Stroller for an almost 7 year old and infant

[Clifton Tesh]

I have scoured the forums trying to find someone in a similar situation but I have had no luck.

We are going to WDW in March of 2025 for my son's birthday, he will turn 7 while we are there.

My son has a rare bone disease known as Ollier's.

Due to malformations and growths in his bones, he has a medical need for a stroller at times.

On top of this, we will have an infant with us. My wife is currently pregnant and is due around Thanksgiving of this year.

My Bubba is currently 47" tall, I'm not sure on the weight. Most strollers I have found have a height limit of 49" and a weight limit of 50 pounds.

Realistically we would like a stroller that could comfortably carry our baby girl and our son but I do not know if that is possible.

If anyone has any experience with strollers for a 6/7 year old and an infant, recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

[lanejudy]

No experience with double strollers, but for your son you may want to look into getting a special needs stroller that will work for him for a few years. There are several different styles/models/sizes. Convaid is very popular for families in my area looking for something to help elementary school-age kids with a medical need. Some fold like a large umbrella stroller but can hold a kid up to maybe 90-100 lbs. Your medical insurance may cover all or part of the cost. It can take some time to do that approval process.

 

[Clifton Tesh]

No experience with double strollers, but for your son you may want to look into getting a special needs stroller that will work for him for a few years. There are several different styles/models/sizes. Convaid is very popular for families in my area looking for something to help elementary school-age kids with a medical need. Some fold like a large umbrella stroller but can hold a kid up to maybe 90-100 lbs. Your medical insurance may cover all or part of the cost. It can take some time to do that approval process.

Thank you!

I was unaware of this!

 

[Dulcee]

Does he need the stroller for an extended period of time or just to rest occasionally? And can he do without a full backrest?

We have a sit-and-stand stroller that we take on trips. Our youngest uses the full front seat. The back seat is a smaller bench seat with a platform that can also be used to stand on. Our 9 year old still occasionally jumps on when he needs a break on long park days and he's 4' 6" and about 60 lbs.

 

[sponica]

Mine are 4 years apart and honestly if it's feasible I would recommend 2 strollers. Pushing a stroller when the weight is soooooooooo unevenly balanced was irksome at times.

If you think he might need to use the stroller as a wheelchair for line access, I would get a medical stroller or rent a medical stroller and get it tagged as a wheelchair. Then use a separate stroller (in combination with babywearing) for the infant. With an infant that young you'll want something that can lay flat.

I'm just not sure if a Bob or City Mini double would realistically help you but maybe if someone you know has one, you can test drive it?

 

[DaviVascaino]

I would recommend getting (renting) a Bob double stroller.

https://www.amazon.com/BOB-Gear-Revolution-Suspension-Adjustable/dp/B084CK55RW

They are Disney approved, and can handle 2 kids easily. My last trip was in 2023, my older had just turned 10 years old (he had a leg injury from Soccer, so could not walk for long periods of time ), and my youngest was 6 and half years old). because of the injury, we decided to bring the double stroller, and it was fine. When both kids were in there, it would be a bit heavy, but the stroller is so high quality that you could easily maneuver.

There are local companies that rent that specific model. Get that one, it can handle both of your kids just fine.

 

[kwdw]

I would definitely think TWO strollers. The one for your son needs to be large - and could possibly be marked as medically necessary. Then something appropriate for the little one. While I haven't done it personally - the very different weights could make it awkward to push.

 

[sponica]

I would definitely think TWO strollers. The one for your son needs to be large - and could possibly be marked as medically necessary. Then something appropriate for the little one. While I haven't done it personally - the very different weights could make it awkward to push.

We rented a double when we went with my then 6 yr old and 2 year old, and the 20-30ish pound difference between the two of them made pushing it weird at times. My older one has always been much taller than her age, so she was probably closer to the average 7 year old at the time?

But it could be that we only used a double while at Disney, we didn't need one at home, the older one just walked.

 

[Clifton Tesh]

I apologize that it has taken me so long to respond. I greatly appreciate all the feed back.

I never even considered a medical stroller. They're a lot more expensive than I could have ever imagined but when we go see his doctors next month I will talk to them about it.

He does great without a stroller 95% of the time but when we go places like the zoo, the fair, Disney, etc..., where he spends an extended amount of time moving around, his legs start to hurt.

Before we learned about Ollier's we thought it was just because he was walking a lot more than he was used too. While that is a contributing factor, we now know that there's a more nefarious reason.

When he gets to the point of his legs hurting, he has to sit down and relax, sometimes he needs to be able to lay back and stretch out.

For all of us over 40, I'm sure we can relate

The wife and I are going to attempt to find a double bob stroller and see how well he fits in it and how awkward it is to move with the offset of weight.

We had discussed two strollers but we believe it will be way too much to try and handle when getting on the buses and the skyliner.

My wife is going to "wear" our little Lucy as much as possible but there will be times where she will need a break so miss Lucy will need a place to hangout.

I have offered to carry or "wear" the little misses too but despite successfully raising one daughter to the age of 17 and a son to the age of 6, my wife thinks I will break the baby, so she won't let me wear the baby (this is all in good humor)

 

[lanejudy]

I never even considered a medical stroller. They're a lot more expensive than I could have ever imagined but when we go see his doctors next month I will talk to them about it.

They are expensive, some moreso than others. Hence the suggestion to see if your medical insurance will cover. That will require input from the doctor and maybe PT (if he has PT). Depending on the style you select, it may work for him through pre-teen years at which point presumably he could transition to using a wheelchair when needed -- so it fits a long-term need.

