Stollers, Carseats/Carriers, and Pack n Plays

I know a lot of y'all have said you used the Graco Duoglide, but I have a question, I've been looking at that one and the Graco Quattro Duo, I've read the reviews on both and I'm just confused. For those that have the Quattro, does it only have the cup holders up front or do you have a bar or tray you can put up there? Which of those did you like the best?

As for car seats, theres the Snugride, Snugride 32, and the Quattro accepts a Snugride 35. I have NO clue what the differences are and what is the best, obviously there is a price difference with each, but I'm trying to decide which ones to get. What are y'alls opinions?

There are multiple pack n plays I've been looking at. There is one that is actually for twins that has two removable "bassinets", the others have the infant "napper" and changing table attachment, but it only has ONE napper not two and I haven't been able to find where you can buy a second napper. My question is ... are the bassinet or nappers even needed or is it gimmicky?

Thanks ya'll!

 

I am very happy you posted this because I have been doing the same research and it gets very overwhelming.

The only difference is I'm looking more at the Kolcraft Contours Tandem as the stroller, but the same carseat/carriers.

As for the PNP with the two removalbe bassinet which one is that? I would love to be able to see it.

 

We had the graco duo glider. That was almost 5 years ago now! :faint: So everything has changed, so I can't comment on that. I want to say the snug rides and the numbers reflect the weight of the infant. And let's be honest, I don't want to be lugging around one 32 lb infant in an infant seat, let alone two! But, I could be mistaken. All three of my kids were out of the infant seats by 9 months, and under 20 lbs.

As for the pnp. Personally, I wouldn't do the twin pnp. I think it's a gimmick. Lol. Plus, pay close attention to the weight limits. We got two pnps for the boys. And honestly they weren't used too often. But, they have certainly been used now. One we took camping in the camper, my younger daughter uses it when she sleeps at my inlaws, and I watch an infant three days a week(now a toddler), and she uses it(and actually has our second one at her grandparents house).

The big thing with twins is weight. I know the regular pnp had a weight limit of 15 lbs I believe, in the top part of the pnp. So once they got to that weight combined, they had to go into the lower portion of it.

I hope some of that helped!

 

Nella,

I've looked at that one and the Chicco Cortina, but I honestly like the Graco's the best for the money.

The PNP is this one: Graco PNP with twin bassinet

And yes it does ALL get overwhelming, this is my first pregnancy, neither Marshall nor I have kids, and weren't even expecting this pregnancy and well as my doc said, when y'all do it you do it all the way since we concieved twins with no IVF and we have no twins anywhere in our family, lol. I tend to just get lost with everything, although I did do a post "Tons of Questions" that gave me a lot of answers and was helpful!

 

The difference between the snugride, snugride 32 and 35 is the weight and height limits on them. So it depends on how long you want to keep them in an infant seat for. As for the duoglidder, I had it, I hated it and sold it. I used a double snap n go until they were out of their infant seats, then I used/use a double jogger or my peg perego Aria double, both are sbs. What I didn't like about the diuoglidder was that it was big, bulky and heavy. I didn't like the way it steered, it was awkward to maneuver, I could go on.

 

I would also suggest looking into the baby jogger city select stroller. It is a single that you can convert to a double. It's more compact and light weight and not as long, so easy to move around with.

 

Akilburn,

Thanks for the info on the pnp. This is our first pregnancy too.. No IVF nothing just natural, my husband has fraternal twins in his family every other generation and we are having identical twins.. So I feel you... I read that post I'm happy u posted it... I just don't know where to starts sometimes when it comes to twins... This forum helps soo much...

Slipper,

I did look at the city select its not budget friendly... It would have been great though...

 

Carseats ~ Yes that refers to height/weight limits on it. My twins were 30 lbs at 2 yrs old. There's no way I'd be lugging them around in infant seats that long. And my twins were BIG! By 3 months old I had taken them out of the infant seats because both were over 15 lbs each, and I didn't want to lug around 30+ lbs of baby weight plus infant seat weight everywhere we went. So, in my opinion, the small snugride works fantastic and is more budget friendly. THEN you splurge on a great convertible carseat. Britax marathon's is what we went with.

Stroller ~ I heard from many many women that the tandom double strollers were so big and bulky and hard to manuever. I also used a double snap n go (so tiny and lightweight and you can always get them used on craigslist or at a multiples club consignment sale), I bought it used, for half price, and sold it for the same price, so no money lost. Then when we gave up the infant seats, we switched to a Combi Twin Sport. Super lightweight, easy to use, seats recline....the perfect little stroller. I just sold it at a consignment sale for half what I paid for it. When the kids got a bit older, I got a Baby Trend Double Jogger. I still have it, but will likely sell it next year for half what I paid for it.

So I spent about $450 on strollers, and have gotten $150 back with another $100 to get back on my jogger which I'm sure I will get. I just couldn't fathom spend upwards of $500 on stroller.....with 4 kids that's not in our budget!

