Two under three - do I need a double buggy?

[incognito1991]

My DD has just turned 2, she will be 2.5 when newborn arrives. If I don’t take her pram with me she will walk for a few minutes and then wants carried. I’m so undecided if I need a double buggy once the baby arrives, I’m going to buy a buggy board soon in the hopes she’ll like it and use it often but I’m torn what to do, I have two decent prams that I can use when my DP is off. If I buy a double will I be wasting my money as she’ll only use it for less than a year I’m assuming or by not buying one am I just asking for a difficult time. Anyone with any similar experiences please I could use your advice

We had two under two and the double was a waste as DD wanted to walk everywhere once she got going. We had a carrier for DS when she had to go in the buggy.

I had both which helped enormously. Have a look and see if you can buy both second hand to trial.

I had 2 under 2

I used my double buggy approx 10 times total. Kids are 4.5 and 2.5

At most get a buggy board.

You can put baby in a sling when small then switch to buggy board.

How much does she nap? I had a 22 month gap and used the double loads because DC1 was still napping for 2 hours in the afternoon and we were nearly always out and about so getting both of them asleep in the double was great.

I did see there’s a place you can rent them actually, might have to do that at the beginning and see how it goes

Luckily she will never nap in her pram when out, she’s very nosey she’ll only sleep at home or in the car

Yes I considered the sling and shared pram but the newborn will have to be in the Moses basket style pram for the first few months so DD wouldn’t be able to go in that

I had 2yr3months between two of mine. Baby in a sling full time until she was big enough to use the buggy as a seat and then they shared it and I had a stretchy wrap sling I just used to throw in the bottom of the buggy in case DS didn't want to walk.

I have a 2 year 1 month gap between mine. I always thought double buggies looked like a faff so I decided to wait and see.

Ended up using the sling for baby and continued with the pushchair for 2yo. He stopped using the pushchair at 2yrs 10 months so I started using the pram for baby more often.

I wouldn't get anything yet. Wait and see how you get on

Im in the same position. Im going to have both of them on my own a couple of days a week and although I carried my first a lot, I want the option of putting baby down and toddler does still nap in the pram.

I think I'm going to get a single to double so I have the option. I'll just buy second hand and sell one of my singles to put towards it. I looked at renting but its almost as expensive as buying second hand!

Yes I’ll also be on my own 3/4 days a week so really don’t want to struggle. To be fair both of my pushchairs can be turned into a double I just don’t like the tandem ones I think I’d prefer side by side but I suppose at least I have the option if needed

I think it depends on the older child really, how much walking they are prepared to do/how long you’re out for and over what distance.

I had 2 under 2 and have the Bugaboo Donkey which I LOVE and really couldn’t have done without it in the first 3-4 months especially because my eldest at that time would only really walk a little bit before wanting to be carried, she could also be a flight risk and I couldn’t chase her with a pram and my youngest totally hated baby carrier/slings so that wouldn’t have worked for us. They are 2 & 7 months old now and although I still take the double if we are going out on the long dog walk (3+ miles) or when we go out somewhere for the whole day that requires a lot of walking time, most of the time I just use it as a single now as she is much better at walking and much better at listening, walking beside me so if I was still pregnant now and due my second baby I probably wouldn’t have bothered spending so much money on the double, although I really do love the pram!

Yes the bugaboo donkey is what I’ve been looking at just not sure if it’s silly to spend that money when realistically I’m not sure if I’d get a lot of use out of it as a double. I know a lot can change in 6 months so DD may be walking everywhere she does asked to be carried all the time now and definitely a flight risk

I had two under two and my eldest just had a surf board thing that attached to the pram.

A buggy board was a total life saver for me

Whats your circumstances op? Does the toddler nap? Do you drive?

I had 2years 8 months between mine, and my double was essential. I didn't drive at the time and dd hated the buggy board!

I used it up until age 4, although a lot less once dd started nursery age 3.

Yes thankfully I do drive, she currently naps once a day usually around 11am so tend to plan where I’m going around that and she’ll nap on the way in the car. I only tend to use her pram if we go to a shopping centre or day out but she does asked to be carried when we don’t use her pram, she only started walking at 16 months so perhaps she’ll walk more in the next few months, I personally don’t think she’s to tired to walk I think she just likes being carried

I had 2 just under 2, then another 2 years later had twins. For 4 just under 4 as their birthdays are so close.

the first time I used a sling on the odd occasion dd1 didn’t want to walk.

by the time the twins came, I had a double for them and used the sling when ds1 needed to be in the buggy (send) and a buggy board when he could manage that.

good reins were a godsend every time.

look in your area for sling libraries where you can try a lot of slings/wraps/carriers to work out what works for you.

buggyboards these days can come with seats.

dependent on pram, you can get seats that sit over the carriage and a toddler can sit on that.

you’ve got 2 prams for when you need them and have someone with you.

there are options and your dd may enjoy walking alongside their baby sibling.

Depends on your older child and what you use the pram for. If you ever go on longer days out for example. If you now asked your dd to be without the pram all day, how would she react?

My husband insisted we didn't need a double pram as ds was 2.5 when his brother was born. I have a photo of infant DS in a cosatto pram with a look of surprise on his face as I had to stack his sleeping older brother on top of him just to make it home. We only lived 400 yards from town.

I bought a second hand bugaboo donkey and washed all the fabric, it made it much cheaper. I like it because you can choose to go single pram sometimes, and at that time it was the only parent facing side by side double, but I think there may be another now as that was five years ago.

Used mine loads in the rain if they stroppy etc.

23 month gap with mine. I had buggy board. tried a double but found it too heavy and bulky especially lifting into boot so didn't buy.

17 months between my older 2 and we didn’t have a double buggy, the older one was very independent and was wanting out of the buggy all the time anyway but for the first few months I had the baby in a sling, by the time the under one was 20 months she didn’t use a buggy. I did get a buggy board for her but she didn’t want to use it!
We also had a space issue living in a top
floor flat where I had to carry the single buggy up along with the baby and the older one would walk up first, had we had more space I may have considered a double buggy but it would have been a waste for us. We lived really locally to the town and friends/family and park etc so weren’t doing long journeys anywhere during the week. At weekends dh was around so it was much easier to go further afield (he drove and I didn’t at the time).

I had a 2y gap and used the double every day but it depends on what dc are like what your life is like.

DD1 still had a nap when dd2 arrived and I walked everywhere, realistically she wasn't going to cover the 4 miles into town and back. She is also far too lazy to stand on a buggy board when she could be sitting down. But if I had driven everywhere I wouldn't have needed it.

A double is essential when it's heavy rain, bitterly cold, you're in a rush, you're tired and whingy, your kids are tired and whingy, you want extra space for shopping and coats, it's too warm, any of you are ill.

Your toddler will gradually use it less and less. I got rid of my double when my oldest started school. With a double you have choices and freedom. Get a second hand one.