Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Shopping

From everyday essentials to big purchases, swap tips and recommendations. For the best deals without the hassle, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Original poster

Going to need a double buggy - but which one??

35 replies

SarahL2 · 03/07/2009 10:07

I'm due in December with DC2, DS will be 2.9.

We do a lot of being out and walking and DS is good but cannot manage walking very far on woodland paths. I usually take his trike so he can have a sit down but won't be able to manage it with a new baby - espcially if I end up having to have another c-section. We had a baby carrier for DS but I couldn't use it for the first couple of months due to the section and he was too heavy (due to a back problem) after about 6-7 months.

A friend with a similar age gap has also recommended a double buggy after she tried to do without one with her children.

So I really think I need a double buggy.

I would like a double buggy;

  • that has the children in line rather than side to side to make it easier to get round shops
  • that allows both children to see whee they are going (I love the Phil and Ted but feel sorry for the child at the back who only has the back of a seat to look at)
  • that does parent facing for the new baby
  • that does lie-flat for the new baby
  • that has a decent sized basket underneath
  • that will fit in the boot of my Polo!
and ideally - has large wheels to make the woodland paths easier to negotiate

Am I going to be able to get a double buggy that does all this?

I met a woman who said she could get her double Phil and Ted in the boot of her Mini Cooper but as I said above, the fact that one child ends up staring at the others bottom puts me off.

I really don't like travel systems where the baby has to sit in a car seat as I always find that once you've packed everyone up, gotten to where you're shopping and left enough time to get back, you can only shop for an hour before the baby has been curled up for longer than the recommended 2 hours.

I did look at the clip on side cars for buggies but everywhere I looked they were being slated for falling off and hurting the child!

I also looked at Buggy boards but having used one in the past with a friends child who I used to mind a lot, I know you end up walking with your bum stuck out to make room for the child. This wouldn't work with my back back, with the section or on a woodland path. I also witnessed a woman with a buggy board having to carry her tantruming toddler under one arm as he would not stand on the board while tantruming and that really put me off.

Can anyone help me find my perfect buggy??

OP posts:
Original poster
SarahL2 · 03/07/2009 14:23

Anyone?

OP posts:
Original poster
SarahL2 · 03/07/2009 17:55

Anyone at all?

OP posts:
Original poster
SarahL2 · 03/07/2009 17:55

bump

OP posts:
ilovemydogandmrobama · 03/07/2009 17:59

I have a VW Polo and a Phil and Teds. Fits fine in the trunk.

FruitynNutty · 03/07/2009 17:59

Oooh I love a buggy challenge.
What about this Says only up to age 3 though so you wouldn't get much use out of it for your DS....
I'll keep thinking......

silverfrog · 03/07/2009 18:00

I honestly think a P&T is the way to go.

I have one and love it.

when dc2 is small, baby gets to lie flat and look up at you.

from around 5 months ish, if you get a sport or vibe, which recline, they sit in the bottom seat and can be reclined and still see you really easily (at this age, they are more interested in looking at you than all around)

by the time dc2 is 10 onths or so, your older child with prob be walking a lot more, so baby could go in main seat.

or, if they stay in the rear seat, they don't miss much, believe me.

dd2 has always been in the bottom seat, and she gets into far more conversations wiht nice little old ladies than dd1 does. and sees all the ITNG rides/ballons etc. so the view can't be that bad

asuwere · 03/07/2009 18:04

tbh, I don't think your perfect double exists. I have been looking for many years and I am looking for many of the features that you are. I like the look of the iCandy Pear as that allows the baby to lie down but it doesn't have a big basket and hasn't got great reviews. With DS1 and DS3, I ended up getting a Bertini 905 with toddler seat which was fab but didn't fit in my car so only for use walking near home.

With your age gap, I think the phil and ted might be good as you won't need to worry about the back child not seeing much as hopefully, by the time the youngest is big enough to be sitting up, the eldest might be walking.

Good luck though - looking for buggies is a nightmare!

asuwere · 03/07/2009 18:05

sorry, DS1 distracted me so other posts appeared before I actually hit post!

FruitynNutty · 03/07/2009 18:05

I know you said no to a P&T but I have one and the one at the bottom sees quite a lot through the sides.......

