Need advice on Prams

[unhappy]

I am hoping that some of you wil be able to help me out with my pram dilemma. we currently have a 4 month old son and we have a steelcraft deluxe pram. it if fine for the time being however we are thinking of TTC#2 in the next 6 months so we will have two children under 2 and will need to invest in a new pram. i have been researching and have decided against the phil and teds e3 with double kit as i dont like the idea that one child is behind the other and cannot see anything.
i am now looking at side by sides and am wondering if anyone could give me some feedback on the phil and teds e3 TWIN side by side and the mountain buggy double urban elite side by side. are these prams suitable for 2 children of different ages or do they have to be the same age? someone in a baby store informed me that they were only suitable for twins. also do they really fit easily through a standard door???
any feedback you guys could give would be greatly appreciated!
thanks
Alysia

[tash n jag]

I have a Mountain Buggy but only the single. My SIL has the double and loves it. There is 2 years between her children and she never had any troubles.

[rinksmum]

Hi,

I have a 22 month old and a 4 month old and we have a Babylove Tandem Light. Its one where the baby is in the back the toddler is in the front, but once baby gets bigger the back seat can be put upright and he will be up a bit higher than the front seat so should still be able to see out. So far, I've found it to be very good - really easy to manoeuvre (sp?), easy to collapse, pretty compact, and its no heavier/bulkier than the first stroller we had when ds1 was born. I think I shied away from the side-by-side prams because I was once in a parents' room in a shopping centre and lady with a side-by-side couldn't fit through the door-way! A serious design fault with the doorway though, I don't think you'd have that problem very often...

[~Emmylou~]

Another thing to think about with side-by-sides is getting through checkouts.

We bought a double pram recently and because I use the pram mainly for shopping this aspect ruled them out for us. It would seriously drive me insane having to use the wheelchair checkout all the time.

We got a Swallow Lite Limo in the end from BabyCo. We didn't want anything to expensive because at nearly two DD won't be in the pram for more than six months we reckon, then we'll go back to our single pram for Toby.
We haven't taken it out yet but using it in the store it was surprising how easy they are to manouever once you remember to turn "out wide" LOL.

[mel04]

I have owned quite a few double prams, finally bought the phil and ted and it was the best! DD1 decided she wasn't going to sit in it after a month of owning it so we recently sold it. Held it's value really well, i sold it on ebay and got $20 less than i paid for it.
The tandems (limo style) are great for shopping centres and light walking, but if you walk alot they aren't so good.
3 wheelers with a toddler seat topple to easily, except the phil and teds as the weight is distributed much better.
Side by sides with pneumatic tyres (especially 3 wheelers) are good except that you can't fit through checkouts, alot of shops are hard enough to get a single out of let alone a double. Also if your toddler is like mine they'll poke and prod their sibling.
When we first went pram shopping DH kept telling me to buy the phil and ted but like you i didn't like the idea of it, but after trying many others, i wish i had bought it to begin with. Would have saved alot of money! lol It's also good because if you are carrying one child you can push it easliy with 1 hand.
Go to a baby shop and borrow someones kid and try them out with 2 kids in them and see how you feel. They all have there good and bad points. It just depends on what you will use it for.
If you don't walk too much, then i would have to say the tandem is the better option.