Double Stroller Decisions...

Namastè!

As you know, I've got two under four. The youngest Namastè kiddos are both still small enough to need a stroller when we travel or run errands that involve a lot of walking. Which would be most of ours,  because I prefer shopping centers where I can park, then walk from one place to the next--in between shops I put our bags in the car. Less gas used and fewer emissions from the car, plus more exercise for me.

But choosing one was super hard.

I knew I wanted features similar to the luxe pram Tiger Lily enjoyed, with the ease of handling I enjoyed with Brother Namastè's jogging stroller, and I wanted it to look good too. I didn't want it too bulky, it needed a good weight limit, and I wanted it to be easy to fold. While it seemed like a crap shoot, I also didn't want it to eat up too much trunk space.

That's a tall order because double strollers aren't typically built as mindfully as singles. Companies don't want to put too much into them because then the price point would go up, and they are already fairly expensive.

Prior to our current choice, we went big.

The Bugaboo Donkey is a $2,000 stroller and it literally has all the bells and whistles. Also, it's huge. While that deliciously luxe, impossibly pricy pram was super nice to look at and almost as nice to use, it didn't ultimately fit my life. For one, it's bulky as heck.

Now. Picture this. I drive a Lincoln Navigator L. My truck is about eighteen inches longer than the original Navigator, which is a beast in its own right. We have all the options, including the disappearing 3rd row. The Donkey ate up almost half of my trunk space WITH the third row folded down. (We took the seats of for a smaller fold...still had to bring them along though obviously.) If I put it in with the seat still up, I wouldn't even have room for groceries. And that big old thing was a beast to fold too. I couldn't do it singlehandedly. Nor could I do it all that quickly. The Donkey didn't really mesh well with my day to day activities, as it barely fit through standard doors. Because I do a lot of mall and outlet shopping, as well as library runs and restaurant crawls, this made the Donkey more a liability than an asset.

By contrast, our new stroller of choice, the Baby Jogger City Select Mini double, only takes up a little more space than our single stroller! It folds easily. I can fold it or pop it out for use by myself.

The kids were very comfortable in the Donkey--but the wheels would catch any blip in the sidewalk and it wasn't exactly suitable for our home in Albany, where we live right at the edge of a swamp. The Donkey is NOT for all-terrain. (You'd think for $2,000 we could drive that sucker on the moon?!)

The Mini is an all-terrain dream.

While it is smaller than the Donkey, and most other double strollers (with the exception of umbrella doubles), my kids sit cozily inside. The 5-point harness is padded. The fabric isn't Egyptian Cotton, but it's very comfy for them. It's very breathable too--they aren't sweating after sitting for a bit.

Brother Bear is getting pretty tall, and Tiger Lily is...well, she's not getting shorter. *chuckle* There's a big size difference right now, but the Mini eats that up and delivers a really good stroller experience.

I like the steering better on the Donkey, but the Mimi wins overall for best handling because it's so light.

So...

While we do get what we pay for--the Donkey is better for vacations in the city, where it could shine!--we ended up getting a much better deal for the Mini.

Note: Our Mini cost $90. We got the tray, cup holder, and gliding board (for when Brother Bear doesn't want to sit) off the Baby Jogger site. So for around $300, we have all the options whereas the base cost for a brand new Mini is around $450. As I previously stated, the Donkey cost about  $2,800 by the time we added options and color preference.

You'll be seeing our Mini on IG, as it's summertime and we have trips planned!