Another stroller ? -WWYD- can your toddler sleep in volo?

[staci]

If you can bear to sit through another stroller question, I would be so grateful for your opinion here!

Initially we were planning a trip for December, when I would have a 5 yo and 2.5 year old. I found two maclaren volos at a good price, and purchased them a few months ago.

Now, because of conflicting schedules in the family we are travelling with, we have moved our trip to the end of April (7 nights 8 days). (Not that I am complaining - I cant wait to get down there ). But now I am worried about the volo not reclining at all for my youngest.

DS will be 4.5 - he will use a volo easily. But DD will be almost 22 months when we go. I have two options for strollers for her:

1. Take a volo for her. She has fallen asleep in it once (and she is not usually a big stroller sleeper- heck, she has never cared much for sleeping wherever we are!) but at least she has proven she can sleep in it. We can always sit with her and lean it back onto two wheels so she gets some 'recline'. By taking two volos, I could get the stroller connectors and use if necessary. Taking the volo would give us a better sunshade, better steering, and no fights over who 'gets' to ride in the new stroller. The volo is that mesh fabric, so it would likely be cooler and dry quicker if it rained.

2. Take our old Graco Umbroller, that we used in WDW 3 years ago with her brother. This is an older stroller, and I am somewhat concerned about it 'making it' through another big vacation, but at least I wouldnt have to worry about what the airlines could do to mess it up. This stroller is actually earmarked for a garage sale soon after we get back to town. It worked wonderfully for our last trip despite being a bit on the 'small' side. It has a decent basket, an adequate sunshade, (although the VOLO is much better), a cupholder, and the BIG advantage - it reclines. It is fabric though, and would likely be hotter to sit in, and get wetter in rain - but we do have a raincover.

I am really wanting her to nap in the stroller, even though she doesnt much at home, so I guess that is the big issue. I want her to be comfortable, and happy and I wish I had a magic mirror to tell me what would work best for us!

I do have a sling I am taking, that we used ENDLESSLY last summer, that she will still nap very easily in, but carrying a 27 lbs child sleeping in the heat will wear me down quickly. I should be able to get her to sleep in the sling, but will need to transfer her into a stroller eventually......

Thanks for any insight or alternating viewpoints that I may have overlooked! I think I overanalyze everything so thank you if you have read this far!
Staci

 

[abcboys]

Ha!! I overanalyze everything, too. You should have seen the endless hours I spent researching strollers and ended up getting a volo last week. I took it for a first ride today with my 2 1/2 year old. He seems to think it's comfortable enough but I don't think it handles as well as I would have hope because we have a lot of sticks/dirt/broken sidewalks in my town and its made for smooth surfaces, but I think it will be good for WDW.

However, I think if your child is tired enough they can sleep anywhere. I know mine can fall asleep in the carseat and it doesn't recline at all. I've seen kids sleep in the oddest positions. I wouldn't really worry about being super comfortable. They must be comfortable enough to fall asleep in!! You could bring a small receving blanket to put at the side of her head when she falls asleep so it will be a little more comfy.

 

[kileybeth]

can only speak from personal experience but I would take both volos. My then DS4.5 and DD2.5 (but very smal20-22 lbs.) both slept magnificantly in their volos at Disney last trip in Sept. When you are worn out it really doesn't matter where you lay your head. We head back down in 2 weeks and the kids will be 5 and a few weeks shy of 3 and they will both have their volos again. My DS5 got tired of walking at the mall last week and I had only brought my DD2 stroller in with us. When he whinned about how long was I gonna keep looking my DD said to him, "it's okay E. Mommy has your mac in the car, we can get it". She ended up giving up her ride for him but I thought it was cute how they know their strollers are there for them when need be.

 

[captainpixiedust]

I'll be watching this thread too...

I just ordered our first of possibly 2 Maclaren Volos the other day! Once our first one arrives, I'm going to test it out with DD1.5 and DS3. From there we will make our decision between 2 single Volos (with stroller connectors) or 1 double (Combi we're thinking) for our trip in May.

 

[staci]

captainpixiedust, we have a side by side double too, and I decided against it based on walking through crowds. It also pushes uneven when there are not two kids riding. Since we have 5 adults in our party, we have plenty of adults to help push! I would consider our double if it pushed more easily though.

Thanks for the input so far everyone. Maybe I just need to take dd out on a series of long walks and see which one she does better in.

 

[strmtroopr96]

We instead have a Mac Quest so no help with the Volo BUT we do have a Quinny Zapp that my DD has been using since she was 10 months old. The Zapp doesn't recline either.

She has always been a tiny petite thing but has had no problems sleeping in the stroller at all. She is currently 21 months old, 31 inches, and 21 pounds. HTH

 

[MouseFan71]

4 years ago we purchased a Kolkraft twin umbrella stroller for $59.00 from Target. It has been to WDW 4 times and works great for us. It's not the Mac Daddy of strollers but for $59 I didn't care if it only lasted for one trip. It has 2 reclining seats, 2 awnings to keep the sun off your little ones, 2 mesh bags in the back for storage and an adult cup holder. My kids are now 3,4 and 6 and we still use this stroller at Disney. It's folds up really small which is great for the WDW transportation and is lightweight. The handles seem higher than most umbrella strollers which is great for anyone over 4'10''.
You can check it out on Babyage.com, Target and Walmart.
Good luck.