I got a BOB hand me down from my dad and ex step-mom that has a removable back seat. That might be a good option for you since you can either have it as a double or a single for when your 3 yr old is bigger. I don’t think it’s sold new anymore but I’m sure you could find it on ebay.

I think you still need a double stroller. I had one when my 2 youngest were about the ages you have now. First I had a double with them behind each other. HATED it! I didn’t like how long it was and it made it hard to see ridges or bumps in the road. Also it was heavy and hard to fold up. My second one was much lighter and they sat next to each other. The seats reclined, there was a basket underneath that I routinely packed to the max, a sun shield and a drink holder (which I never used.) I am much more of a sling and backpack mama but this was great for certain types of outings. I wish though that I could tell you the brand; I gave it to some folks last yr when we no longer needed it. If price was not an object, I would go with a double jogging style stroller as I had a single one (that I literally got from someone throwing it out) that we used for hiking. (one on my back one in the stroller)

We have a Maclaren, and I love it. after hassling with a POC evenflo stroller that matched the infant seat, I spent a lot of time when I was pregnant w/ #2 looking for a workable double. I would push the 2 seats in front of each other around before commiting, I hated the way it wouldn’t turn and was so long it was terrible to steer.

The MacCalren is a side by side, but narrow enough to go through a standard door. Also, it rides like a dream, and when you’re pushing combined weight of almost 80lbs, that says something.

I also love our single babytrend, it’s a jogging stroller so it has the bike wheels. They do make a double. and wile it’s big the bike wheels make it sooooooooo much nicer to steer and maneuver

Whatever you choose, take the time to go out and actually push the things around with both the girls in it. That’s the truest test of what will work for you and your family.

I have a Peg Perego with little footrests on the back so a tired toddler can stand and catch a ride. Mine have all preferred walking to riding by 3 so that has worked for all of mine and it is much easier than a huge double.

Clisby – We do have a stroller for C, and we used it all the time before G was born. But I mostly stayed indoors all summer (because I was pregnant and sad, and then because I had a premmie and was sad). This fall, we have taken C out in the stroller some, with G in the front pack or sling, but honestly, I haven’t been walking as much as we always did before Henry’s injury. Plus, the stroller we have for C is on its last legs. Jon and I realyl enjoy taking walks with the kids – for exercise and fun – and I am ready to start getting back into shape and out of the house more. So that’s why I am thinking of a double one. :-) – Katie

Ok, obviously, I am not a mama…yet, but I had my friends kids (2; ages 23 months and 1 month) for approx. an hour in this stroller at the mall… and I thought it was fabulous… and so does she. (Obviously, I wouldn’t be recommending anything if it didn’t have a real mama stamp of approval).

http://www.kolcraft.com/products/strollers/tandem/149-contours-options-tandem

This is AWESOME feedback! I am checking out every suggestion. Thank you so much to everyone taking the time to respond. I truly appreciate it! – Katie

Katie, you MUST check this one out. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4375719 I bought one a little over two years ago while pregnant with my fourth child (my children are 9,4,2, and 18 months) and I could not love it more. First off it meets all your requirements, is easy to collapse/unfold, stores easily in my teeny tiny mini van trunk and is availible in quite a few different colors and patterns. I have schlepped this thing everywhere, across pumpkin patch fields, down the sidewalks, through the mall and it has handled each surface with ease. The bottom cargo area is quite large and the handles are what sold me on the stroller, the two verticle handle bars are more than up to the task of hanging a purse, shopping bags, diaper bags and even coats during the winter. I saw other strollers with the same style bars but no cup holders. This one has two cup holders for mom, as well as a zippered storage pouch and each child has their own spot for both a sippy cup and also a seperate spot for a snack. Both childrens seats have a 5 pt. harness that is super easy to use, and both seats can recline. And since there is so much room between the front and rear child its more effort for the rear child (my youngest) to try to pull her older sisters hair in front. I seriously cannot endorce this stroller enough if you have any questions about other features it has I’d be happy to help.

I would second the Joovy Caboose recomendation. I only have one child, so I have not yet faced this particular dilema, but a friend has this stroller and we’ve successfully used it for trips to the zoo, etc with her younger toddler on the rear seat, and my son in the front. Her son likes to walk, but at barely 3 he doesn’t lat through a whole day, so it’s been a God send. Also, she’s had it for a few years, and while it has some signs of wear, it’s still in very good condition. If we have another, this will be the first thing we buy! (If I can’t talk her out of hers by then!)

Personally, I think that C is getting too big to use a stroller; my son grew out of one before he hit 3. “Big boys don’t go in strollers” was his motto.

I have to admit that besides packing away our stash of cloth diapers, my saddest moment was realizing that I was probably never again going to use our Bugaboo. My father bought us a Frog when my daughter was born over 7 years ago, and despite using it every day for over 5 1/2 years, it is still almost brand new. It is a joy to use — it goes over every surface possible.

