Do I cave in and get a double buggy? Dd 3.5 and ds 18 months and my back is KILLING me.....

[liath]

I've been managing with a quinny zapp and ergo sling but I have a bad back and ds is getting very heavy in the sling, especially as he won't keep still in it and constantly writhes around and pulls my hair. Dd can walk reasonable distances but sometimes not as far as I want to go (i'll often walk for an hour each way to get somewhere).

A buggy board won't fit the zapp, unfortunately.

I'm wondering whether to get a double buggy but they are so expensive and it'd need to be OK to push without making my back even worse. Or maybe I should get a maclaren single buggy and a buggy board. Anyone know of a light-ish, easy to push double for two toddlers???

TIA

I would go with the buggy and buggy board, and gradually increase the amount dd walks. I had the seat 2 go board which is like a step, so the child can also sit on it.

Hmm - probably don't want to hear it but the Phil and Teds is light to push, although is not light to put into a car! (I don't think many of them are) I had a rotten back throughout 3 pgs (slipped disk) and found this one by far the best of the doubles's I'd tried. I would go round to all my pals with doubles and give them all a go with the kids in - your lo's will think it's great fun!

P.S. have you tried pushing a buggy board with a rotten back - it hurts!

P.P.S. Although thinking about it, anybody's back would kill them after carrying an 18 month old!!! Try a buggy board first - unless you're having another child in the near ish future and may need a double then.

Hi Liath

I would go with the buggy board idea. I love mine. DD will be able to jump off and on so you won't be constantly pushing her as well as the buggy.

I just buckled and got the P&T, but my kids 2.5 and 5 months (and back already knackered!). Buggy board for me wasn't great as DD1 would just get off and scream that she wanted a carry (er, no) or to go in the buggy. Maybe your bigun is better trained than mine isn, though? If you're in London you're welcome to borrow our maclaren and buggy board...

i caved.
after trying 2 different buggy boards and a manky old double pushchair i got from ebay i finally caved and got a instep double 360 thing.
best decision i ever made.
able to do much more walking with the kids, DS1 hops on and off as he likes, and DH takes the kids out for a run at the weekends.

bit big and bulky though. the maclaren doubles look manageable.

Wow, quick repiles, thanks everyone.

OMalittle, thanks for the offer. I'm in Edinburgh I'm afraid. It reminds me that my sister has a maclaren & buggy board so I might see if I could borrow that for a trial run.

I do like the look of that instep one....I just wish I'd bought a double form the word go & got my money's worth but thought I'd manage OK with the sling and single. My physio thinks otherwise - .

Buggy board will make you walk at a funny angle and hurt your back even more. You are better just making the investment and buying a good double but second hand from ebay.

It does make such a difference.

I have a 3 year old and 15mth old, baby due Jan. We sold our last double before finding out i was pregnant, doh.

I have recently been walking everywhere and am seriously cosidering buying a double already in preperation for the new baby so i can put the 3 year old in it. He jumps on the front of my 3 wheeler and it makes it so hard to push, think shopping trolley. My back is killing me.

Gah!

a three and a half year old is too big for a double
a three and a half year old is tbh, too big for a single pushchair as well, unless he has mobility issues. he can walk. whatever distances you can walk, so can he.
we regularly walked 1 to 2 miles at that age. i know a 2.10 year old who regularly walks just over four miles a day

go for a double - a buggy board wrecked my pushchair & I could't walk properly with it attached plus all the kerbs, bumps on pavement meant that my lo would be getting on & off so much it to ages to get anywere.

I'd take issue with that, stitch. I woldn't like to try and walk an hour each way witrh a 3.5yo. The snail toddler pace, quite apart from anything else. Especially when you are car-free, a buggy can still be a godsend at this age. We are car-free, live in a city and it's a 10-15 min adult-pace walk to the bus/train. I'd rather my ds1 ran around in the botanic garden rather than exhausting himself getting there. That said, often he takes his Like-a-Bike, which is quicker, less tiring and great fun, and teaches road sense too.

liath, I have ds1 3.4 and ds2 just turned 1 and we have managed well with ergo-type carrier and single too, but ds2 is very much on the light side so I appreciate your problem. I find buggy boards awkward to push tbh. Would a Like-a-Bike be an option? Could you get a double stroller? I can actually recall being in one with my older brother (14-month gap), so I must have been 3, 2 at the oldest.

If he decides to walk you have a seat to pile coats on - this is helpful!

Thats it Berolina, he can walk but the snail pace on the school run is just not practical.

