Sit & stand or Stroller - PLEASE HELP

[judypriv]

So, I was looking into a sit & stand for our January trip. The kids will be 4, 5 and 9 months. We usually took the 2 MacClarens - light and easy to fold up quickly, don't take up much room and we have the stroller organizer bags on the back that hold everything. We would take the stroller conectors in case and all is well and good. Now throw in the new baby. My opinion was to bring one MacClaren and get a sit & stand off craigslist (or I might even be able to borrow one) and put the baby in there and let the 2 older ones switch off from using the sit & stand and the MacClaren. Hubby thinks it's a waste to get a sit & stand to use for 12 days and that we should just bring the 2 MacClarens and let the older kids switch off on one and keep the baby in the other. He also thinks that the older kids could use the MacClarens at night when they are most tired and I could use the baby carrier.

The oldest child, Jack, is almost 5 and when we went in January he was hardly in the stroller. A bit mid day when he got tired and a bit at night and first thing in the morning. The middle child was 3 and she was in and out. In fact, during the day, we would park the stroller in one section of each land and do all the rides minus stroller and then pop the kids in the stroller to walk to a different section. Very rarely did they actually ask to ride. Te baby will be 9 months. Last time we went and I was knocked up, I asked some moms and they mostly said they sit & stands are bulky and hard to steer.

I don't like the idea of 3 strollers. I dread it and really would rather do the sit 7 stand or just 2. My parents are coming with us BUT we are early birds and my parents are night owls so we spend a good deal of time without them so it's usually 2 people pushing the strollers. Lastly, I have a friend with triplets who told me to borrow her stroller and although a nice and generous offer, that seems awfully huge and time consuming to bring with us.

What is your advice and experience? Thanks!

 

[LuLuO]

I dislike my sit n stand. It is heavy, bulky, hard to push, hard to turn. I have a Baby Trend SnS.

I would probably rent a city mini double and bring along a single.

 

[MamaBearJohnson]

Don't get a sit and stand for the trip. We have one (also baby trend) and are bringing it with because it's our only stroller we own and we don't want to waste money on renting. That said, it's very bulky and heavy and is like pushing a hot dog cart.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

We had a Baby trend, but also thought that it was too long/bulky.

We bought a Joovy Caboose Ultralight and love it. It's heavy when folded, but much easier to maneuver in the parks than the baby trend and side-by-sides.

 

[Heath_Bar]

I have the S&S and although I do like it for small trips (to the mall) etc, it is hard to steer and when out and about ALL DAY it makes my wrists very sore (used it 10 hours at the fair this weekend and my wrists still hurt). But my kids are 3 and 4.5 so the 3 YO is in the front seat. I do love the functionality of it for the older kids to step on and off as they wish and the basket is huge, cup holders are nice. I am actually thinking about renting while we are there if my 4.5 year old will fit in the mini.

If the baby was in the front, I think it would be much easier to turn. You should try and borrow one for a day to the zoo or something.

 

[momto2js]

I have the Joovy S&S and I don't like it much at all. I have used it on "airplane" trip but there is no way I could do 9 miles a day at WDW with it.

 

[justbishop]

Can you not just rent a BJCM double and be done with it? You said the eldest was hardly in the stroller, so the baby and the middle kid could use the 2 seats most of the time. The times you mentioned the oldest one needing to ride seem like amounts of time that would be doable with the baby being worn.

ETA: take my suggestion with a grain of salt, as I'm a Mom of just one who has yet to go to WDW with her, lol!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Hubby thinks it's a waste to get a sit & stand to use for 12 days and that we should just bring the 2 MacClarens and let the older kids switch off on one and keep the baby in the other. He also thinks that the older kids could use the MacClarens at night when they are most tired and I could use the baby carrier.

I'm with him. Buying another stroller is a waste of money. Quite frankly, the 4 & 5 year old are getting too big for one anyway, especially the 5 year old.

