Tandem / Double Pram for 2 year old and new born

Hi All,

I will have a 2 year old when #2 arrives. I am thinking of getting a double pram but I'm just not sure. The ones I am looking at have a weight limit of 17kg. My DS is already 13.3kg so I'm not sure when he'll hit the 17kg mark.

I don't like the idea of having the seats on top of each other, as from what I've seen, it looks as though the kid on the bottom only gets to look out the sides and doesn't get the best view. But then I wonder if the side by side pram is too wide?? :dunno:

For DS I had the steelcraft traveller system which included the car seat which was awesome for transferring in and out of the car to the stroller. I'd like to be able to use that for #2 but then DS will have to walk next to me and that just isn't happening unless I have a lead/harness of some sort and I really don't want to have to use something like that.

So I'm a bit stuck about what to do. Any advice from those who have been there before would be most welcome!

Thanks!

xoxox

I have a strider plus at the moment but will be getting a baby jogger city select for when this Bub arrives, have you seen them?

No, will google it now :)

We got a standard tandem pram (both kids facing forward, one in front of the other) when I had DD. I hated it. It got used only a handful of times because it was so un-usable for us. DD hated not being able to see me, so she would scream and I would have to pick her up. Then with her out of the pram I would have to try and push it with my heavier DS sitting in the front seat because most of those prams require the heavier child in the front. Int he end I would just take the single pram for DS and carry DD in the Ergo carrier.

That had to change once I fell pregnant again and my belly bump started to make it uncomfortable to carry DD in the Ergo anymore. I did lots and lots of research into a new pram because with 3 under 3 I knew I would need a really good pram. I spoke to a bunch of friends with tandem prams and I have 4 friends that all swear by the exact same pram. It's the City Select Baby Jogger pram. I looked into it and liked the look of it, so a few months back we bought one and it has been probably the BEST baby-related purchase I've ever made. The seats can go on in any direction so you can have both facing you, both facing forward, one forward and one backward etc... And you can use it with capsule attachments or bassinets if you want. I think the normal seat says the child should be a few months old before using it, but I used it with DD from birth and it was perfectly fine. The seats can recline just as much as our single pram which said it was ok to use from birth. I actually like the Baby Jogger more than our single pram (and it is actually thinner!), and so I use the Baby Jogger as a single from time to time as well as you can use it with just one seat on it as well.

Gosh, I could probably keep going on and on about how much I love it but I should stop typing, lol. I get comments about it every time I take it out. It's a bit more pricey than some prams out there (about $1000 with both seats) but I've found it was well and truly worth the cost ♥

I would love to know also. I'm going to be in the same boat soon

I just showed my DH the Baby Jogger City Select website and he really likes the idea too.. we might just have to go shopping soon :dance:

I will have a 2 year old and a newborn as well and have been thinking about what we will do. I already have the strider plus and there is a toddler seat available for behind but im not too sure if i like that, it would mean Miss K won't be able to see and she loves to see where she is going. Plus we use the pram for when we go to the shops and having the seat there would restrict how much shopping we could have underneath.

I really like the idea of the baby jogger double but i dont think ill be able to convince DP as hes tall and likes our pram because he doesnt kick the wheels.

Hmm lots to think about!

We have the BabyJogger City Mini double, and I do love it, and DH does too, he doesnt kick the wheels and hes 6ft LMS! it is such a good pram and easy to steer with one hand. I also have a P&T but hate that, but if you are looking at public transport I dont think the baby jogger city mini double will work, it wont on NSW buses, but is good on trains. We use our P&T if catching a bus.

I have a newborn and a 23 month old. I use a sling and our usual pram, or sling and ds goes in a trolley while we grocery shop, or I make DS walk and hold hands (I tought him to hold hands before bubs came along) if we are just ducking in somewhere or doing something with/for DS. So far I haven't gone "oh I wish these two were both in a pram!". Maybe you could try this out before getting a pram? That way you may decide you don't even need one, or you can get one that is exactly suited to your needs before jumping in :)

The beauty I've found with having bub in the sling (I have a hugabub) is that she sleeps in it as soon as she's popped in (she must feel all snug n'stuff) so I'm really only dealing with the terrible toddler and not toddler and screaming newborn. :)

I have the mountan buggy double and loooooooooooove it. Weight each side is 25kg. Im out on dirt roads so kinda need it.
It fits through a standard door and has a brilliant turning cercal. The basket.under it holds alot of shopping...or a.male jackrussell.
Best thing is to try them out and see. But.i love my 'tank' just make sure that.it fits in the.car boot!