If insurance won't cover, see if there is a local (or state) exchange for adaptive equipment. You might be able to borrow or buy gently used. We did that for my DD when she was about your son's age and had outgrown a standard baby stroller. We used it until she was probably 11-12. Like your situation, we only needed it for special long outings, not day-to-day use.

 

[Clifton Tesh]

They are expensive, some moreso than others. Hence the suggestion to see if your medical insurance will cover. That will require input from the doctor and maybe PT (if he has PT). Depending on the style you select, it may work for him through pre-teen years at which point presumably he could transition to using a wheelchair when needed -- so it fits a long-term need.

If insurance won't cover, see if there is a local (or state) exchange for adaptive equipment. You might be able to borrow or buy gently used. We did that for my DD when she was about your son's age and had outgrown a standard baby stroller. We used it until she was probably 11-12. Like your situation, we only needed it for special long outings, not day-to-day use.

Thank you for all the advice! It is extremely helpful and you have taught me about some things I didn't even know existed!

 

[sponica]

handle when getting on the buses and the skyliner.

The upside is 2 strollers won't have to be folded on the skyliner, however a double Bob will. If you have anything in the basket underneath, store it in one bag so you can easily swoop it out from the basket before you fold it. Disclaimer: We really didn't like that double stroller. My husband hated it with a passion

He hated folding that thing so much for the busses, he paid for minnie vans if we had to travel by car.

 

[lanejudy]

The upside is 2 strollers won't have to be folded on the skyliner, however a double Bob will.

True.

Skyliner: side-by-side double strollers must be folded; front-back (aka inline or tandem) doubles can be pushed on
Buses: all strollers must be folded
Monorail: all strollers can remain open and pushed on
Boats: depends on the route and the boat, some can take an open stroller some can't

Max stroller size for the parks: 31" x 52"

 

[Clifton Tesh]

The upside is 2 strollers won't have to be folded on the skyliner, however a double Bob will. If you have anything in the basket underneath, store it in one bag so you can easily swoop it out from the basket before you fold it. Disclaimer: We really didn't like that double stroller. My husband hated it with a passion

He hated folding that thing so much for the busses, he paid for minnie vans if we had to travel by car.

Yeah. I've read the horror stories about having to fold the double bob, watched a few videos on it too.

I didn't realize you could fit two strollers on a skyliner gondola without folding them. That gives me more to think about.

My biggest concern with two strollers, to be honest, is that I'm going to be the one having to handle them when they're folded and I know how big of a pain dealing with one was last year. Unfortunately they're a necessary evil.

We have until March to get it all figured out and everyone's advice is very helpful so I'm positive we will be good to go!

 

[AZMermaid]

Also check out the double city mini. These are a bit smaller than the BOB and fold like a dream. These are very common as rentals so if it works, that’s an option. Do you have a Buy Buy Baby near you? It’s been a while since I’ve been in one, but they should have one you can try out for a minute.

 

[Clifton Tesh]

Also check out the double city mini. These are a bit smaller than the BOB and fold like a dream. These are very common as rentals so if it works, that’s an option. Do you have a Buy Buy Baby near you? It’s been a while since I’ve been in one, but they should have one you can try out for a minute.

Our Buy Buy baby was part of bed bath and beyond and unfortunately it closed down due to bankruptcy.

I think all the baby specific stores in our area are gone except once upon a child but they might possibly have one so I will have to ride by there and see.

 

[brockash]

I have scoured the forums trying to find someone in a similar situation but I have had no luck.

We are going to WDW in March of 2025 for my son's birthday, he will turn 7 while we are there.

My son has a rare bone disease known as Ollier's.

Due to malformations and growths in his bones, he has a medical need for a stroller at times.

On top of this, we will have an infant with us. My wife is currently pregnant and is due around Thanksgiving of this year.

My Bubba is currently 47" tall, I'm not sure on the weight. Most strollers I have found have a height limit of 49" and a weight limit of 50 pounds.

Realistically we would like a stroller that could comfortably carry our baby girl and our son but I do not know if that is possible.

If anyone has any experience with strollers for a 6/7 year old and an infant, recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Double Citi mini worked well for my 2 month old and 7 year old years ago.

 

[OlliePop27]

I would definitely think TWO strollers. The one for your son needs to be large - and could possibly be marked as medically necessary. Then something appropriate for the little one. While I haven't done it personally - the very different weights could make it awkward to push.

I agree with having two separate strollers. We go to Disneyland, so everything there is walking and no transport. One kid is 4 years older than the other. If the younger one needs to be somewhere different with the other parent, each child still has a stroller to use. If we had one double, we'd either have to all stay together constantly or the older would have to do without a stroller sometimes (feasible, but could entail a lot of walking depending on the circumstances).

 

[DizneyFamof4]

We have did 2 strollers a few times but then went to a sit-n-stand. It was such a BIG reason why our DDs never had any melt downs at the end of the day. I would constantly see parents struggling carrying their dead weight child to transportation or dealing with a child meltdown because they were over exhausted, while I pushed our DDs in our stroller I never had any issues with our stroller(s) on buses and really do not understand when people complain about it. We fold them up prior to the bus arriving and then I head straight to the buses back doors and stand there and if the bus starts and there are still seats, I may sit down. We actually miss having a stroller, because of the storage area and I hate lugging around a back pack. Also, no issues pushing a sit-n-stand even when our oldest DD was sitting on it.