I end up holding his hand and pulling him along to keep up, it is just easier and much faster to let him sit. He plays all the way back home and we do the snail pace.

Stitch....you left IMO off the end of your 1st sentences.

Honestly, I'd challenge any 3.5 year olds to walk from Newington to the Botanic gardens then uphill all the way back! She is a very good walker and usually manages but there are times when the distance and speed I want to go are beyond her.

I recently caved in and got the P&T for my 3.4 yo and my 7mo. A nightmare trip to London with no buggy was the breaking point for me. I'd managed with a sling until that point and tried to make the bigger one walk but now I realise I had a totally unrealistic view of how far and fast a 3 year old could walk. It has improved my quality of life immeasurably and I only wish I had bought one before.

The older one isn't in it all the time, obviously, but just hops in when she gets too tired to continue. I love it because it means we can now go out all day again. I'm just recovering from very bad SPD and now that I've got a good level of mobility back I found it frustrating to be stuck within a small radius because my child won't walk more than a few miles at an adequate pace. She is very short for her age and I wonder if that is one of the reasons she can't walk as far as I would like.

I don't expect it to be in use for very long, and I'm embarrassed that I had to get one in the first place but I'm so glad I did. A buggyboard wasn't really an option for us because I'm so short and it would have hurt my back.

I have a 3.5yo and to be honest, we haven't used the buggy for a year now - he just doesn't want to be in it. However, for longer walks (eg hols) we used a backpack which he could go into - much easier than a sling!

Sounds as though you have 3 choices - buggy and buggy board - and get back ache from having to lean over buggy board to push. Double buggy (and getting backache from pushing up hill with 2 dcs). Or change your expectations so that you encourage longer walks, but don't necessarily expect your dd to walk as far as you want or at the pace you want - my ds happily will walk for an hour, have a sit down and a snack, then walk for another hour - but you've got to keep the interest up to keep the pace reasonable.

You might also want to try your existing set-up but with a back-pack rather than a sling for ds - much more secure so wriggling wouldn't be as difficult, although you'd still have to endure the hair pulling...

Hope your back feels better soon

Where are these amazing 2 and 3 year old who can walk four miles a day? In theory maybe, but surely not if you need to get to nursery / work on time?

I too live in Newington and my son was 3 in June. I still use the buggy frequently as we do not have a car and I walk everywhere. If I wanted DS to walk even all the way to nursery (in Marchmont) then we woudl have to leave the house at 7am and I woudl be exhuasted from the constant encouragement he would need to keep going once he was tired.

I also use the buggy for shopping - I have no idea how I will carry all our shopping without it. Sometimes DS will walk all the way from Cameron toll home with teh shopping in teh buggy, but mostly I struggle to push him and shopping up the hill!

IMO it very much depends on your lifestyle, rather tahn the age of your child when you give up the buggy. I expect to keep using mine until DS is 4.

My sister has a buggy board and I found it a bit tricky to use and it hurt my back walking longer distances. I would go for a maclaren double.

I just got a second hand techno xt for DS and it is perfectly big enough for him and will be for some time I should expect. I think you can buy a techno xt double and could probably get one quite cheaply second hand.

It is definitely relevant whether you've got deadlines to meet - I'm sure that dcs pick up on this and dawdle on purpose - yet, when there is no deadline, no problem!

Yes, ds (3.5) can walk 3 - 4 miles - possibly with a stop for a rest/snack, but this sort of distance not a problem.

Buggy board would be no good imo if you already have back problems, it means you are walking at a funny angle which is no good.

Cave and get a cheapo double buggy, there's an Argos one that frequently crops up online for only £40 which would be fine, or join your local freecycle to get one, then freecycle it again when you are done.

Hi. I would say look on freecycle too as if you buy one, it won't last long.

Can your older child not walk and have the 18mo in the buggy?

Or ask on any local stes if there is somebody who has one you can borrow?

I would recommend you try to get a 2nd hand double nipper

The buggy board won't help your back situation

agree no buggy board for you if you have a bad back, i also caved and got a p&t when ds' were 2.8 and 13m best double i've had, my maclaren (double) was becoming impossible hard to push with the weight of them both, this is a breeze with either them both in or just one. you have the flexibility of reverting it to a single also when dc at nursery etc. maybe look to s/hand unless you are planning anymore?
of course a 3.5yr old can walk but v.slowly and in the pouring rain so much easier to have them strapped in and warm/dry over the winter?

Would a strolli rider or buggy pod fit on your quinny?