18 month gap - what pram do you have?

[Mummabear]

My little cherubs are going to be 18 months apart and we're currently looking at prams. I was wondering what prams others with similar gaps used and what they thought of them......

[WeThree]

I bought my double pram second hand, and I cant off the top of my head think what brand it was, it wasnt particulary fab or anything, but it was quite a wide bulky one, and if I could do it again I would keep the side by side as opposed to a limo style one, but get one much narrower and lighter, which I have seen around.
I didnt buy one with the toddler seat in front because when you are out and about for a good part of the day, an 18mth old still needs to be able to lie back and have a sleep as well, but I did find that I didnt use it for very long, within 6-8 mths I was just putting DD in the single pram and Coops would walk or I would sit him on the roof of the pram

[BW Mom]

mine are 19 mo apart and i currently have 3 options!
1. we had a 3 wheel jogger with dd1 and did lots of walking since we lived in a walking kind of area and i did not have a driver's license until she turned 10 mo old. we bought the toddler seat add on when dd2 was born. i did not use this very often because i found with baby in main section and toddler in front seat the weight distribution was awful and i almost tipped it over a few times when turning or on hills.

2. we moved further into suburbia when PG with dd2 and when she was born I tried the jogger (see above) but quickly convinced Dh i needed another option for both kids so bought a 2nd hand Peg Perego Venezia on ebay for a very good price. i have used this for most of the past 17 mo and think it was a great choice because dd1 could stand on the back step or walk and dd2 coudl sleep happily in it fully reclined, has a snack tray for when she started eating snacks / meals on the go (so dd1 woudl sit in a high chair or at the table and dd2 coudl stay seated in the stroller), reversible handle... GREAT for what i needed since we now drove more places and i was not doing lots of long walks or anything (more of a mall, stroll type stroller IMO)

3. we have a maclaren quest which i use if i am only taking 1 child out or we are traveling and don't want to use up space in the car ... (other kid walks or gets carried on and off)

i am currently using the jogger again since dd2 is now 17 mo old and the weight seems better now and i have a strange 3 year old who fights TO sit in the stroller and i got sick of her sneaking in whenever i had dd2 out of the Peg for 2 min.

hope any of that is helpful - did not mean to say so much...

[poshBecks]

We have a Phil & Teds E3. Love it

[Tannie]

Our 2 bubs are 12 months apart & we have a Phil & Teds E3 and we also love it Light, easy to turn into a 1 bub pram if need to (we often do) has all the features we want.......after much searching - it really was the only thing that met all our criteria.
T

[Diddles]

My little ones are 22 months apart and we bought a Phil and Teds e3 just 5 weeks ago. So far so good - I love it, easy to steer, weight distribution is balanced and you can fit through doorways easily. If you buy one, make sure you get the cocoon too for the newborn - the buby is heaps safer and warmer in it and you can transfer them from pram to bed easily. Only drawback is there is nowhere to store shopping etc, but there are extras you can purchase that attach on the back and sides of the pram ( I've just attached a backpack we already owned). Cheers Jo

[mytwolilprinces]

My two boys are 21 months apart. We bought a phil & Teds E3. Fab at first, but when they get a bit big for the lay down baby part underneath it's gets a bit tricky, as the back baby seat is not really suitable for a baby under 6 months. My little one was too big for the lay down baby section by about 3.5 months, once you get past this stage it is fine though.

Apparently there is now a twin version of the phil & teds, I would probably go for that - side by side gives you easier access to the baby.

[Mummabear]

Thanks for all your input girls. Much appreciated.

We went looking at prams yesterday. I really like pretty much everything about the Phil & Ted's E3 except that there are no recline options for either child, and DS is a big pram sleeper. When he's had enough of sitting up and watching everything or he's just had enough in general, all Ihave to do is lay the pram down, give him his blankie and he's happy to lay there even if he doesn't go to sleep. I don't want to force him into other habits if he's not ready IYKWIM.

I was happy to go with the Childcare side by side stroller, which we can get on Ebay atm for $150 - it fully reclines. But after testing out all the prams in the shop DH is adamant that we have to have the Phil Ted's side by side . This is fine by me as it seems like a really good pram - but it's so expensive and I'm just worried that he's going to freak out when we're not using it full time once DS is older. But we are planning to have a gap of about 2 years and then have another 2 kids with a similar age gap to DS and this bubba so it would get used again.

For those of you with the Phil & Ted's E3 - were your older children big pram sleepers prior to #2 coming along? If so, how did they go adapting to having only 1 seat position??

[Tannie]

Ummm - yes - the lack of recline options is about the ONLY thing I don't like about the e3. Mind you - it hasn't been a great problem for us.........older bub is a bit of a sleeper and the front seat is so sort of "cosy" that she is fine when she drops off in it........I put a head support in the back one for little bubs and although it never looks particularly comfy - she does drop off in it quite often....so it can't be that bad cause she stays asleep for quite a while in it!

I have several times had only one of them sleepy - in which case, I put the sleepy one in the front seat and then it's quite simple to take the back one off and recline the front one by unclipping and gently laying it down, with the bub in there....iykwim?....I think I've done this several times for little bub and once for bigger bub. The times I've done it for small bub were when we were at playgrounds for the bigger one - so I didn't need her to be in the stroller anyway.....iykwim? when it was the bigger bub - then I just carried little bub - no biggee.

I think it just depends on your lifestyle etc and the chances of how often this would occur? I saw a women with a side by side P & T a few days ago at the shops and it was SO wide etc, I thought no better then any of the side by sides in that regard......she couldn't get down the Target aisles and barely even through the entrance way (because of those silly security posts they have everywhere now) So I'd be very careful if I were you.

The other thing which is REALLY important with side by sides, is to take into account the wt difference of the 2 kids. The stroller will pull constantly to one side if wt distribution is too uneven. With my girls, the newborn was 3.7kgs and older bub 12.5kgs.......now they are 7.4kgs & 13kgs.......so basically the bigger one is nearly double........a side by side would be a nightmare in this situation. They are best for twins - but not great for bubs of different ages & vastly diff wts.

good luck with your ongoing search!!
T

[samuelboy]

Our bubs are 19 months apart and we have a Phil & Ted's E3 and my little boy has no trouble at all sleeping in the front seat, in fact I've found he's more likely to fall asleep in this than when he was in the pram by himself because he's right up the front where he can see and not always leaning forward to try and see things.

We also have the cocoon and definitely does make it easier to get your newborn in and out.