Buggies for newborn twins

Blueskye

I'm a first time mother of twins, due in May next year. Just wondering can anyone recommend a buggy/travel system or give any advice? I've just looked online so far but it's a minefield...we'll go look at some soon to see how they feel but would love if anyone could give some feedback on what they found useful or not. Have looked up old posts but there isn't a huge amount of threads on twins.

Thanks a mil.

Its Behind You!

Well congratulations! hope it all goes well for you all.:D


I'd recommend a side-by-side buggy, and NOT one with one in front and one behind.

Also get one that is sturdy, but light weight..makes it easier to get around town.

Go for a named brand, and one that folds away easy,the smaller the better, for the car, to carry around etc...

best wishes!

dzer2

All the best your life is about to change for the very best take all the help you can get and bully the good ones as well.

We had twins as first born. Bought a side by side graco buggy that way you could let back one if it wants to sleep while the option of the other sitting up. We just got second hand car seats from friends to keep costs down. You will get loads of gear for them we swapped a lot of gear from newborn to 3 and 6 month. Just make sure the buggy and all the gear you get is really sturdy as you will give it hell.

Its Behind You!

Yeah Graco, thats the one ...i dont do much pram pushing nowadays, only a wee bit of hand holding when required

themadchef

Congratulations

Your head will be melted with all the things you need to think of so deep breaths you will get there

Compact, durable, affordable....

I bought a "side by side" Graco as well (twins are 5 now). Looking back? I dunno, i felt it was clunky and difficult to drop and lift but maybe im just not very good with those sorts of things. I shoulda gotten hands on with alot more in the shops but i was working and grumpy and it was on sale...

I got a front and back one from a neighbour that was "well used" and used this for off roading :pac: lol knocked the living daylights out of it. It was in bits, it never even folded down by the time i was finished with it. Joys of country living. Would have been a disaster compared to a side by side though if it were all we had. Graco was a king in comparison to it.

I gave mine away to a lady pregnant with twins, many do similar. Mine looked practically new as we used the banger more than the new one. Put the word out, word filters around, or buy second hand. We had alot of things as i had 2 small children already (the twins were a huge surprise) and i mostly borrowed my sisters, brothers gear. Save money where you can. Seriously, the expensive part in is in raising the little monsters angels .

Least youre not afraid to ask for advice. Great start

mr kr0nik

Hi there,
I have a side-by-side buggy (with cover) that has never been used. You are welcome to it if you want. I was given it when my second child (son) was born but we always managed with the single one we had.

PM me if you want it. I'm away for XMAS but will be back home in Jan. We can arrange collection then if you want it.

Its Behind You!

Indeed, be wary of the ones "on offer" reduced, its probably because they are not very good or hard to manage, not practical...dont be fooled by machinery and gadgets...

but it looks like you have just had a very kind offer from Mr krOnik:D

themadchef

The magic of Boards

it.

Moonbeam

The out n about nipper is brilliant , I really can not complain about it .
The city wheels elite is I think what I would go for for twins and the city wheels double is another one people
Seem to love .
Suspension and the type of wheels are very important when pushing 2 around .

Blueskye

Wow thanks for all the replies

I would prefer side by side as people have recomended here. But I also want the babies to be able to face me rather than facing out and I dont' think the out and about offers that? But I'm not sure, haven't seen them 'in person' yet. Thanks again, clear as mud but at least I'm getting an idea of what I want.

dzer2

Blueskye wrote: »

Wow thanks for all the replies

I would prefer side by side as people have recomended here. But I also want the babies to be able to face me rather than facing out and I dont' think the out and about offers that? But I'm not sure, haven't seen them 'in person' yet. Thanks again, clear as mud but at least I'm getting an idea of what I want.

Much prefered the babies looking out as I put a begging cup on the front of the buggy you would be surprised what people put in it.:D

Only joking but it is amazing what people give you for twns

Its Behind You!

There's quite a few articles/papers written about this recently:

I can remember a neighbour of mine tut-tutting at me in the street b'cos the pram I was pushing faced out. To be honest, I think its down to a lot of variables, and most definitely the personality of the child. But who's to know at such a young age..anyways...some articles written recently.

I love what Sydey mum had to say about it:

But Mandy Wooldridge said nine-month-old Scarlet was trying to turn around as soon as she could.

"She got bored looking at me," she said. LOL!!


In Australia...August 2011.

"Big pram face-off: academic says outward-facing prams are cruel"

But the controversial claims, made by Professor Cathrine Fowler from the University of Technology Sydney, have been shot down by the country's best-known midwife, Baby Love author Robin Barker.

Ms Barker says, as long as babies are loved and fed, the direction they face when in a pram is irrelevant.

Professor Fowler, who will give a lecture on raising babies at UTS on Tuesday, said strollers that point children in the direction of travel are isolating, stressful and terrifying.

