Seeking Advice About Strollers for Newborn and 4 Yr Old

Hello, my husband and I had the same questions. I have a 3 month old son and a 2 year old daughter. I ended up with the sit and stand. I like that I can use it with the infant seat, and its not to much bigger than a travel system would be. My daughter loves that she can stand and look at her brother while we are going for a walk, and its great entertainment for him too. We have not used the front seat with out the infant seat yet and I do have concerns as it does not fold into a laying position. No cup holders either. Over all I am happy with it.

At four years old... the child is old enough to be walking, in my opinion. The onlt time the "stand and sit" stroller would really come in handy is on long days, like to a theme park or if you will be out at the mall all day. I have three kids 6,4, and 2 and I baby sit 2 more 4 year olds. None of them use a stroller. When they get tired we will stop at a bench for a minute or two. Invest in a good stroller and a baby sling or carrier... if the 4 year old NEEDS to ride then pack the baby in the carrier and push the older one. The bulky stroller is impossible to manuver in malls anyhow!

graco duo glider has lots of storage and the new baby can be in back while your older daughter can relax in front - and not mess with the new baby. if you use the sit and stand - it is not comfortable and doesn't have any sun/rain protection.
we have 2 duo gliders in our family!

My son just turned 6yrs last week and we still have a MacClearen stroller to zip in and our of Malls, DisneyLand and other amusment parks. It's great to have a stroller with room underneath to store a small cooler of water, juice or snacks! Rather than toting around a diaper bag!
Don't feel the least bit guilty about having your 4yr old in a stroller. It's safer too!

If you still need your daughter to be in a stroller I would go with the sit and stand. She is almost 4, she doesn't need to be in a stroller all the time.

I had the Peg Perego Double Aria stroller for my girls, but my daughter was 2 when my second was born - but the same weight as your daughter. The great thing about this stroller is that a Graco Infant Seat could be put on one side while your daughter sits on the other (then won't tell you this, and will in fact tell you that it won't work because it doesn't 'SNAP' in - but take it from me & other mothers that have done it, it does fit perfectly and works like a charm!). This stroller was a life saver! Even when my older daughter wanted to walk beside us at the mall, I was happy to have the Peg Perego Double Aria for when she got tired. After a year, my older daughter got too heavy (and she was heavy for her age about 36 pounds), the Peg Perego was hard to manage. So, I invested in a Maclaren side by side. Now (3.5 and 2 years old) they still like to be pushed in the Maclaren, and with their combined weight of over 60 lbs, I can steer the Maclaren with one hand!

Hi there,

My husband and I went through the same exact thought process. Our daughter was 3 1/2 when our son was born, and still liked to ride in a stroller. We didn't hear very good things about the sit and stand, and didn't like the traditional double strollers because our daughter would grow out of that seat pretty quickly. We found a stroller that we absolutely love and fits both kids. It's called the Phil and Ted's e3 stroller. It's pretty pricey, but we bought a new one on e-bay for $150 less than in the store. It's expensive because it can be a single or double stroller, the front wheel locks so that you can use it as a jogger, the older child can sit in front and the back of seat folds down into a bassinet for the baby to sleep in. When used as a double stroller, it's not the traditional look at all, I call it the double decker stroller because one sits up and in front, and the other child sits down lower and back. You'll have to look it up to see pictures...it's pretty amazing and we get asked about it all the time. You can also buy the travel system (which is just a bar), which allows you to put the baby car seat on it. The other reason I liked it was because it's not as big and long as the traditional double stroller. My daugher is now 4 1/2, and almost 40 lbs. and is still able to sit comfortably in either seat when we go to Sea World, the Zoo, Disneyland, etc. Even when she's done riding in the stroller, we'll take off the back seat and use it as a single stroller until our son no longer needs a stroller. We feel we're getting our money's worth. There are two downsides...no cupholders (we attached some), and when you have both kids in it, you don't really have room for the diaper bag, because the basket is where the older child's feet go. We use a small backpack for a diaper bag, so that doesn't bother us so much.

Good luck with your decision...hope this helps!

I am thinking that she will outgrow riding in a stroller. I am thinking back to when my daughter was that age, and I don't remember her riding in a stroller much past the age of 4. At some point, she will consider riding in a stroller to be associated with babies. Once the newborn comes along, she will see the difference in their ages, and may also become more aware of what her peers might think.

I have a 5 year old that still rides in my stroller and an almost 3 year old. We have the Bob Revolution Duallie and LOVE it!!! It fits through all doors as well! Check it out or some other strollers at www.joggermom.com. This is my friend Kelly's business and she knows all there is to know about strollers!

Good luck!
M.