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I just showed my DH the Baby Jogger City Select website and he really likes the idea too.. we might just have to go shopping soon :dance:

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With the seat configurations, there's one that I don't recommend. The first time I put the kids in it I put the seat closest to the handle bars (the top seat) facing forward, and the lower front seat facing me. I put my toddler in the top seat so he could see out at the world, and my bub in the bottom seat so she could see me, and also both the kids could see each other. It was great except my bub would put her fingers where my toddler feet would go, so if he kicked his feet around at all there was a good chance he was going to get her fingers. Eeep.

So now whenever I use it I have the top seat facing me with bub and she loves it, and my son is in the front lower seat facing out to see the world and he loves it too. Oh, and it's low enough that he climbs into the seat by himself (because at this age EVERYTHING is "I do it!", haha).

Good tip thanks mylitta!!

Thanks everyone for All your advice. Will be doing a bit more research I think!

i have the strider plus and i love it and it will fit the capsule that u have now DS is on the tall side so hes started outgrowing the seat but hes started walking so no need for it now

JJJ - yeah DS has been walking since 12 months but he's being a defiant bugger and running off every chance he gets so I would prefer to have him in a pram while I have a new baby as well.

I might reasses after the baby arrives as I can always carry #2 in the bjorn and have DS in his usual pram. I just loved the car seat that clipped onto the stroller so I didn't wake DS on transfer to the car and I wanted to have that option again.

I was researching the same thing this time last year - we bought the baby jogger city mini for $480 (delivered) from a site in NZ. They also sell the city select, but it can be quite heavy and bulky, especially if you have the kids lengthways a long way apart, it's hard to get leverage when you are out walking to get up over gutters. I only know this as one of the Mum's bought one and ended up selling it for this reason. You also have to take it apart to put in the car which you don't with the city mini. You can get a bassinette for the city mini, but my little guy slept with it all the way down and we bought him a Baby Jogger grow-anywhere which we still use for him - about $75 from the same website. It's a stroller liner/foot muff for the Baby Jogger. You can get capsule attachment for your car seat, but we never used that option. If I just had DS, then I would use the peg pereggio with the Bugaboo we have.

Good luck on your stroller journey. For the record, my DD wasn't interested in strollers, but was happy to go in it when the baby was also in it - she didn't want to miss out!

We have the BJ city mini too and its great. Dh really didn't want a pram that was long and while I had my heart set on the BJ City Select, once I saw you couldn't put the newborn on the top facing me and my dd in the front facing out, I got over it. The city mini looks wide but fits through any standard door and it's not that much wider than my bugaboo. Dd is now 19 months and ds 3 months. We have a much easier time with the double pram as dd is happy to sit in the pram with ds lying next to her. I don't regret buying a side by side at all.

we have the strider plus, but DD2 never goes in the pram anymore! dont think the toddler seat will get much use, which is a poo because its brand new :(

We have the BJ city mini double too and have found it fantastic. I'm yet to find somewhere it doesn't fit. I take it on the bus and ferry all the time. It folds unbelievably easily. It only weighs a couple of kilos more than my single stroller. Very easy to steer and feels very stable. It has really good sun shades so you don't have to pin up extra stuff etc. I got a little cocoon thing for the NB stage which made it a bit more snug. I could go in...The only drawback is the storage underneath which is hard to get to but I can live with that.

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I will have a 2 year old and a newborn as well and have been thinking about what we will do. I already have the strider plus and there is a toddler seat available for behind but im not too sure if i like that, it would mean Miss K won't be able to see and she loves to see where she is going. Plus we use the pram for when we go to the shops and having the seat there would restrict how much shopping we could have underneath.

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We had the strider plus with a 21month gap and it was great. To begin with, I had the top seat facing me for DS, and DD went in the toddler seat at the bottom (the instructions do tell you not to do this, but after I tried it out, I didn't see an issue). Before I bought it, I was concerned about DD not being able to see out, but she used to love hopping in there herself, and she never whinged when she was down there. I also walk to the shops with ours, and even with a set of legs in the basket, can still fit a fair amount in there. DD's just learnt not to put her feet on top of the shopping. If I need more space, I just have one of those mummy hooks on the handle bar.

I'm confused. We looked at the strider plus today. Does the 2 year old go on the top and baby on the bottom? We really want one so dd can see where she's going an the newborn can go at the bottom. That's the way I thought it went

I'd vote the baby jogger city mini as well if you're after a go everywhere, do everything pram. I have a big, heavy double valco that I use for walks around the neighbour which is absolutely brilliant, but it weighs about 20kgs so I got teh bj for the car for shopping. The BJ is sooo easy to push - I found it much more manoueverable than the one in front of the other pram that I had. Also had the P&Ts which I absolutely hated.

