Will I regret NOT getting a Phil and Teds?

[noimnotstressed]

I am expecting a baby in July and DD will be 22 months. I've been looking at double buggies and keep coming back to the P&T. But it's so £££!

I like the fact that it's like pushing a single. Not sure what it'll be like with 2, but it felt very light with my DD in the toddler seat.

I'm not sure I like the baby so low down and sort of 'hanging' off the back. It looks pretty squashed in there, but I guess the uterus is a bit squashy!

I looked at a few others and didn't like that they didn't lie completely flat although they said suitable from birth. Tandems felt heavy and side by sides felt wide. The only other contender is maybe the Maclaren twin techno.

I don't want to look back and say I wish I'd just spent the money and got the P&T.

Sorry for the essay, but if you have (had) one do you think they're all they're cracked up to be?

I think it is great - still using it now and DS2 is 2.3 (DS 1 is 4.6).

I have a friend whose DD was 2.5 when baby born, and they thought they would manage with a buggy board. Hmmm! Anyway, they are buying a P&T.

Would thoroughly recommend it - and just wish I'd bought 1/2 of it when DS1 was born.

Ah, I will have to take it in and out of car a few times a week.

Will it annoy me terribly?

Hi, I don't have a P & T. But I do have a baby and an admittedly older girl. ATM DD2 has been in a pushchair twice in her life both when her big sis wasn't around. Most of the time I use a sling and its great. I have hands free for my older girl and often don't even take a buggy out with us. I would definately go with a sling and see how you get on. DD2 weighs 7 kg and I still find it comfortable to carry her this way.

Having read this I think I'm going to have to withhold my judgement for a bit and see if my Sport does come into it's own once DS2 arrives (3 weeks!). It will have to be mighty useful to overcome it's total shonkeyness though!!
I just want either someone from Maclaren to go and work at P&T to show them how to make a user-friendly buggy OR for Maclaren to design their own version of a P&T. Just the akwardness of the folding mechanism is enough to make me hate it so far. I have to un/fold it in a muddy carpark when I walk the dog and it just means that the mud gets everywhere!

Bubbaluv, you can unfold it without it touching the ground. I lift it out of the car, and rest the handle on the top of my foot. Then get that front wheel out from underneath asap and bring the handle up. Click.

I walk in country parks what are always muddy, so the pushchair gets dirty on the walk but it is possible to get the thing unfolded without having to rest the whole pushchair on the ground.

The fold is a pain, as is tke brake. But still the best double IME

Thanks AB,
I'll give it a try, but to be honest I'm not feeling confident. It often takes me 2 good minutes of tugging and wrestling to get either the tyre out or the handle up while trying to press the release button and that's with it lieing on the floor!
I am willing to accept that it is the best of a bad lot, but it annoys me that we are all putting up with such dreadful design just because the competition is even more dreadful!

So I spent an age in the pram shop this morning. DD was so fed up by the end of it all, but I am applying for a degree in double buggies

I looked at...

M&P twin aria - seems flimsy and doesn't lie flat.

Graco duo sport - similar to aria but perhaps a bit narrower.

Maclaren twin techno - lies flat for newborn but too long for my car.

M&P twin pulse - lies almost flat, fit in the car but seems very 'exposed' for a newborn. Suppose it could be padded out in some way.

Out n about nipper - DD hated it. The seats seemed to tilt back even in the fully upright position. Sort of v-shaped. Looks good to push though and not massively wide.

Graco stadium duo - too long and heavy for me, but big shopping baskets.

Cosatto duo lite - shorter than the graco but still heavy to steer. Seems identical to the mothercare hoxton?

Mountain buggy double - great to push. DD liked it. I liked the fact you can have a carry cot for the baby. Very £££ though and big when folded. Not one to be lugging in and out of the car.

However, when I tried the P&T again, the sales lady said she thought DD was too big for the toddler seat on top. She had about 3-4 inches between her head and the hood. It brushed her head as you put it up. Sounds like some of you had bigger toddlers in this mode. Were they all very short?

Hi. My Ds was two when we got our PandT Sport and he is a BIG lad. The hood skimmed his head too. But, he was in the toddler seat on the top for such a short amount of time that it wasn't a problem (We put Dd in second seat before the recommended 6 months. He never complained and still slept in it.
As others have said it does have its faults but it is by far the best of a bad bunch, can be used as a normal single buggy if you only have one child with you, I never found the basket a problem, fits in our small car boot, steers easily... I could go on.
Also, my hubby took ALOT of convincing because of the cost etc, but has talked 3 colleagues at his work into buying one, as after using it was completely converted!!

Men do seem to love the P&T although they will deny it, I'm sure. DH always used to gently elbow me out of the way so he could push.

I think if the toddler is tall, just don't use the hood. I never really used it, I just left it folded back and only put it up when using the raincover (ie to support the raincover)

I'm in the same position with my DD3's head nearly touching the hood. She's 18 months now and the baby is due in August. The lady in Mothercare recommended waiting until July to see how tall she was then. Bearing in mind she'll have to be in the doubles seat for another 6 months from then. I wonder how much she'll grow?

I really want to get the P&T but I'm also in Scotland and the rain is definitely an issue!

MY P and T has been going strong for almost 3 years. I've hammered it and it still comes up trumps, I've had to replace tyres where we have worn them out, but everything else is intact.

My only gripe is that bigger toddlers can learn to push their weight down on the footplate and act as a break on the front wheel. So annoying. Other than that it is the best pram I have ever had by a very long shot. DS3 will not go in a Maclaren "This not pram" he says!