.

I agree with Enid, they do make it difficult to push the buggy and your shins will take abit of a beating until you get used to the right length of stride to take without kicking it every step.
However DS1 loved it when we got one when DD2 was born and he was 2 and a few months, I think he loved the novelty of riding on it and even now given a chance he'd happily catch a life and he's nearly 4! Surprisingly we don't use it now unless we're out for the whole day somewhere.

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We've got one and I quite like it. DS1 was 3 1/2 when DS2 was born. I find it useful when we are in a hurry or when DS1 is tired, I usually make him walk up any hills mind you as the pram is really heavy with the two of them in/on it. Do agree that it interferes with your stride a little and DH finds it really awkward, but then he hardly ever pushes the pram. We have the buggy board rather than the kiddieboard and you could use it in conjuction with a wrist strap if you are worried about escapees, thankfully DS1 has past that stage now. HTH.

We had a kiddiboard when dd was born and ds coming up 3.5, on a large chassis 3 in 1 . He really liked having his own set of wheels and it certainly proved the most efficient and safest way to go along the incline back home from our town, following a busy road. ds was really proud of his "wheels" and we had no trouble at all keeping him on them . We had a deal that he'd walk down the hill and ride back up. It did get heavy to push but as he has got older he has walked more and more so that he only ever gets a short ride in the middle now!!

Has anyone tried it on a 3 wheeler - does it upset the balance ?

LizS

I will definitely use the sling in the early days but sometimes it may be easier to just push everyone in the park. I think I may try the kiddiboard with a set of reins.
Any tips on where to buy one? Probably Mothercare?
Thanks again.

I have a buggy board attached to our 3 wheeler mountain buggy and it is a dream to push. We have had a couple of occassions where the baby has been sitting in the pushchair and it has up-ended when DS has jumped of the board but other than her looking slightly startled, no harm has been done.

On the sling front, when DD was a newborn I had a Maclaren Vogue and with DS (then 26 months) sitting in it, I found it really hard going to push with her in a sling. I also found the buggy board attached to the Maclaren heavy going. The three wheeler is just SO much easier.

I had a buggy board and loved it - hated the idea of a double buggy! Do use in conjunction with reins or wrist strap. You'll be lucky to find one in Mothercare, just using one on one of their products negates the warranty!! Lots of internet and mailorder people do them or John Lewis.

bells you're right about pushing loaded pushchair (I have a vogue too) plus sling, it is hard work, but hey! works off the pg pounds! I love the buggyboard and so does DS. Agree it is tricky but only at first (DH found it more of a problem as he is tall/long strides). You do need a different one depending on whether you have a 3-in-1 pram or a pushchair - we just started with it once dd was too big for sling and big enough for pushchair. Janus you might even be better with the pram one as your gap is bigger than mine (2yrs) and your DD may be happy to walk by the time the new baby is in the fold-up p/chair. DS by the way now 3.5 not allowed on the buggyboard unless a very long journey as it is such hard work to push the two of them! Hah! when new baby comes in April I shall have all 3 - sling+pushchair+buggyboard!! The board is £40 everywhere by the way, I have never seen them discounted or on offer unless anyone knows differently, but a lot cheaper than a double buggy. Never had a prob with DS running off as he seemed to love the view!

We have one and we like it but only for short trips - ds is in the buggy (just 1) and Dd on the board (just 3). But for longer walks (the hike to the swimming pool mainly) I put dd in the buggy and carry ds in the Bushbaby backpack which I cant recommend highly enough. I find using the board over long distances uncomfortable as I am quite tall and feel like I could do with acouple of extra inches in the handle department!

like Janus, dd2 is due in April and dd1 will be just short of 3...we have a Graco citisport (not using at the moment) and a MacLaren daytripper. Is the buggy or kiddi board more suitable for either of these in your experience? to start with I'm going to use a sling, and keep dd1 in the buggy but she's actually jealous of other kids' buggyboards and I'd like her to have one if it helps to give her a bit more independence.

We have BuggyBoard & it's a complete failure. On a Maclaran cindico (rather like the new Daytripper I just bought). DS (now age 3+4m) won't stand still when he's energetic (wants to walk) or tired (wants to sit down). He never wants to go in whatever direction I'm going, anyway, so would refuse to cooperate by standing & holding on. Esp. if we were headed home (We can spend 6 hours out of the house, but he still never wants to go home). Plus my feet hit it all the time. Seemed like a clever idea, but absolutely impossible for us. Plus they're no good for long distances (no car, so sometimes push tandem 4-7 miles in the day). I think DS will still be in the double buggy when he's 6yo...

Has anyone seen an advert for a buggy board type thing which also had a rear facing seat? I'm certain I saw one in a catalogue, but I get so many of them I've forgotten which one

LIZS with regards to your question about trying them on three wheelers, we have a Chicco jogger and could not get one to fit anywhere, the only one that might have done the job was no good as even in the upright position we found the jogger was still too far laid back.

allatsea - what you're thinking of is a "seat2go". UK importers/distributors are here .

My sister used to have a big old-fashioned Silver Cross pram, which had a little seat which fitted onto the back, so that her dd1 sat with her legs dangling between the pram handles. Does anyone know of any such pram seat on a more modern pram?

NQWWW - I think Emmaljunga still do those? Don't have any details though.

GillW - brilliant, thanks very much. I hadn't heard of them before and I've just found their website.

Also Bertini do a pram with a toddler seat - cheaper I think.