*dawn & andrea*

CesEve99

hi!

i posted earlier about double strollers and car seats. your kids are about 2.5 yrs apart, no? mady & the new baby will be 2.5 yrs apart and im really struggling with car seat and stroller options.

a lot of the girls posted about the city mini but it just seems more for kids closer in age or a toddler who is smaller (1 yr or so). i dont want a sit n' stand, and im really not sure about an infant car seat.

i was looking at the maclaren and combi double strollers because they seem so practical and light weight. what do you guys suggest? did you opt for an infant car seat or jumped right into a convertible, why or why not?

also, mady prefers to run/walk everywhere but eventually she does tire out and when i'm with both kids alone my best option is to have mady strapped in the stroller along with baby. opinions on your kids?

VandRicky

butting in even though I don't have any personal experience with either stroller. I know Kimmie had the combi double when the girls were little and it was easy to manoeuvre.

The two big differences between both strollers, I think is :

1. the maclaren does not take a carseat but I am pretty sure it lays almost flat. So you could take your newborn out and lay him/her in there. To me it defeats the purpose of conveniently being able to just stick the carseat in it but this may not be an issue for you. The combi, I am pretty sure only takes one carseat at a time(which works perfectly for your situation) and it has to be a combi one.

2. the price. Maclaren's are easily double the price of a Combi (i think it's $400 as opposed to $200 range).

 

ANJ410

Nicholas was just about 2 year 9months old when Adrianna was born.  Eventually I would like to get a sit n stand, but for now he still needs to be in a regular stroller. There are times he falls asleep in the car and I just transfer him into the stroller so he can continue to sleep.  Also, he is quite a handful and I need the full restraint of a regular stroller for him.

For a carseat, Adrianna is in the Chicco infant carrier I used for Nicky. It was part of a travel system, but I hated the stroller, so I am not using it this time around.  As soon as she starts becoming very heavy in it though, I am switching her into Nicky's convertible carseat and getting him a booster seat (he is already over 30 lbs).

With Nicky, I loved the convenience of the infant carrier snapping into the stroller, but he was always so sweaty in it in the heat.  This time around, I find myself just lifting her out of the carrier and putting her in the regular stroller, as opposed to using the snap n go I borrowed from a friend.

The Maclaren is priced at $265 in BRU and $260 at OneStepAhead.com, but I waited for a promo from OneStep Ahead where they take $75 off of any purchase of $200 or more, so I saved a ton on it.

Snshine

My kids are 2 years, 4 months apart.  Noah wasn't much of a stroller sitter by the time Kate came but I knew things would be different with two kids and I was right.  Because Kate sat in a stroller, Noah wanted to, and when he was being super mischevious while we were out and about (and stressing me out) I could strap him.  We started out with the Graco Duo Glider but outgrew it quickly.  It was nice because the infant carrier snapped in but bad because once Kate was out of the carrier, her legs pushed on the front seat which made Noah mad.  She was still a baby then and was super kicky so it's not like she was trying to torment him.  When we let him sit in the back it was ok but the front seat isn't really for a kid who can't sit up.  The seatbelts were also pretty dinky in that one. 

We then went to the Maclaren.  I had the Maclaren Techno XT with Noah because it reclined back all the way and we got a lot of usage out of it (even if it was pricey).  The double was just as great and the seats almost go all the way down.  I would have used it from the beginning if I had to pick one.  Although it's a PITA to take an infant out of the carrier to lay him/her down in the stroller it is definitely a more long term option.  The biggest drawback of that stroller is that it doesn't have a snack tray.  We certainly made do without it but it would have been nice.

My advice is to go to a big baby store and put Mady in the stroller and use one of their snap in carseats on the other side.  It wasn't until we test drove them all that we knew what would and wouldn't work for us. 

Good luck!  And PS - if you do decide on the Maclaren, take the coupon from Babies R Us and use it at Buy Buy Baby.  I think we got 20% off.