taking kids - how to transport them?

[Bexxxxx]

One for anyone who has taken more than one little person!

We are planning on taking a three year old and a 14 month old this year. We are old hands at Glastonbury and have taken our eldest twice before (as a baby and as a one year old), but i'm struggling with deciding on the best way to transport two little ones around the site. We have previously taken a decent all terrain 3 wheel buggy, but I don't think that's gonna work this time. The three year old does walk, but won't cope with the sort of distances Glastonbury requires and the 14 month old is too heavy to carry for too long. We have a Phil and Teds double, but i'm not sure it'll handle Glastonbury, especially if it's muddy - the second seat is low and the basket drags on uneven ground... So do we go with a 4 wheel garden trolley, a bike trailer, or look at getting a side by side three wheel buggy? Any thoughts?

 

[ian the worm]

One year I did the kids in a wheelbarrow thing.  Might well work for kids that age.  One with a big wide bouncy wheel.   And admit that what ever you take will be stocked with your booze and bags too.

[Wondermum]

We've been taking a 3 wheeled side by side double buggy and will be again this year for day times. The kids haven't missed a festival yet but it was much easier when they were smaller (and lighter)!  They're now 5, 3 and 3 and a combined weight of around 100lbs. The double buggy has worked with número uno and one of the twins, while clingy non sleeping twin was transported in a sling (only way he would sleep, even last year). 

This year, in addition to the buggy, we are thinking of a garden trolley and adding some sort of battery pack to help power it up some of the hills, especially at night so in theory they can kind of lie down and sleep. I still see the sling being used a lot, but I just can't (don't really want to) rely on it for 5 straight days. 

[Cooter]

Ok, so we've always taken our kids, one to begin with, now three of them. In my opinion the single or side by side three-wheeled buggy pram can cope with almost everything that's thrown at it. Copes brilliantly with excessive weight and extreme weather. As for deep mud, it's easier pushing three wheels rather than four, but make sure you've got a stick handy to scrape out the stubborn mud blockages around the wheels. Dry solid Glasto ground and it's hardly noticeable as it glides around surprisingly easy.

Tips, a single seater will normally accommodate two 1-5 year olds quite easily. Boot fairs are you're friend, you can pick these up for a few quid. Try and find one with an underneath basket for extra supplies and one that folds down easily and nice and flat. Some have extremely useful cup holder/shelves for the bablets to use and also by the push handle for the pusher to use. Any other pockets and sleeves etc is a bonus. Solid tyres would be good to avoid punctures but then we managed to get about with a front wheel puncture for days without too much stress. Ideally also take a spare tyre and/or puncture repair kit. Also grab a mini hand pump from your local pound shop.

Must admit, when the kids got older we promoted ourselves to the large green four wheeled garden trolley which while useful for the extra space etc, we did find it quite heavy, cumbersome and space consuming. It was also a bit of an effort pulling and pushing it around. These things look good and are great for the short trips around the allotment or garden but I can't recommend them for random unequal festival ground and weather conditions.

The last couple of years we haven't bothered taking anything and the kids don't miss it as they are now 7,10,12 years old.

Good luck and have fun. It's hard work taking the small kiddies but it's great to see them experience it all with you.

 

Edited March 17, 2016 by Cooter

[shuttlep]

have seen many of this type pf thing with Kids in, normally with cushions and blankets so they can fall asleep this one has a roof. but i seen normal garden type ones just filled with lovely soft furnishings

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wagon-garden-trolley-child-platform/dp/B007AEFVGC/ref=pd_sim_sbs_21_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=51ERs0g0tBL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=1HFF0B93PZ3KQ0FXD2W8

 

[shuttlep]

here is the heavy duty kind, but no roof for sun or rain protection

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Large-Garden-Truck-Trolley-Utility/dp/B002BSZ7R0/ref=sr_1_29?ie=UTF8&qid=1458216777&sr=8-29&keywords=trolley

 

[Bexxxxx]

5 hours ago, Cooter said:

Ok, so we've always taken our kids, one to begin with, now three of them. In my opinion the single or side by side three-wheeled buggy pram can cope with almost everything that's thrown at it. Copes brilliantly with excessive weight and extreme weather. As for deep mud, it's easier pushing three wheels rather than four, but make sure you've got a stick handy to scrape out the stubborn mud blockages around the wheels. Dry solid Glasto ground and it's hardly noticeable as it glides around surprisingly easy.

