Transporting the Smalls

[Wondermum]

So I've got a few months to get myself sorted. The Littles are too big to cart around the site in slings / a buggy. We have a double Mountain Buggy which has been great (ground clearance in a wet year leaves a little to be desired but we've powered through). But the 3yr olds are getting a bit big, and the combined weight of them + the buggy is just crazy after a few hills. I've also got a 5yr old to accommodate.

Neither of us are willing to contemplate not going out in the evenings, so we need some way of transporting the little darlings around the site so we can enjoy ourselves while they sleep and are oblivious to the late night shenanigans.

But what to use? It needs to be big enough to accommodate 3 children (preferably asleep), not too big to upset anyone else and also not too big to be too cumbersome to push up hills. Does anyone know of such a thing? Perhaps with a battery? For what it's worth, I've seen those Radio Flyer things and garden carts, and discounted them as too small for 3 children now, let alone the long term.

[Amy Lawn]

Where I'm from, "smalls" means underpants.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

 

I thought this was going to be underwear related too. I'm not disappointed though. Well, I am in that I can't think of what contraption that you'd use to easily cart three small children around in if one of those garden trolleys isn't any good. I'll have a think.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

OK, so I've thought a lot about this in the last minute or so! What about creating something like grumpyhack has done to transport stuff at a festival (see photos below). You could buy two cheap stack trucks and lash them together and then make a timber box cradle construction to keep the little mites contained safely within. Put a mattress on the bottom, throw in three pillows and a duvet to cover them all and Bob's your mothers brother.

 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

 

Or maybe one of these might fit the bill;

http://www.kart-it.co.uk/Products

 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

This one's bugging me! I've seen canvass barrows about twice as long as these (see photo below) for hire at Secret Garden Party a few years ago. Lighweight, easily manouverable and could easily fit three litt 'uns in comfort. I think you can get them with legs at the rear too, which would mean you can stop and rest without the children landing unceremoniously on the ground and waking up.

 

The problem is that I don't know where you source them from. Maybe you could make one or bastardise a small one which are more easily spotted on line for sale.

 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

 

And then there's always this option......

....... which I'll probably need use of myself if I don't stop getting wrapped up in this problem soon.

 

 

[dizzymoo]

Am impressed you manage to take 3 kids 5 and under! Also impressed at Yoghurt's dedication to finding a solution.

Seems to me that the combined weight of all 3 might be too much to lug around in 1 vehicle.  Maybe the biggest garden cart you can get so 5 yr old could squeeze in with littlies if desperate, plus a large lightweight folding stroller-type buggy for the 5 yr old to sit in/be transported in when s/he's tired?

 

[mr gumby]

I'm afraid I've got to agree with dizzymoo, it sounds like you're looking for something that doesn't exist.  

anything that's big enough for all 3 of your kids, and sturdy enough to handle the terrain, is going to be pretty heavy even before the kids get in, let alone all the spare clothes, drinks etc you might need. Anything steeper than the slightest of slopes is going to kill whoever's pulling it!

As there's 2 of you, your best bet is probably to have 2 vehicles, maybe the bike trailers, as they seem lighter than garden trucks, but have good wheels. 

Alternatively, you could just get a double one for the 3-year-olds, and tell the 5-year-old that their job is to push it all weekend! 

 

[TheNewUnion]

I did see someone with a bath on wheels last year (perhaps the one before). Basically a normal bath bolted to a couple of 4x2's with Bike wheel at each corner. Roomy and managed the terrain ok too. 

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I did see someone with a bath on wheels last year (perhaps the one before). Basically a normal bath bolted to a couple of 4x2's with Bike wheel at each corner. Roomy and managed the terrain ok too. 

There's a photo of that in one of the old trolley threads. I've tried to search for the photo of it but failed to find it. It did look like a bit of a cumbersome item to shift around but the wheels were indeed fit for the terrain.I guess it was a great device for bringing all your stuff in to the festival in too. It looked like a metal bath to me - a lighter weight plastic one would reduce the effort needed to get it from A to B.

[muddychick]

Just a thought but it might be worth heading over to the camp bestival facebook page or website.

We went there last summer and couldn't get over all the different modes of transport for hiking kids around a festival. 

I'm sure if you ask the same question you will get tons of useful ideas in return.