 

[twinboysmom]

Hate to agree with your DH but I would either bring the 2 maclarens or rent a citi mini. No sit and stand for sure.

 

[Pimama]

I'm in the same boat as you. My kids will be 3, 5 and 11 months. I do own a sit and stand but probably won't bring it. I'm not completely decided but I think I'll bring my Graco double $10 craigslist stroller instead. They're both hard to push but with the full two seats maybe I can lay the baby in the back to nap and the kids can take turns jumping in and out of the front seat. I would hate to have 2 strollers to push because my husband and I split up and do the baby swap a lot with our older children (12,16). I'm not sure how well the connectors work so maybe it's not too bad. Also, being MacClaren's or so nice and light, definitely an advantage,

I'll also bring a carrier if both want to ride for a bit. Maybe I can even get the 3 year old to nap??? We also have older children who want to commando tour so my little ones may get really tired.

Well that was the long answer- the short answer would be: don't buy the sit and stand. If you could borrow or pick one up really cheap maybe but it's just not that great a stroller for the $$ and the front seat doesn't really recline so the baby couldn't sleep in it very well.

 

[MommyBell08]

I would just bring the Mac, and rent the BJCM. We own a BJCM and its amazing. With your kids being bigger (4 and 5) the sit and stand would be super hard to push. Its super bulky and cheaply made. Bring the Mac or just a carrier, and rent a city mini is my vote!

 

[brockash]

I bought a baby trend sitnstand just for our 1 week Disney trip a few years ago. It was for my then, 17 months old and 6 year old son, and it worked perfectly. It worked so well, that we took it the following year as well. I think your plan of getting a sitnstand and taking 1 single stroller for the ages of your kids, is really the best thing to do.

ETA: I'm assuming you'd have the baby in the sitnstand (front) the whole time with the 4 or 5 year old in the back? If so, I don't think you'll have any issues with it being to heavy to push. My 6 year old at the time was around 60lbs, and I had no problems pushing it with him and dd in it. The following year, he was older/bigger and it was a bit hard to push, so that was the last year we brought it, but I think it'd work great for a baby and 4/5 year old.

Also, just for a frame of reference; my DH was deployed, so I was the only one that pushed the stroller/carried the stroller -on the busses ect. the entire week, and I really had no issues with it at all. I'm 5 foot 6, 150 lbs.- not super healthy/athletic, pretty average. It's def. longer than a reg. full size stroller, but it's the same width- no problem going in/out CS eating places/stores ect. Dealing with it on the busses isn't fun, but it was never fun with my reg. single stroller either. It's a bit heavier folded up to get on the busses (needed 2 hands, instead of just one with my reg. single stroller,) but completely doable. It was sooo convenient to have a place to sit my son, when we had to get somewhere fast, or when it was really busy, and especially at closing when he was tired, it was dark and busy. I'd absolutely spend the $120 on it again, if I had kids that age.

 

[crystaldawn]

We have a sit n stand as well. I don't want to bring it to disney... just to much of a pain. It's heavy, not the best fold, etc. If I were you I'd rent a city mini (we're actually considering buying one). I would have the older two switch out as needed. The baby will be comfy and there will be one extra seat available

 

[GrnMtnMan]

We have a sit n stand as well. I don't want to bring it to disney... just to much of a pain. It's heavy, not the best fold, etc. If I were you I'd rent a city mini (we're actually considering buying one). I would have the older two switch out as needed. The baby will be comfy and there will be one extra seat available

Which Sit-n-stand: Joovy or Babytrend? And did you actually bring it to Disney and dislike it?

I'm curious because I've found the City-mini and its side-by-side competitors to be too wide to easily maneuver in narrow/busy places. But I've only done that testing in malls and baby stores, not actual park use. And the city-mini was far larger and bulky than our Joovy when folded...but not compared to the babytrend.

We've had our Joovy Sit-n-stand in theme/water parks, malls, and city streets and its maneuverability is great (for a double stroller).