Tips, a single seater will normally accommodate two 1-5 year olds quite easily. Boot fairs are you're friend, you can pick these up for a few quid. Try and find one with an underneath basket for extra supplies and one that folds down easily and nice and flat. Some have extremely useful cup holder/shelves for the bablets to use and also by the push handle for the pusher to use. Any other pockets and sleeves etc is a bonus. Solid tyres would be good to avoid punctures but then we managed to get about with a front wheel puncture for days without too much stress. Ideally also take a spare tyre and/or puncture repair kit. Also grab a mini hand pump from your local pound shop.

Must admit, when the kids got older we promoted ourselves to the large green four wheeled garden trolley which while useful for the extra space etc, we did find it quite heavy, cumbersome and space consuming. It was also a bit of an effort pulling and pushing it around. These things look good and are great for the short trips around the allotment or garden but I can't recommend them for random unequal festival ground and weather conditions.

The last couple of years we haven't bothered taking anything and the kids don't miss it as they are now 7,10,12 years old.

Good luck and have fun. It's hard work taking the small kiddies but it's great to see them experience it all with you.

Thanks Cooter. We already have a decent single three wheeler which we usually take (and i'm used to needing a handy stick to clear mud blockages), but I don't think they'll both fit in it this year. Looks like a side by side double three wheeler might be the way to go then...

[Bexxxxx]

19 hours ago, Wondermum said:

We've been taking a 3 wheeled side by side double buggy and will be again this year for day times. The kids haven't missed a festival yet but it was much easier when they were smaller (and lighter)!  They're now 5, 3 and 3 and a combined weight of around 100lbs. The double buggy has worked with número uno and one of the twins, while clingy non sleeping twin was transported in a sling (only way he would sleep, even last year). 

This year, in addition to the buggy, we are thinking of a garden trolley and adding some sort of battery pack to help power it up some of the hills, especially at night so in theory they can kind of lie down and sleep. I still see the sling being used a lot, but I just can't (don't really want to) rely on it for 5 straight days. 

I had been thinking a side by side double buggy was the best way to go. Maybe time to add yet another buggy to my fleet

[Wondermum]

3 hours ago, Bexxxxx said:

I had been thinking a side by side double buggy was the best way to go. Maybe time to add yet another buggy to my fleet

You can never have too many buggies (I'm sure Wonderdad would disagree)!  Also very handy for carrying all the extra bumpf around with you that you may possibly need. Going to miss it when it's finally time to send the buggy to the big rubbish dump in the sky. 

[Tranquility of Solitude]

Last year, when I found I was carrying stuff around that I didn't need or want immediately, the secure lock ups were great. Leave them there, go to The Cider Bus, and pick them up in a few hours. 

[thenavyone]

I've got a pimped garden trolley but it's a nightmare in crowds, we're going with a double nipper 360 this year.  Agree that a P&Ts won't work

[Bexxxxx]

40 minutes ago, thenavyone said:

I've got a pimped garden trolley but it's a nightmare in crowds, we're going with a double nipper 360 this year.  Agree that a P&Ts won't work

I'm trying to get my hands on a nipper 360 as we speak! No one selling one locally though

[thenavyone]

they come up on eBay crazy cheap sometimes, often it says collection only but they can be posted for £12 or so, I always politely ask, unless it specifically said "Collection only".  I use them for my work and managed to get them for about £35 each inc postage they are great buggies not much wider than a wheelchair either.  

[Bexxxxx]

6 minutes ago, thenavyone said:

they come up on eBay crazy cheap sometimes, often it says collection only but they can be posted for £12 or so, I always politely ask, unless it specifically said "Collection only".  I use them for my work and managed to get them for about £35 each inc postage they are great buggies not much wider than a wheelchair either.  

I have been hanging out on ebay the last few days ;). I just missed out on one fairly local today, but i'll keep trying. There are a few for £100 plus but don't really want to spend that much really.

[guypjfreak]

[dondo]

Not at Glastonbury but for our 2 at Croissant Neuf we used this bike trailer type of thing which worked a treat for our 2. They were aged 5 and 3 when we first used it and we decorated it with fairy lights so was visible.

