Seeking a GREAT Double Stroller

We have a side-by-side. It's great. It folds up just like an umbrella stroller and doesn't weigh nearly as much as those "limos", as I like to call them. As for not getting much use out of it, we just used it yesterday for my kids at Cedar Point. Mine are 2 and 4.5 yrs old. Trust me, the older ones like to ride when they get tired of walking. We went to CP a couple of times with a wagon but found that the stroller works better b/c you can recline it. We bought the stroller before my youngest was born and it has stood up well... I think it's an Aria. Easy to maneuver thru doors and aisles as well. A little one will be fine in it as it has a 5 pt harness and reclinable seat.

Good luck,
L.

Front/back can fit through grocery store check out lanes and doorways. Neighborhood and mall wouldn't matter so much but I take mine to the grocery store a lot so I have to have front/back.

I have the graco quatro-tour. Love it. My 5 year old and 2 year old are totally comfortable in it. It is large, so if you don't need to load it down with cargo an umbrella type might be more for you.

Just some factors to consider.

a front to front will be much easier to maneuver when out in tight spaces (e.g. stores, farmers markets, etc). The side to side will not accommodate your 4 month old yet.
Babies r us is the only place that has a decent selection. You can check out reviews online on both their website and on Target's website. We have the Graco DuoGlide. It's nice but hard to maneuver with only one hand. We took it on a trip from Indy to San Diego with a 2 year old and a 3 month old. It was a Godsend.

I have a graco double stroller, but I recently just purcahsed a side by side BOB jogging stroller. I haven't taken the jogging stroller out with me because I haven't needed it but the graco is sometimes hard to manuever. I think its all what you like. I love the jogging stroller because it pretty much moves by itself. It was alot more money too. I had the single BOB jogging and loved it. Thats just my opinion. Good luck. Mine are 23month and almost 7 months.
M.

We have the Graco Duo Quattro Tour double stroller and I love it. Our son is almost 3 and loves riding in the front seat and feels like a big boy since there is no tray, but there are a snack and cup holder for him. The baby, 3 months, fits great in the back in her seat or with the stroller seat folded up to make a bassinet. There are two cupholders for parents and a little compartment to hold napkins or cell phones or keys or whatever. The basket is big and holds alot of stuff even with the backseat reclined all the way. It is a little bulky and a bit heavy but once you figure out where to hold it to lift it in and out its a piece of cake. I expected it to be heavier than the Quattro Tour single that we have because there is more stroller there. It steers really well and fits both me 5'3 and my hubs 6'5 easily. We went to the store and put our son in it and test drove it while I was pregnant and really liked it. When it folds down it isn't any bigger than the single so it fits in the back of our Hyundai Tuscan very nicely.

Hi J.!

We purchased a double stroller when our girls were 3 years and 18 months. We got a BOB double stroller. They are not cheap - but we had already been through a sit and ride stroller - our oldest didn't like sitting backwards on it and standing - well, she didn't like that either. I didn't like how easy it was for her climb off of it when I didn't want her to.

The BOB is the best investment we ever made. Though it is on the large size. The ease of use and comfort for the kids is amazing. We took it to Disney World with us and both of the girls rode and slept in it often. My 3 now 4 year old still rides in it on occasion. The BOB holds up to 100 lbs. and can be used for jogging. We have added a 3rd to our family - so we will continue to get great use out of it. If I have my baby - 7 months and my almost 3 year old it in, I can maneuver the stroller with one hand. The double seat is individualized - so each rider can recline or not. Also, each seat has it's own canopy giving even more individual control.
We have found that it is a GREAT stroller. However, because of the price, it can be hard to say O.K. without a test drive, etc. If you are in the Cleveland area look up www.strollermama.com - they are a great company - that is where I ordered my BOB from - but they are in Beachwood and you can go there and "test" drive the various models. That is the awesome part.
The BOB is easy to manage at the mall. Though it is a side by side - it fits through all of the doorways at the mall - it is ADA compliant.
I can't say enough great things about the stroller. If you have additional questions, please feel free to ask.
Good Luck.
K.

I've been very happy with the Graco DuoGlider. It is long, but I didn't think the Sit N Stand seemed that much shorter. And my kids liked having the snack tray which would have been missing for the older one on the Sit N Stand. For what it's worth, I tried a friend's Jeep double, and it was terrible. You couldn't move it hardly at all.

I used the phil & ted's double stroller for my 2 boys and it is AMAZING! You can "add-on" the second seat when you need it, so you can also use it as a single stroller if you ever need. It is not wide, not too long, and it turns on a dime. It is great! Expensive, but totally worth it! I think they have different varieties of it. Mine is 3 years old and called the E3. I think now there is a sport and maybe another one too? Good luck!

