Double Stroller + Ergo

Over the past 3.5 years, I have literally worn a baby in the Ergo hundreds of times. I almost never used a stroller with Jackson because I wore him all the time. He was a fairly needy baby the first few months so I wore him around the house while baking and cleaning. Fast forward to the triplets' birth. I was overwhelmed at the idea of taking newborn triplets and a two year old out by myself. A mom of twin toddlers gave me her double snap-n-go and another double stroller to borrow. The double stroller and Ergo gave me freedom to go anywhere and everywhere.

The first several weeks I cuddled two babies together in one car seat. Of course I couldn't properly buckle the car seat, but I could buckle the snap-n-go belt. They weren't old enough to roll around  or lift their heads, and they spent most of their day sleeping.

Since Maddie was the smallest, I always paired Maddie with either James or Amelia. They slept so well together.

When they were too big to double up in a car seat, I used the double stroller my friend let me borrow.

Again, they were most peaceful when they had a sibling to snuggle with.

By 3 months old, they were finally big enough to each require their own space. This is when I returned to exclusively using the double snap-n-go, along with the Ergo.

Maddie only weighed 9 lbs at four months old, so I still used the infant insert in the Ergo.

I'm not sure what my expression was about, but I'm guessing it was a stressful mid-day text to Jesse.

I continued to use the double snap-n-go daily until the trio were eight months old.

Gross fact that I didn't remember until going through old pictures: I learned to put a burp cloth under Maddie anytime I wore her because her reflux was so bad she regularly vomited down my shirt.

The double snap-n-go no longer worked once we transitioned the babies to convertible carseats. 

At that time we found a Jeep Double Umbrella stroller for $40 off of Craigslist.

At 15 months old, the double umbrella/Ergo combination is the fastest, least conspicuous way to get around with triplets. Sometimes I wear James or Amelia on my back (turn the Ergo around), but I favor Maddie cuddles on my chest.

I prefer to use the wagon when I plan to keep the trio outside or I want them to be able to see. I use the wagon for walks, zoo trips, trips to the mall, etc. If I'm going somewhere such as the museum or park, where I plan on letting the trio out to play the entire time, I prefer the double and Ergo.

The advantages to using the double umbrella are:

• I can fold/unfold it with one foot and one hand.
• It's so light that I can easily push doors open and/or reverse through doorways by myself.
• I can hang a diaper bag and my purse off of the middle handle without it dragging on the ground.
• It doesn't draw as much attention as the wagon or quad stroller.
• The stroller is cheap and it's easy to find them used.
• There are brakes (unlike the wagon) that I can push down with my foot.
• It is very compact and hardly takes up any space in the van.

Disadvantages to the double umbrella are:

• It doesn't accommodate three kids alone, which means whoever is in the Ergo can't see as well.
• Sometimes the kids lean forward so much I'm afraid they're going to flip the stroller over. I don't know if that's possible or not, but it makes me nervous.
• There are no cup holders and you have to be creative with limited storage.
• The canopies don't provide great shade and the babies are tall enough to be able to pull the canopy down.

Moral of the story: There isn't one perfect stroller, but a double stroller and Ergo (or other carrier of choice) is a very affordable, convenient solution for triplets.