 

[thenavyone]

those bike trailers are great but my two will be 9 weeks old and 3.5 years old so I'm worried about the newborn getting suffocated / squashed!  We have this wagon

 

We use it now to transfer the kit in and out as it's just too heavy with a 17kg child in it!

[Wondermum]

11 hours ago, thenavyone said:

I've got a pimped garden trolley but it's a nightmare in crowds, we're going with a double nipper 360 this year.  Agree that a P&Ts won't work

Oh really? That's a shame. Kind if worrying about the one we're making now. We've managed to avoid crowd situations but last year decided to watch the opening ceremony from the bottom of the Kings Meadow. Absolute nightmare trying to get out and in the end tried to cut across Green Futures in to Pennards. It was the first time it really hit home how large the festival has become in terms of people on site since my first back in '97. I have no idea how to avoid that sort of situation again. 

[Wondermum]

9 hours ago, thenavyone said:

those bike trailers are great but my two will be 9 weeks old and 3.5 years old so I'm worried about the newborn getting suffocated / squashed!  We have this wagon

 

We use it now to transfer the kit in and out as it's just too heavy with a 17kg child in it!

This is also starting to worry me as the kids have a combined weight of around 100lb. But I see plenty of trolleys with a couple of kids in and they don't seem to be struggling. How are they doing it??

Amazing trolley by the way

[Bexxxxx]

4 hours ago, Wondermum said:

This is also starting to worry me as the kids have a combined weight of around 100lb. But I see plenty of trolleys with a couple of kids in and they don't seem to be struggling. How are they doing it??

Amazing trolley by the way

Yes I worry about the weight of the two of them in a garden trolley. I struggle with them both in our Phil and Teds these days - and that's on pavements, not the Glastonbury terrain plus mud! That's why I'm thinking a three wheel side by side might work. That way they both have their own space (less fighting, hopefully),they should be able to sleep if they want plus it will hopefully be easier/lighter to push around. I may well be kidding myself though!

[thenavyone]

TBH it's not super duper hard, it is manageable especially if there is a man involved but often it was my by myself and I wouldn't say it was exhausting but it was cumbersome.  I took a single nipper 360 last year for my then 2 year 8 month old and I found it much much easier.  We din't really go to crowded areas, but even the kids field at 1pm is fairly busy.

An element could also have been because our trolley gets lots f attention so obviously makes me feel a little more penned in.  But if you're going to just a handful of places then it's definitely doable with the trolley.  The (tony slight) hill back up to Cockmill was the hardest part really at the end of a long day, last year we were in CV E and found hill of death with buggy to be on same par as tiny hill in Cockmill! haha

The best thing about the trolley is that is so much easier than a buggy to keep mud and water out and ventilate it if hot.  It has served us well but now the eldest is 3.5 years I think it's too hard for me by myself but my husband doesn't find it that bad.  Although it's obviously a bit more than a normal trolley everything we put on it is super light, the lid is just solid foam stuff and the sides are thin ply I think.  It obviously adds to the weight though.

PS> I was looking at buggies today as we don't actually have a nipper yet (just the 2 for work which I don't want to damage) and came across some quite cheap mountain buggies.  4 wheels rather then 3 but separate hoods and not much difference in terms of weight.  Might be worth seeing if they are any cheaper?!

[Bexxxxx]

The hill of death up to CV east is always the killer with a buggy! We have an old Jane three wheel buggy (not sure which model exactly) which did us very well in 2013 and 2014 with our first child. This year will be our first with two (wasn't quite brave enough last year with a two year old and a 7 week old). I am keeping an eye on anything double which goes up on ebay and trawling the local facebook buying groups so we shall see....

[thenavyone]

fingers crossed! I think I'm mad for even thinking about taking my 7 week old, but at east my eldest is quite self sufficient and we have friends that bring their kids to help out.  Saying that we don't actually have a ticket yet.  Praying for resale!

[Bexxxxx]

I think the smaller they are the easier it is. I would happily have taken my youngest last year (at 7 weeks). At that age they are super portable, drink only milk and can't move by themselves! It was the combination of a 7 week old AND a 2 year old which I thought would be too much. At the time, the two year old was a bit of a handful ;)

Oh and good luck in the resale. Keep the faith - I once got tickets for some friends of ours in the last minute unannounced resales....

Edited March 20, 2016 by Bexxxxx