Best pram for newborn and 13 month old toddler???

[hannahfroodoo]

as someone who has looked at and road tested a LOT of twin prams, I would say absolutely and unequivocally do NOT NOT NOT get a side by side.

My DD was 22 months when my twins were born so I had a HUGE pram - a valco runabout twin (side by side) with a toddler seat out front for DD. It was a great pram for my purposes as I could put all 3 girls in and gave me the freedom to get out and stopped me from going stir crazy in the house. However, if you don't have twins and don't have a need for 3 seats, I would never recommend a side-by side. Not only can you not go through cash registers, but you can't even fit in half the stores. You have to stand at the entry and look longingly in at the things you want but can't buy because your pram is too big... plus even large stores like big W etc don't make their aisles wide enough for a side by side. And my valco is one of the narrowest side-by-side prams on the market - it's long but very narrow - and I still couldn't fit down the toy aisles etc at big w. And you can forget trying to do christmas shopping in those $2 discount stores that have crap stacked all over the floors.


now my oldest DD is nearly 4 and my twins have just turned 2 so I have a Marco Sky L stroller which I love - it is a tandem stroller with a reclining rear seat. You can hang a nappy bag over the handles no problem and still recline the rear seat. It is umbrella fold too which is great. It has a much shorter wheel base than your average tandem pram so is much much easier to push. It's far lighter than my big valco pram for lifting in and out of the car. It is a stroller though - so smallish wheels no good for rough terrain. But worth checking out if you want a 'shopping' stroller. My valco now lives on the patio and only gets used if I am walking to the park or DH is taking the girls for a run.

That is one option I would definitely consider - a small stroller that you keep in the car that is easy to fold/unfold, light and compact for shopping and a second pram with big, pneumatic wheels for rough terrain that you keep in the garage or something so you aren't always getting your pram in and out of the car. You could buy a really cheap one off ebay or out of your local paper since it won't be seen in public, doesn't matter if it looks a bit well-loved.

anyway, my top twin pram pics right now if money was no option and I could convince DH to buy yet another pram would be:
Baby jogger city select - awesome pram that is newly available in Australia. has a travel system for your newborn car seat and toddler seat. 2 chilren can face each other or face back or forward and you can buy a bassinet fitting for baby if you want (although I doubt you'd use it if you were using the travel system). Big wheels for easy pushing on rough terrain. An accessible basket underneath which valco and p&t don't have. Plus you can use it as a single pram without an additional seat down the track. fits 2 newborns or 2 toddlers or any combination in between. I would buy this tomorrow if DH would let me!! I have serious pram envy over this one!! LOL. When the Aussie dollar was a little stronger, you could order baby jogger prams from the US at half the price you can get them here (including shipping). If you wait a little, the dollar might come back up and would be worth ordering online from US.
Adventure buggy single with top-mounted toddler seat. (google adventure buggy company. well worth checking out - 'the' phil and ted who originally designed the famous p&t pram actually make this one. They sold their P&T business and now they run adventure buggy company. This pram has a seat mounted up by the handle bars. you can choose a static toddler seat or a reclining seat suitable for a newborn. So it fits 2 children in an in-line design but one faces out and the other sits up high and faces you. It has the big, pneumatic wheels as well so easy for grass etc. they also have variations suitable for 3 and 4 (!!) children. awesome pram!
marco sky L (if you're after a stroller)

Also, check out 'think twins' website. They are an online store but they publish a twin pram guide each year which is a really good starting point with lots of info about what prams are available - including a comparison of their width etc so you can compare.

Anyway, now I have exposed a little too much of my pram obsession in a public forum... DH is always telling me I should open a baby shop since I love this stuff so much!