What about some of these contraptions? on a single buggy?

Or a rider I had one of these and used it all the time for childminding.

FiveGoMadInDorset · 03/07/2009 18:06

You have just described the P&T,

FlyMeToDunoon · 03/07/2009 18:06

how about this? I know it is a car seat but the jane ones can lie flat just not sure if they can when on the pushchair because of the front seat.
However the pushchair does also have a fully lie back bit for a baby at the back.
Otherwise I can recommend the P&T. The baby does not mind at all where it is at first and looks not at the saet but up at you!
Then when older can go in the front seat and Ds in the toddler seat on the back. Or vice versa.

FruitynNutty · 03/07/2009 18:08

I obviously didn't read your post thoroughly!
I have no idea then, sorry!

littlelamb · 03/07/2009 18:17

Get a Mountain Buggy Urban with a Kiddy Board attatched. I think it's the only buggy/buggy board combo where you are not hunched over the standing child. I don't have to alter my stride at all. The mountain buggy is built like a tank, if my very lazy just-turned-5 year old gets tired she can sit on the footplate and I can push them both that way no problem (I don't suppose they recommend that though).

Buddhamummy · 03/07/2009 18:18

P & T convert!

As Silverfrog says the child in the bottom seat really doesn't miss out at all, people LOVE stopping to marvel at the small child tucked in there! especially when we took it to spain, it was a show stopper!!!

DD is too old now but it was the ease of steering the P & T that i loved the most, it is a dream to use, and really can be steered around and up curbs with one hand!

Original poster
SarahL2 · 03/07/2009 18:20

Wow. Thanks everyone. Will leave the P&T at the top of the list for now...

I know I've seen some where the back child sits higher than the front...just can't remember who made them.

OP posts:
dizzymare · 03/07/2009 18:22

I know you say you don't want side by side, because of getting through doorways, but I've got the Out N About Nipper 360, and never had any issues. It really is a good solid buggy!

TheOtherMaryPoppinsDiets · 03/07/2009 18:23

Mothercare, Marco Sky, Jusonne, Cossatto all do the one higher ones, but they are totally shite.

You described a P&T up there, This is what you need. Sorry!

Original poster
SarahL2 · 03/07/2009 18:32

Why are they shite OtherMary?

Not that I don't believe you, I just wondered why you thought that...

Graco do a stadium double. A friend of mine has a single Graco and loves it - are the doubles different?

OP posts:
nicolamumof3 · 03/07/2009 19:50

agree after resisting buying a p&t for a whole year i bought one a year ago and it was fab!! in reality the little one in the back sees alot from the sides and as they grow they will go in the front and you will use doubles seat for you ds but by age three you won't use it so much anyway. but this time next year i bet you aren't using it hardly at all. so a secondhand p&t i'd go for!!

or if you can get over the side by side thing double nipper would be fab for your bad back as super super light!

fannybanjo · 03/07/2009 20:00

Definitely 10000% get a P&T - I too didn't want one for a multitude of reasons but after buying a M&P Aria Twin (which was okay) and then finding that half of the time DD2 was walking or with my DH or Mum I found I was putting a tiny baby into a huge double pushchair and had one seat empty. The fact that with a P&T you can use it for one child as a single and then quickly add on the doubles seat when you need it is what I love so much about it. It is also lovely to push.

P&T all the way! I am a total convert.

You will also find that if you spend money on a tandem now you will not get enough use out of it as your DS is nearly 3. He won't be using it in another year or so and you are left with a double buggy for one child.

Original poster
SarahL2 · 03/07/2009 20:16

so, the Sport, the Vibe or the Dash ? ;)

OP posts:
nicolamumof3 · 03/07/2009 20:31

sport.

Original poster
SarahL2 · 03/07/2009 20:37

colour? ;)

OP posts:
nicolamumof3 · 03/07/2009 20:40

i had camo blue was gorgeous!! i like apple and orange colours too! but really i'd get black!!

Dawnybabe · 03/07/2009 20:49

Does the p&t come with a car seat attachment? Can't see that it does and don't want to haul baby out of her seat to put her in the carrier. If it does I think I'm going to buy one.
Bugger miserable tight-fisted dh. He doesn't have to take kids & dogs over the fields every day.