Darned buggies!
I always felt a bit smug when I was pregnant and people would ask what double buggy we were going to get… ‘Oh no,’ I’d say, in my smuggest voice. ‘Annie will be two and a half; she’ll be more than old enough to walk everywhere, besides, you know how much energy she’s got. If she’s feeling tired then I’ll just put her in the buggy and carry Ezra in the sling,’ I’d boast.
I’d think it was silly that other people assumed my toddler wouldn’t be able to walk everywhere and think that I’d need to shell out on a new buggy for the two kiddos. I was determined to prove them wrong!
Of course it’s obvious what happened next. Ezra decided he violently disliked the ‘magical, all natural’ baby carrier we’d spent £100 on, despite all the reviews from mothers saying their baby loved it and how perfect it was having them so close all the time. I have no idea who in their right mind sold their car and just walked everywhere because the carrier was that fantastic…
In a bid not to be outsmarted by a newborn, I brought out the baby carrier I’d had for Annie but never used…which he also hated.
Not to worry! My next course of action was to put him in his car seat on the buggy and Annie could either walk, or ride on the buggy board – problem solved…or so I thought.
This is where both of the kids teamed up to prove me wrong. Ezra cries every time you put him in his car seat unless there’s motion. This means browsing round shops with him in the car seat / buggy combo had better be a speedy, motion filled affair or he’ll let everyone in a two mile radius know just how unhappy he is. To top it off his big sister decided that she did not like the buggy board one little bit. I didn’t mind this because she does love to walk, but being a toddler her energy levels are unpredictable and the slightest hint of an illness and she wilts like a flower in a hot room, sinks to the floor rubbing her eyes and asks to go in her buggy because she’s ‘a little bit tired, Mummy’!
I apparently hadn’t taken into account Annie’s possessive, toddler feelings when I considered transportation for the kiddos. Turns out she still sees the buggy as ‘hers’ and doesn’t like the fact that Ezra has taken it without asking, something we tell her off for!
So now we’re stuck with no other option but to buy a massive Phil and Teds double buggy and all my smug feelings have gone and left me feeling a little bit daft! Any other recommendations of doubles we should consider?!
A Phil and Ted’s is THE option, we bought one from the start when our first was born. Now we are expecting our second and are watching on smugly as all our friends who bought fancy travel systems are having to find second hand Phil and Teds. Unless you plan to have more than 4 years between children I really thing its the best value push chair on the market
a joovy caboose!! theyre quite expensive but i couldnt live without mine, i wish id had it when i had my older 3 who are now 6, 5 and 4 but its perfect when uv got one who needs a buggy and one who likes to walk but has a tendancy to change their mind
Hi, i have tried nearly every double going, but i made one mistake-to get rid of my phil and teds vibe. It was one of the most crazy things i have ever done. Following that day i spent ages trying to find the “perfect” double. The truth is there just isn’t one, they are heavy and that’s because they are carrying two children. Honestly they are worth the money and you will get a good price when you do come to sell it!x
We’ve got an out and about nipper double and love it… fits through doors, easier and lighter than my single pram,
I have a little boy just turned 2 and a little girl who is 10 months, I am just trading in my icandy pear for a graco orbit tandem buggy instead. Like you we thought we could get away with using our old single pram and a buggy board, but after speaking to friends, it seems we’ll need a double for at least another year (until the eldest can be relied on to walk most places & isn’t napping anymore). The Icandy was great for the 2 of them when small but now the little one is older I want a more upright version so she can see whats going on, and they dont feel so “laid back” in the seats – retrospectively as the graco says it is suitable from birth (tho I’m not sure how flat the younger child can lay) it may have been better to have invested in that first off…………!
have a year old and a month old and the double buggy i got is called a city mini jogger got it from kiddicare for 299.99 and i havent got one fault with it i would recommend it to any one
there are lots more doubles out there that can be a single when double is no longer needed. Have a look on pushchair trader someone will help you.
I have a 2 YO and a new born they had the double buggy and a buggy board for the singe buggy and my son wants to be in the buggy all the time he hates walking so glad i got mine in the sae just wished they made them smaller as we needed to by a new car! hubby’s idea! (men)
You will think your Phil and Ted’s is worth every penny you spend on it… And if (like me) you find yourself pregnant again in 6 months (yes 3 under 4) you will be even more grateful that you bought it
We were given a second hand Graco Stadium buggy, its a longer buggy but normal width. We were able to use it from when the baby was a new born as the back seat reclines completely, and as each seat has its own canopy, we could still put a snooze shade on baby alone.
The toddler loves it as she is up front and can still look around at her baby sister. Now that the baby is older and sitting up, she has a good view of hte world, not stuck underneath her sibling and near to the dusty street below.