"Imagine if you were strapped to someone's chest with your legs and arms flailing, heading with no control, in a busy shopping centre. It would be terrifying. It is the same for our children," Professor Fowler, a mother of two, said.

"Outward-facing baby carriers and prams give babies a bombardment of stimulus, creating a very stressful situation. In not considering our baby's perspective we are inadvertently quite cruel to children."

But Ms Barker said parents had enough to worry and feel guilty about without considering which way they push their child in a stroller.

"This is just another thing that can worry mothers," she said.

"What babies need is parents who love them and feed them and if that's in place then I'm afraid which way the pram faces is irrelevant.



Polly Curtis, education editor
The Guardian, Friday 21 November 2008

From what their children eat to where they sleep and whether their favourite toy is educational enough, parents have never been short of things to agonise about.

But today researchers add "buggy worry" to the list, with a report suggesting front-facing strollers could deprive babies of their first lessons in life by discouraging their parents from talking to them.

The study suggests that old-fashioned buggies, which allow babies to lie down and look up at their parent, give babies the best start in life. A recent wave of hi-tech, adaptable, parent-facing buggies - such as the Bugaboo Cameleon and the Stokke Xplory - can help, but they are often expensive, the researchers say.

The research into the psychological effects of buggies reveals that life in a 21st-century baby buggy can be emotionally isolating. Children in front-facing varieties are significantly less likely to talk, laugh and interact with their parents than those in buggies that face the pusher, according to the research. The study is published by the National Literacy Trust for its Talk to Your Baby campaign and funded by the educational charity the Sutton Trust.

It includes an observational study of more than 2,722 parent-infant pairs across the country, carried out by Suzanne Zeedyk, of Dundee University's school of psychology. Some 62% of the babies were in away-facing pushchairs, as were 86% of toddlers. Parents using face-to-face buggies were more than twice as likely to be talking to their child.

A separate, small-scale study monitored 20 babies wheeled in pushchairs across a one-mile stretch in Dundee. Half the journey was spent in an away-facing buggy and half in a parent-facing one. The results suggested that babies' average heart rates fell slightly in a parent-facing buggy, and babies were also twice as likely to fall asleep in this orientation, suggesting they may be more stressed when in away-facing buggies.

Mothers and infants also laughed more often in face-to-face buggies. Only one baby in the group of 20 laughed during the away-facing journey, while half laughed during the face-to-face journey.

Zeedyk emphasised that the study was small and required further investigation, but said: "If babies are spending significant amounts of time in a baby buggy that undermines their ability to communicate with their parent, at an age when the brain is developing more than it will ever again, then this has to impact negatively on their development. Our experimental study showed that, simply by turning the buggy around, parents' rate of talking to their baby doubled."

Laura Barbour of the Sutton Trust said: "The Sutton Trust hopes that buggy manufacturers will look closely at this research, which suggests that face-to-face models improve communication at a very early stage. The problem is that at present these cost a minimum of £200."

Its Behind You!

...oh and there's the fabulous definite that the twins will have each other for companionship and all those other wonderful things....

what about this pram?

http://youtu.be/QBT719YeuE8

Blueskye

Its Behind You! wrote: »

...oh and there's the fabulous definite that the twins will have each other for companionship and all those other wonderful things....

what about this pram?

http://youtu.be/QBT719YeuE8

So cute

Looked at a few today and ruled them out...one was too heavy, one only faced outwards and one was too big for my car boot! So I'm narrowing the search. Going to look at an icandy next week, that might do them at the start and then change to an out and about nipper when they're a bit older. Have started asking random mothers of twins when out on their opinions too

Its Behind You!

@Blueskye...good on ya! I'm presuming the twins will be your first?

Happy days ahead, the best experience and privilege that a person can ever have.

Great way to meet people too, at the creche, drop in centres, then school, summer holidays and beyond...

You learn so much from your kids. I get told off on a regular basis now from my eldest. I dont know where she gets her wisdom from, certainly not me for sure:D:D

Very best wishes to you all

newmammy2011

Blueskye wrote: »

So cute

Looked at a few today and ruled them out...one was too heavy, one only faced outwards and one was too big for my car boot! So I'm narrowing the search. Going to look at an icandy next week, that might do them at the start and then change to an out and about nipper when they're a bit older. Have started asking random mothers of twins when out on their opinions too

congrats and hope ur pregnancy is going well! I have 20 month old twins and have been using the baby jogger city mini double since birth. Still absolutely love it... And is only buggy i needed and have no plans to buy another! Is side by side, but facing outwards, fits through my front and internal doors, quite lightweight but still very sturdy! Great idea asking the randomers about their buggies......i bet if you find a twin mammy and baby group they'll let you try out all their buggies :-)