Car Seat/Stroller question (kinda long)

MorganWP

So I'm going to have 2u2 in October and have been looking into double strollers and a new car seat for LO#2. For DD, we skipped the infant seat and went with a convertible car seat but we want to get an infant seat this time for ease of use. For strollers we've been looking into the Britax B-Agile Double for a side-by-side and the Contours Optima for a tandem. We really like both for different reasons so now our deciding factor is car seats.

If we decide to go side-by-side, we don't want to necessarily limit ourselves to just Britax, because their seats seem a bit too bulky for our small car but it seems like only Britax seats can be used with the B-Agile. 

So here, finally, is my question: If you have a Britax B-Agile Double, do/did you also have a Britax car seat? Or did you find that you could in fact use a different brand seat? If so, which one?

TIA! 

FmrAFBrat

I'm pretty sure the B-Agile double just works with Britax. Have you looked at the City Mini double or the Valco Snap Dual for side by sides? IMO they are better choices and will offer you a lot of car seat options.

MorganWP

Yeah we looked into them both but ruled them out because the City Mini didnt have an adjustable handle (my SO is 6'3") and we didnt like that the Valco doesnt have separate canopies. The B-Agile has both of those.

FmrAFBrat

@MorganWP Valco will have a new edition this year with 2 canopies. I have the snap dual and actually got it because it had a lot of canopy coverage...even though it was just one, huge basket, & storage pockets on the back. It was also newborn rated so I didn't need to use it with a car seat...although I may do so if my current pregnancy works out and we'll be 2U2 again.

I looked at a ton of double strollers last year and it seems like there really isn't one that will do everything all the time. Have you looked at the Valco Zee 2 or the Bumbleride Indie Twin?

MorganWP

We'd like to keep the price under $350. We're from Canada but live close to the states so we'll be buying there, even so the Bumbleride and the Valco Zee 2 are both out of our price range. 

AZMagnini14

Like PP said, I'd go City Mini over those 2. It is the original design that B-Agile copied off and can be used with any car seat. You can only use a Britax car seat with the B-Agile. We have a city mini single and double and LOVE both. The sun visor is so big, easy so steer and fold up. 

lana22

i have the b-agile single and love it, but was looking at the city mini elite for the side by side. i ended up w/ the city select, which is a tandem, but i love it.

anyway, just chiming in b/c i have the b-safe car seat that i got to go w/ the b-agile stroller and it is SO HEAVY. if you haven't gotten a car seat yet i'd def recommend looking at other brands that might be lighter.

MorganWP

So, after lots of going back and forth, we're going to go with the tandem. But thank you for all the input! 

@lana22 Yeah when we were looking at carseats, the b-safe seemed really heavy. Not something I'd want to carry around with a toddler to chase after.

lana22

my friend just got the maxi cosi which has great reviews and is super light. if i could do it again i'd prob get that. ha, i guess technically i could get it with the third coming, but i'm just gonna suck up the b-safe one more time.

i never ever just carried the carseat. always put the carseat in the stroller, with both kids. thankfully younger one both hated the infant seat and was huge, so it was easy to start him in the convertible on the early side.

sometimesalwayschaotic

We have a Contours Optima and I really like it.  Its awesome for walks and can even off road a little bit when needed.  I don't like to take it anywhere since it is a beast.  I use it with a Chicco car seat and highly recommend the chicco.  We have used it and the Graco.  The Chicco wins hand down!  I always have a snap n go in the car to put the car seat in so I don't have to carry it.  The girls are trained to hold onto the stroller to walk into stores which helps a ton.