If you are going to use it at the mall, then I would suggest you get the back-to-back double stroller. You will never get the side-by-side stroller through the tiny clothing isles, and the stoller is harder to get in and out of the car because of the wideness (unless it's an umbrella kind, I have the jogging kind so it's heavier) Having a double stroller is especially nice at the zoo because with the baby in the back, your toddler can get in and out very easily. If he is able to stay seated by himself, though, I would recommend buying the double stoller where the baby is in front and the big kid is in the back under the handles. After lugging and pushing around a huge stroller I wish I had gotten that kind. I don't know what kind of storage it has or if it even seats a 4 month old, but it is worth checking out, for one more option that is.

J., I had a double stroller that was not side by side and it was horrible! I bought a stroller at a yard sale that is side by side and it is so much easier to control and it folds up as easy as one of those umbrella strollers. It is great

I just went through the same thing, I looked at EVERY double stroller there is, and found there's no perfect solution. I am borrowing a Graco Duoglider, and it's a monster to get in and out of the car b/c it weighs 40 pounds. I use it for walks in the neighborhood and find it difficult to steer (I have a 25 lb 2 yr old in the front and a baby in the back). I needed something to keep in the van for quick trips and found a used Peg Perego side by side at a garage sale--so far, so good, it's super easy to get in and out and only weighs 14 pounds. It fits through standard doorways, but I do get stuck every once in awhile and have to choose which aisles I can fit through. I liked it better than the other side by sides because of the trays--I give my kids snacks in the mall, which is vitally important if I want to spend any time there at all. The older model Peg Peregos don't have very wide sun shades, but the new one is awesome (but sells for $340). I almost bought the Chicco side by side, the new ones are pretty reasonably priced but didn't have snack trays. It didn't seem much different than the more expensive Maclaren side by side. Hope this helps you =-)

I would not get a side-by-side stroller! I have a 20mo and I babysit a 15 mo. They grab and pull at each other and each other's toys in the side-by-side stroller. Plus, navigating store aisles with a side-by-side is not fun.

Well I don't have a recommendation per se...

I have a 14 month old and am expecitng another in November (making them 18 months apart), in addition to my 8 y/o and 5 y/o. I am planning to purchase the Baby Trend Sit & Stand. It has a seat in the front and a bench/platform in the back for the older child to either sit or stand. You can also add a second seat in place of the bench if you choose.

I will say I had a tandem stroller with my older two, but I didn't like it. It was meant for the older child (the heavier one) to sit in front, and that was very difficult for me. I had a hard time navigating turns and the whole system was just too bulky for me to handle.

I have had a few double strollers and test drove several others before I decided on the Graco Double Quatro Tour. It manuevers very well! We hated the Baby Trend double/sit-n-stand combo (it was an older model) and didn't think the Graco Duoglider was much better. The Quartro Tour has a snack tray for the back seat, a snack holder and cup holder for the front seat and a parent tray with cup holders and compartment for other things. It has a big basket underneath that you can get to (you can not get to the one on the Baby Trend). The front seat does not have a bar or tray across the front so the older child can get in and out if you/they want to. It also has a 5 point harness in the front and back seats. The stroller is heavy though and takes up quite a bit of space. When folded, it seems to be shorter than other doubles but it is higher (doesn't goes as flat). Whatever you are leaning towards, I would recommend a test drive with the kids in it (I did it at Babies R Us). The Quatro Tour is priced at about $250 at the local stores and I got it online at Albee Baby for $150. It was brand new, etc. The prices online vary depending on what pattern you want. Good luck!

I wouldn't get a regular double stroller if I were you. Your older kiddo will only use it for maybe another year - if you're lucky. My kids wanted nothing to do with sitting in a stroller by the time they were 2.5 years old. No sense spending money on something that will be outgrown in a year.

I have the Double Elite Sit 'n Stand stroller from One Step Ahead (onestepahead.com) and LOVE it. We've had it for about 2 years now, use it often, it's in great condition and I have ZERO issues with it. It's a very unique stroller because it's a both a normal double stroller and a Sit 'n Stand style. In the normal mode, the backseat has a 5 point seatbelt, reclines, has a footrest and sunshade. In under 2 minutes, you can convert the backseat area to a traditional Sit 'n Stand style -- with a bench for sitting down facing backward and a platform for standing. This style is great for kids once they turn 3... but you can store the seat parts in the basket so if they decide they want to recline and nap in the middle of the day at the zoo you can turn it into a normal seat in less than a minute. This stroller is the best of both worlds!

An infant 'bucket' seat snaps into the front seat. The front seat reclines, has a tray with cupholder, foot rest and sunshade. There's a parent tray with 2 cupholders. The storage basket is big and easy to get stuff in/out through the sides when a kiddo is sitting in the regular backseat and easy to get to in the Sit 'n Stand mode. It folds easily and is about the same size as my single Graco when folded. It manuvers very well, even with 90 lbs of kid on it (before baby #3 was born my then-2-year-old and then-5-year-old used it). Oh, and my then-2-year-old had no trouble climbing into the backseat once baby sister was born and we put the bucket seat in the front.

We'll continue to use it for at least another year so we definately got our money's worth. It was about the same price as a normal double stroller when I was comparing so it was a no brainer - you definately alot more for the money.