If you were on the same continent, I’d gift you with it… best suggestion is checking Craigslist or Ebay for a used one. We bought a boogie board for our daughter when our son was in it, and it worked out great.

I have the Kolcraft tandem (same as one suggested above -and it’s awesome. The seats pop out and can be used facing mommy, facing each other or facing forward. The basket stretches the whole length of the stroller and it closes somewhat easily. You do have to pop off the seat to close it and it is a bit heavy. BUT it is very well made, navigates smoothly and really is wipe away clean. The hoods also pull forward very far and cover the little ones well. It is one of the best purchases we made and we have a 3 year old and 15 month old.

We were handed down a bugaboo, and did the rider board for our daughter once our son was big enough to stroll. They are 28 months apart. At three and a half our daughter was anti stroller. This month she wants to boot the 16 month old out and ride. He is all too happy to run into everything, so the bugaboo is back in rotation so the big girl can ride along. A good friend has three under 5 and splurged on the citi mini after the third was born. It is side by side, and she is really happy with it. You can snap the carseat in or sit the kids up next to each other. I have a friend with kids three years apart that love the Joovy, and others who hate it. The Phil and Ted’s is outrageously expensive. And I don’t know too many kids who like the back once they can look around. Good luck!

My advice is to skip the Kolcraft, Graco type strollers. They’re economical but I find them to be WAY bulkier and harder to manoeuver. I’ve found that the reason some strollers are pricier is because they’re simply better, not just because they hold Park Slope cache. Craigslist is your friend. You can get amazing strollers for a steal!
The best part of the new strollers with detachable ‘jump seat’ type things is that once C is too old to ride, you’ve still got a great single stroller for baby G instead of being stuck with a massive double containing only one occupant.

Awesome options:
Phil & Teds Vibe with doubles kit
Phil & Teds E3 with doubles kit
Britax B-Ready with second seat
Baby Jogger City Select with second seat kit
Peg Perego Skate with jumper seat
Bumbleride Queen B with toddler seat
Uppababy Vista with rumbleseat

I know that some of these exceed your price limit but honestly, ebay, craigslist etc are so worth it. A friend of mine got an immaculate Bugaboo on CL for $270.

I really hope that this helps

I have a Phil and Ted’s jogger and the additional part to turn it into a doubler. Love the stroller. Lighter in weight by far than other joggers I was looking at. I had to add a cup holder to mine, and I haven’t had a chance to double it yet, but I liked that it is an option and can left off if not needed. It is taking longer to have a second baby, so it might not be needed, in which case I am still happy with my light jogger. PS, my Graco car seat fit with it really well. It didn’t snap in place but sat very securly in the stroller, so we used that as a travel system a lot. Good storage underneath, but you loose that with the doubler seat. I jog with it and steer one handed. Reclines all the way, so it has doubled as a portable crib on occasion, too. My everyday umbrella is a CHicco. LOVE LOVE LOVE that for single, small and easy, but still handles well.

I rented a Baby Jogger City Mini for a week long visit to Vancouver last summer for my 22 month old and 2 month old (at the time), and I absolutely loved it! It steered great, collapsed remarkable easily, and I had no trouble getting it through doors. I was really impressed by the sun shade, it actually provided really good coverage. We didn’t rent a car so we walked and bussed everywhere with this baby, and by the end of the week I wanted to take it back home with me.
Happy Stroller shopping! the selection out there is overwhelming, good luck :)

I had two kids, with similar ages to yours. I had a back to back stroller and hated it. Impossible to turn, impossible to push uphill, very bumpy and when you enter stores, well you can’t, because your arm is not long enough to hold the door and push the stroller in at the same time, you need someone to hold the door for you. And forget about turning around or even 90 degrees on a sidewalk. The back to back ones are not good when you two kids with different weights, although they work better with twins.

Maclaren side by side: very compact, folds into a double umbrella, comfy, good shade, not a great basket, and no, no cup holder. I liked it a lot. Here’s the one I had http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4350290
It’s pricey, so if you want you can go with the “triumph” version instead of “techno” which is a little better with suspension.

Or go with a lightweight jogging stroller, not because you will necessarily jog, but they are great at steering and have those large wheels fit for bumps. Like this:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3719542