I have a Love n Care Twingo for my newborn and 2.5yo and I'm really happy with it. For me, it "ticked" all the boxes iykwim.
* It is a side by side but is only a little wider (4-5 cm from memory) than the Strider and fits through a standard doorway.
* It has two "independent" seats so one can face forward and one backwards (or both forward or back) so my newborn can face me.
* The seat lies completely flat and had a drawstring style recline so unlimited positions and not a "bucket" style seat like the strider or city select. My 2.5 yo can lie on his side to sleep (if he's not strapped in)
* The basket is huge and has great access with the seats in any position (even fully reclined)
* it folds easily and for smaller fold the seats come off (it takes up about 2/3 of my Camry boot)
* I purchased a "universal capsule adaptor" from the US that is made for the US version of the pram (Stroll-Air My Duo) so I can use my existing capsule (Steelcraft Cruiser) on my new pram.
* It was reasonably priced for a double(about $500 for the pram and $150 for the capsule adaptor (mostly shipping on the adaptor) )
* My 2.5 yo actually likes sitting in it :) he hated the "bottom" seat on the inline style pram and I love pushing it, it maneuvers very easily.


So that's my two cents :) I LOVE pram shopping (I'm a bit of a pram whore lol)

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I'm confused. We looked at the strider plus today. Does the 2 year old go on the top and baby on the bottom? We really want one so dd can see where she's going an the newborn can go at the bottom. That's the way I thought it went

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I think thats the way it is recommended, the bottom seat is a little flatter so better for a brand newie.

I have the strider plus, with the second seat and we also have the capsule. If ds is awake, we put him in the top seat and put dd down the bottom. Our depending on what we're doing we don't bother putting ds in, ie going to a restaurant/shopping trolley

I just bought the baby jogger city select online (via eBay, I have a 21mth yo and no 2 is due to arrive any day! So far I love it, my old pram didn't have the option of my son facing me and he use to cry after about 10 mins in the pram. DH and I have done several 1hr walks and he is much happier facing us and chatting away. Both seats in this pram face either way, there are 16 configurations. Onelittleprincess, the city select jogger will allow you to put toddler in front and baby behind. I like the fact that the little one is not underneath like the P&T's and can also see out. Google the website and you can see all of the configurations. I saved almost $300 buying this online from the USA, I paid under $1000 for the pram, 2nd seat and bassinet, Inc postage.

All the best!

Have you seen the new Mountain Buggy side-by-side (duet - NOT duo, which is bigger). It's the same width as the single MB Urban. I have one and love the look of it, but am waiting for no.2 to make an appearance so we can use it!

Haven't read any previous posts but we have a Baby Jogger City Select and absolutely LOVE IT!!! Cannot fault it one bit.....we have 2yrs 4mths between our kids so it's perfect for us.

Wow! Thanks for all your replies everyone. We went stroller researching on the weekend and DH loves the baby jogger city select the best. We're going to try and find it second hand or cheaper otherwise we're looking at over $1000 :wall:

Google Kiddlywinks New Zealand. They are selling them brand new for $600 and shipping is free ;-)

Like shiremummy has mentioned, I've heard that NZ site is really good. We were going to buy from overseas, but my hubby was a bit concerned that if anything went wrong or broke we would have to deal internationally. I checked with the company and hubby was right, if you buy from overseas you have to deal with the international warranty and that includes having to pay the shipping to have things sent back. So we ended up going to Baby Bunting and negotiating a price. When we bought ours though the cheapest we could find online worked out to a total of about $1000, so when we went into Baby Bunting I told them we're considering buying from overseas for $1000 but would buy it from them instead if they could match it, and they did. So definitely worth heading into one of the big outlets that sell it and let them know how much you can get it for (take a printout if possible from the site you would buy it from) and they might price match it, or at least get the price down much closer which might make it worth you buying it here (and paying a little more) just the have the aussie warranty...

Good point mylitta and thanks shiremummy for the website tip!! So much research still to do!!

I can't seem to find the Kiddlywinks website? Can someone pm it to me please :)

Oh, don't worry, I think you meant Winkalots? If so, found it :)

I went through the same dilemma with the strider plus, worrying about the weight limit, but ive seen quite a few mums now with nearly 5 year olds in the toddler seat at the back, they are definately over the weight limit, and they all claim it hasnt been an issue. The lady at bubs baby shop told me they are tested for double the recommended weight, just thought id let you know.

we are still 5kgs under the weight limit

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who responded to this question. We sold our strider DLX travel system on eBay for $475 so that will help pay for out double stroller! :hooray:

Leaning towards getting the city select baby jogger brand. Will let you know how we get on :)