As for the PNP, i bought the twin one used, and YES it's a waste of money! The top part has a low weight limit for two babies, and the bassinets are flimsy and the twins just rolled to the center of it. I got more use out of a regular pack n play like this Graco one, with no top bassinet, but both babies were able to lay in the top part of it, and even shared sleeping in one when we went to the beach when they were 5 months old, they both slept in the bottom of it. Again, resold them for half price at a consignment sale.

Look for used strollers and pack n plays you can get some amazing deals on them, and then turn around and resell them for most of what you paid for them. Also look for swings, exersaucers, bouncy seats...etc. The only thing I really urge people to buy new is carseats, unless you have a family member or friend who can vouch for a used one not being in any accidents.

 

I was given a duo glide for nothing and, honestly, don't know if I will use it. It's really big and bulky to get up and down the stairs to our place. I highly recommend the snap n go. It's all we've used so far and it's helped me to figure out what we need in a stroller down the road. We live in the city and when I push it around our neighborhood I realize a SBS (which is what I thought I would get) would never work on narrow sidewalks and going in and out if stores (I now notice that people who have SBSs take their kids out before they go in any place - a huge pain, I think, regardless of the age). I would say the major stroller considerations are weight (do you have to carry it up stairs?), folding (what will fit in your space?) and maneuverability (what will you be able to push around in your community and with your lifestyle?). We will definitely be snap n go-ing as long as we can as it's easier than anything else right now.

I don't have Graco carseats so can't comment on that but will say I agree re lower weight limits. At 10 and 11 lbs, the buckets are already pretty tough to carry with kids in them.

In terms of PNP, I would say get one with the single infant insert (that raises the whole floor) with the highest weight limit possible. This is not a gimmick for sure and will save you back, giving you easy access to you little babes. We have ours in the living room for when they nap during the day so I can take care of chores. My kids have already exceeded the weight limit in theirs and I am soooo sad about dropping the floor as our backs are already sore. BTW, my guys sleep together and really snuggle in to each other so separate bassinets would not work for us but as you can see from other posts, there is a range of what babies want and need.

Good luck!

 

Strollers- I had the Graco Duoglider and hated it. Then we got the Contours and liked it just okay. We've since traded in for a side-by-side (but my girls are now two, so the need for snap-n-go is gone).

We had the Graco Snugride standard (30?) and my girls were in them until they sized out. I liked them. We did extended rear-facing car seats, so I liked that those seats lasted as long as they did.

We had two pack-n-plays (the Graco ones) with the changing tray and the bassinet. My girls were 30 weekers and only weighed four pounds when they came home from the hospital, so I actually used that for a LONG time. I had one asleep in the bassinet and the other in the changing station. Once they were over the weight limit I put them in at the raised height and then eventually into cribs. The girls slept in our room in the pnps for 7 months, though.

I'm glad y'all found us and are getting the support you need! Welcome to Twinstuff!

 

I had a Duoglider, which I loved, but my girls are 6 so it's been a while. Possibly, if I had today's knowledge back then, I might have gone with a BOB SBS, but those are pricy. The other SBS I tried to use in stores was too wide and I didn't like it.

My girls were out of their infant seats at about 16 pounds because they were reaching the height and they were really heavy to carry in them. I think the max weight was 22 or 29 pounds, I can't remember. But I would have never been able to carry them in those seats that heavy.

I would get 2 separate PNP's. I had 2 and it was convenient. My girls were preemies, and they both slept in the top napper part together until they were 15 pounds combined, then I just napped them together in the bottom.

 

One thing I haven't seen anyone mention about the car seats--what are the sizes of people in your family? If you are big people, you would expect that your children would be bigger and then you may want to go for a bigger one. My husband and I are not big people, nor are our siblings or parents. The idea of an infant car seat that goes up to 35 pounds seems ridulous to me--my girls were still under 35 pounds when they were 4 years old--but like I said--we're not big people.

 

I don't know anything about the Duoglider (we had side-by-side strollers), but I agree that the twin PNP is not worth it. We had one PNP and it did get used a ton because Amy napped in it from 6 months until they quit napping at 3 years! Plus, we took it on vacation (not flying, but when we drove somewhere). She loved it and called it her "nap bed."

We only used the bassinet part for a few weeks when the babies were tiny. It just never really worked to have them lying together (they did much better in bouncy seats a few feet apart).

However, we had one with a changing table attachment, and for us that was KEY. We used it until the babies were so big that it would bow under their weight (but it always held!). I think it was rated for up to 30 lbs, but we had switched to changing them on the floor by that time. Even though we have a one-story house, it still just seemed easier to change diapers on the PNP rather than on the dresser (with a diaper-changing pad we had installed). The PNP also had handy little pockets for keeping wipes, lotions, etc. close at hand.

 

I agree the twin PNP is a waste of money. I have regular PNP's and just use the inner bassinet thingie that hangs into the PNP. The one I bought for the twins had the changing attachment which I honestly never used because I'm too tall. I had to bend over to use it so I've always used a taller changing table.

I would try out the car seats in the store. The one I bought for Josh is so freaking heavy! I'm not sure which Graco one it is, but I wish I had tried it out, I just picked it because I liked the pattern and that it was warmer for the winter (and then we got sent to Florida...). My Josh is humongous too so that doesn't help!