Now, its a little bit heavy but so is any double buggy, however it folds really easily and is great for urban location where you need to be able to slip through pedestrian traffic and street furniture. I’d highly recommend it and am glad I never did buy the phil and teds. You could prbably get one second hand too.
Other than that, my friends rave about the out and about double buggy.
Have you tried a buggypod? We have a 2 & 1/2 year old and a 6month old. We didn’t want the expense of a double buggy plus had a pram which converted into a pushchair with all accessories. The pod is great… Our daughter loves her “special seat” and it folds up easily when not in use or when not needed, but is very easy to fold down when our daughter is too tired to walk. I like the fact she is strapped in too. Oh and it only cost us around one hundred pounds too.
Good luck in your search Xx
I had our second child when our first was 20months, and at the start i used our old baby sling and pushed our toddler in her pram. The problem was the buggy wasn’t suitable for under six months,and baby got so heavy! When she was 7 weeks we brought a Koochi Double Stroller from argos for £149.99 and it is great. It suited them both perfectly, because the seats could lie back at different levels, and as i don’t drive,it has had plenty of outings on local buses and trains…with a bit of practice you can do pretty much anything,as i found it wasn’t as wide as a lot of other doubles about, though theres still room for baby and toddler not to feel squashed. I don’t use it as much now unless we’re catching the train to the beach for the day,or on a walk down the canal, as you can guarentee even if our eldest (3yrs 3mnths now)gets to where we’re are going by walking,it’s very stressful if they’re tired on the way home and just need a bit more help than the buggy board. Buggy boards i find are much better suited to local outings,or ones where they can ride on daddy’s shoulders when they don’t want to stand up! The only thing was that i bought a headhugger for the double pram,as they wern’t included and made baby feel a bit safer. And although it certainly gives you a workout as they get heavier, i found they are much easier to push than the ones with one child in the front,and baby in the back,as kerbs and bumps are a nightmare and everytime you attempt to lean on the pram to get it up onto a path,ect, you feel you are going to buckle the whole thing! Also, the toddler loved having her “own side” of the pram so was quite happy to have her sister next to her. it really is personal preference though,and all kids have their own ideas of what they will and won’t accept! you shouldn’t feel bad about it, and i found it so much more relaxing being out and about and having the spare seat incase our eldest wanted it…better to have and not need than need and not have! Hope you get sorted soon
Go for the phil and teds! we have tried 2 side by sides which were both totally rubbish and impossible to get round shops, and a tandem stroller which was just plain awful to push! then we were happy with just a stroller but when we ended up with another toddler we have finally given in and gone for a phil and teds as we currently have a 2 and a half year old who still won’t walk all the time and a 20 month old who is still far to unsteady to walk far and in 8 weeks we will have a newborn too (and a 4 year old to try and keep close while out!). We do have a carrier which the 20 month old does love but he is getting heavy now for more than a short trip! The phil and teds is a dream to push, holds loads of shopping, gets round the shops and on/off buses easily and the second seat takes seconds to remove if we are not needing it! (and you can get spare parts really easily, my sister is having a nightmare with mamas and papas but our cats destroyed the handle on our phil and teds and we got a spare so simply and easily!)
We bought the baby jogged city sidewalk. Best purchase ever. It goes through standard width doors, is very light, very easy to steer, and I bought the carrot too so my 2 year old can sit and my 6 week old can lay facing me. Couldn’t recommend it highly enough.
baby jogger that should say!!!
This was really useful to hear about as my son will be 19mnth when our latest addition turns up. My mother recommends the method you tried but I wasn’t quite convinced so have been doing a fair bit of research so when the time gets nearer I can order a buggy PDQ. I’ve heard the ups and downs of a Phil and Teds and will a small boy as interested in cars and wheels, where he would generally be sitting on the bottom seat (unable to see out and close to the pushchair wheels) I decided to strike it off my list pretty early. Top of my list at the moment is the Baby Jogger City Select just due to the flexability of the seat arrangements and once my oldest has decided to walk it can be converted back to a single seat pushchair (they also seem to retain a higher re-sale price if you only want it while your transporting 2 children. However I heard about Baby Jogger releasing a new model called the City Mini GT which has all the adjustments I wanted from the current City Mini. So there you go that’s my small contribution to your debate!
The Baby Jogger City Mini Double! I have tried (and/or bought) Phil and Teds, Maclaren (terrible!), Jane (three wheel) and the Baby Jogger and it is far and away the best for me. It is really easy to turn with both children in, they are now 26 and 9 months. It folds easily and is very flat when folded. It fits through any wheel chair accessible door and both children are happy in it. I know two other people who have one and they love theirs too.