The stroller you want does not exist. That said, we have (had) two double strollers that I absolutely loved. The every day stroller, which was perfect for the extremely bumpy sidewalks around our city home, was the Valco Tri-Mode Twin. This thing is DA BOMB. It does fold easily, but it does weigh a fair amount. But it blew my BoB (single) out of the water for ease of use and it fit easily through a regular doorway, which is difficult with the side by side double. We used it from day one with our newborn and then 2 year old. We sold it this summer and bought a stroller bike instead, and I really regret it. That was the best stroller ever, and we walked every day. It was pricey but we got ours on craigslist for less than half the retail price. The other double stroller that I looked at seriously was the Phil & Ted.
Our other double stroller is the Joovy Caboose. This is our “car” stroller. It’s a sit and stand – really, a sit and sit. Perfect for a three year old, although my three year old likes to sit in the part with the tray, which is up front. It’s a back to back seating arrangement when the seat part is pulled out. Folds super fast and is very light. Not great on bumpy sidewalks, though – at least, our bumpy sidewalks, because it has regular old stroller wheels, not pumped up ones. Be sure to buckle baby into the front – I was lazy a couple of times and didn’t do it, and I don’t know if it was his lazy attitude or something about the angle of the stroller, but he nearly fell out (twice)! Seriously, though, a great, reliable and affordable stroller. Comes with a cup holder, both for you AND for whoever sits up front. Also, I think, comes with a rainboot. Good brand.

No one’s mentioned the Combi double! I love it. http://www.strollers.com/Combi-7769-CBI1400.html It’s a side-by-side but otherwise, it fits all of your criteria REALLY well. It’s the lightest double I could find aside from a true win umbrella but still fairly sturdy. It’s less than $200 (we bought our’s online at strollers.com & were amazed by their customer service; they actually talked us out of spending more money on shipping!). The seats velcro off & are machine washable (no stretching the covers to fit back on the frame. Just velcro on/off.) It’s got a decent basket, the seats recline independently with 5 point harnesses & the kids have drink holders (no drink holder for the grown-ups though.) Basically, aside from the back to back, it fits all of your requirements. Our kids are 2 years 10 months apart. We got the stroller around the time that our oldest was 3 & a few months. We don’t use it a ton, but it has been a lifesaver when I take the two out somewhere by myself — like, say, a mall at Christmas time. It was absolutely vital when we were traveling to be able to keep our older one contained & now, our older one doesn’t mind riding in it to be a good role model for her younger sister who wants to get out & run around. If you’re a frequent long-walker as you said you were, I think it could be a good fit without going up to the jogging models (which usually entail a lot more weight/cost). Happy shopping!

Have you seen this stroller? It is great for winter/snow too and they have both singles and doubles. There is a give away going on right now, so you can enter to win a free one!

http://www.stroller.ca I haven’t seen anything like it!

Do you have an Ergo or other SSC? I can’t do slings or frontpacks because of back pain, but can carry my very large kids for long, long times in a good back carry where the weight is distributed over my shoulders and hips. I love my Ergo but there are other great SSCs that have come out in the past 5 years.

As for double strollers, the Joovy doesn’t allow the older kid to sleep at all, so while it is great for some things that is a major limitation. We love, love our second hand Phil & Ted’s. While other commenters say kids don’t like the back seat (or either seat) our kids FIGHT over the back seat and all the families we know that have a P&T love it. The back seat doesn’t recline but many a child has napped in it in our stroller. The main seat does recline but you can’t recline it much with the other seat in use. We also use it for trips to the farmer’s market because you can really load up the lower seat/storage area if you’ve only got 1 kid riding (that’s where the Ergo comes in handy)!

I personally can’t stand side by side doubles because even if they are narrow enough to go through doors, they’re still more difficult to navigate with on crowded sidewalks, narrow store aisles, and forget taking them on the subway!

I say P&T all the way, but try out as many different strollers as you can at a store and then look for second hand ones on craigslist and any other sources. I found ours by emailing the elementary school listserv and found a family whose kids were done with strollers and were happy to sell theirs.

HI,

I highly recommend the Combi double, side by side. We have used it for two kids 26 months apart, they are now 14 months and 3.5 years and I still get use out of it (though admittedly the older one is using it less and less. Actually last week they both fell asleep in it whilst out for a stroll). It is light, very easy to move around and the best bit is one handed steering! Or maybe the ease of folding and moving around when not filled with kids? Plus it is half the price of the Maclaren double. We bought ours on Amazon.

Good luck.

DO NOT get the Phil & Ted strollers–they are awful!! No stroller is perfect, but there has to be better ones than this. I hate mine. The only nice thing about it is that it’s narrow & the size of a single stroller so I don’t feel like I’m driving a boat, & it acts as a snap n go with my infant seat, but otherwise, it is soooo overpriced, the cheap brake on it is impossible to use, its difficult for my older child (who’s a very small 2) to get in the bottom seat. The sun shade is Jon existent so you have to buy an extra one as well as a cup holder. It’s heavy & difficult to maneuver. Their customer service is horrendous, it took me two phone calls & 30 minutes on hold to talk to someone who was rude. One of tires has deflated three times in six months so I kept getting new proprietary inner tube replacements only to discover the actually rim was bent. I’ve never taken it anywhere except smooth city pavement so it either came like this or it’s cheaply made & I can’t imagine it handling rough terrain.

So yeah. Please don’t waste your money on this peice of caca’

I am so curious, what did you finally go with? The selection and experiences out there are pretty amazing…