 

[crystaldawn]

Which Sit-n-stand: Joovy or Babytrend? And did you actually bring it to Disney and dislike it?

I'm curious because I've found the City-mini and its side-by-side competitors to be too wide to easily maneuver in narrow/busy places. But I've only done that testing in malls and baby stores, not actual park use. And the city-mini was far larger and bulky than our Joovy when folded...but not compared to the babytrend.

We've had our Joovy Sit-n-stand in theme/water parks, malls, and city streets and its maneuverability is great (for a double stroller).

We have the babytrend it's the sit and stand plus. We got it because you can take out the extra seat to make it a sit and stand and our older dd was only 21 mos when our youngest was born. It's super bulky to put in our van to drive to FL from Michigan... just not sure it will fit. And folding it is not fun or easy. We've been to disney 8 times and I know I won't want to be folding it and dragging it on/off transportation over and over. I honestly prefer the first umbrella type stroller we ever had... I think it was an avalon. But for us anyway I like to walk a lot at home too and the sit and stand is just too hard to push regularly.

 

[fitmom]

We had some of the same concerns you're having. I also agree on a side by side not being Ideal in the theme parks. We ended up renting this stroller https://orlandostrollerstogo.com/Tandem_Strollers.html they claim it is the ultimate theme park stroller and we agree it was awesome.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

We have the babytrend it's the sit and stand plus. We got it because you can take out the extra seat to make it a sit and stand and our older dd was only 21 mos when our youngest was born. It's super bulky to put in our van to drive to FL from Michigan... just not sure it will fit. And folding it is not fun or easy. We've been to disney 8 times and I know I won't want to be folding it and dragging it on/off transportation over and over. I honestly prefer the first umbrella type stroller we ever had... I think it was an avalon. But for us anyway I like to walk a lot at home too and the sit and stand is just too hard to push regularly.

So you've not actually taken it to Disney?

Anyway...have you tried the Joovy sit-n-stands (Caboose and Caboose Ultralight)? Huge difference in maneuverability. The other Joovys are pretty big, like the baby trends, and felt too long when we tried them.

The sacrifice you make with the Caboose is that if the baby seat is reclined, you lose a lot of the space for the standee to sit.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

We had some of the same concerns you're having. I also agree on a side by side not being Ideal in the theme parks. We ended up renting this stroller https://orlandostrollerstogo.com/Tandem_Strollers.html they claim it is the ultimate theme park stroller and we agree it was awesome.

Our older one was too big for the Phil & Ted when our younger one was born. And I think a lot of people are in that boat....don't really need a full blown stroller seat for the older child....just a place to rest/sit in the crowds and when tired. The sit-n-stands fill this need.

 

[fitmom]

Our DD is 8 (4'6" 65 lbs) although she was not in the stroller all the time when she was in it she fit just fine and was very comfortable. And easy to maneuver with her and her 6 year old brother loaded up together. Walking 5,6,7 miles a day within one theme park coupled with excitement and stimulation of disney is a lot on a little one. Plus it was nice in the end of the day Being able to roll out of the parking on the monorail without disturbing them, they were pooped.

 

[crystaldawn]

So you've not actually taken it to Disney?

Anyway...have you tried the Joovy sit-n-stands (Caboose and Caboose Ultralight)? Huge difference in maneuverability. The other Joovys are pretty big, like the baby trends, and felt too long when we tried them.

The sacrifice you make with the Caboose is that if the baby seat is reclined, you lose a lot of the space for the standee to sit.

No we haven't taken it to disney at this point... but I don't want to either lol. Can your kids nap in the joovy?? My sit n stand does not have much a recline so I'm not sure they will sleep in there. Also I like the idea of them both being covered by a shade AND like I said if I'm walking 3 miles a day at home then I can load them both in there... My almost 3 yr old will not sit in the sit n stand for more than a half mile and she's done. So for us it wouldn't JUST be about taking it to disney but rather being able to use it at home as well.