strollers

HI ,
I am new to all of this so bare with me.. I never have done chat rooms before.
I am expecting b/g fraternal twins in april..
I have heard mixed feelings about strollers side by side or front to back. Do any of you have one ?Most people I have talked to have either an older child and infant so its not the same.
thanks.. ")

 

HI ,
I am new to all of this so bare with me.. I never have done chat rooms before.
I am expecting b/g fraternal twins in april..
I have heard mixed feelings about strollers side by side or front to back. Do any of you have one ?Most people I have talked to have either an older child and infant so its not the same.
thanks.. ")

 

Hi and Welcome to TS!! You'll find some great information here. Be sure to add your due date to the sticky at the top of the page.

To answer your question, I have one of each. My jogger is a side by side, great for walks, etc but not great for going out and about (shopping) because it is so wide. I have a Graco duoglider that is front to back and that is what I take on my mall excursions. There are some side by sides out there that aren't quite as wide. I'm thinking maybe the McLaren (sp?) is one of those.

 

and welcome to ts! Congrats on your twin pregnancy! This is such a popular topic among twin mommies-to-be! Basically, there is no perfect stroller out there. They all have pros and cons. Just go to a BRU or Buy Buy Baby where they have a big selection that are easily accessible to push around, fold up, open up, put car seats in....etc. This will help you decide what you like best. I just knew I would buy the Graco Duoglider until I tested it out with all the rest. But my favorite turned out to be the Peg Perego Aria Twin side-by-side. Go figure!

 

Hi
I am expecting b/g twins in March.. I am also little confused abt. strollers. What about stroller connectors? Has anybody tried that?

 

Here is a current thread about strollers being discussed.

Since your question is a tad different, I'll try and address the difference between the tandem (such as the Graco Duoglider) and the Side-by-side (such as the Aria, MacClaren, Combi, etc.).

We have a Combi Twin Savvy. We purchased this SBS stroller after a few weeks of using our Double Snap N Go (this is a tandem stroller for their infant carriers). I really did not like the tandem stroller. I did not like the feeling that I was pushing around a limo. It was HUGE to me. So when we started looking for our next stroller, I knew I wanted a SBS. I like the SBSs because I feel that they are more compact and easy to manuever. There are lots of lightweight, compact models, and that was important to me. The tandems are often heavy and bulky.

It really comes down to personal preference. You will get mixed opinions on both types of strollers. The best bet it to try and "test drive" a few.

(MeeraYuvan, I answered your question in the other thread! )

And congratulations on your twins!!! Welcome!!!

 

Thanks for everyone's advice.
After going through the different ideas from this forum, we went to different shops (online and stores).

Definitely the double snap-n-go is the best for twin infants. Sure, the kids will outgrow it in a year. But its wiser to spend on 2 light weight strollers and use stroller connectors to connect them after a year than invest in a double stroller now itself.. We are going to go that way..

For others who need an idea with strollers other than snap-n-go, here is my thought:
The side by side strollers are difficult in malls, etc. when trying to go thru the standard doors..
Similarly, tandem strollers sometimes irritate the kid riding in the back seat as he/she is unable to see outside as much as the one in the front seat. However the 2-way tandem strollers (by eddie bauer in target.com) overcomes this disadvantage, because the front seat can be turned around so that the kids face each other.. Thats fun for kids..
But problem with any of the tandem or side-by-side is - They are HEAVY. If you dont mind HEAVY then, I would say go for the 2-way tandem (one is available for 150 in Baby depot).

Thanks everybody.

 

This is totally an opinion, but we registered for the Peg Perego Lightweight Side-by-Side Double Stroller - Target - and got that after begging relatives (it cost approx 330.00) Here is a pic

http://www.target.com/gp/detail-tab-popup....dditionalImages

We thought it would be unfair to have one kiddo with a view and the other looking at her sister's back all the time. This stroller is a nice size, not too huge, seems well put together and has a nice basket to store underneath.

 

I agree. Mine is definitely an opinion. And I did mention in my post that its my thought. No offense intended for those who are buying other stuffs.

The side-by-side stroller looks great
My sincere and best wishes to you.

 

Ha, I didnt realize that it seemed like I was posting to the previous post...I wasnt offended. I wanted to show what I had received but hadnt had a chance to try out yet...

 

That Peg Perego looks like a great stroller. One thing you will find with the smaller, lightweight side by side strollers, is that the canopies are very small and do not to a great job blocking the sun. You can purchase online a double stroller shade that attaches to the stroller to provide more protection (I think they are called Ray Shades).

As for not being able to fit through doors, I have never had that problem. I had a harder time trying to get my Double Snap n go through a doorway with a heavy door, than I do with my SBS.

 

I had both (a Graco Duoglider and a Maclaren Twin Traveller) and, personally, I much preferred the tandem (Duoglider). It fit everywhere, had great storage, the sunshade actually shaded the babies, the snack trays were very useful when they started solids, I love the parents tray, and the carseats clipped in for the first 7 months. The side-by-side was a little easier to push but not enough to make it worth taking on errands because it wasn't as good as the tandem in any of the other categories. We mostly used our side-by-side for walks and I sold it after 1 year. We used the Duoglder almost daily until 3 years old.

On a side note, we had horrible fighting in the side-by-side because both babies could get to each other. This was worst when they were toddlers. In the tandem, we only had to make sure the baby in the back wasn't bugging the one in the front and it's much easier to control one child than two.

 

quote:
Originally posted by three_precious_girls:
We thought it would be unfair to have one kiddo with a view and the other looking at her sister's back all the time.


I see this come up a bit so I just wanted to add that most tandems have staggered seating so that the baby in the back is seated higher than the one in front and can see over their head. My girls actually both preferred the back and we'd take turns.

If you do decide to go with a tandem that allows the front seat to flip around make sure it doesn't require you to remove the seats everytime you fold up the stroller. One of my friends had a stroller that did that and it was like she had to construct the thing everytime she took it out of her trunk. I had both my kids in our Duoglider and strapped in by the time she was putting the second seat on.

I do have a set of stroller connectors but we only use them for emergencies (like on trips when we are using two umbrella strollers and one of us suddenly needs to be able to push both babies). They make the stroller so wide that there are very few doors you can fit through.

You just need to weight all the qualities of the strollers and decide what is best for you.

 

Just want to add that you can often get gently used strollers either on your local craigslist.org, or if there is not one near you, check the local twin parent groups: most of them have once or twice yearly sales where LOTS of great twin stuff comes up for sale for a lot less than you would invest if buying new. Obviously you need to check anything you buy for safety (straps, etc.), but - from all the research i've done and all the reading, it seems like strollers are a really individual decision; depending on where you plan on doing most of your walking (urban or rural, indoors or out, etc.) and your babies' personalities themselves.

I decided to go w/a double snap-n-go for the beginning; after that we'll just have to see!