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isla
29-01-2008, 07:08 PM
Hi my name is Isla Turnbull, I am a product design student at Robert Gordons, Aberdeen. For my current project I am working with 2 others to redesign the buggy. Our profile is a childminder looking after 2 children one aged 2 and the other 5, who uses public transport. The Childminder has the children roughly 6hrs a day 4 days a week and takes them out once a day.

What we are looking for is any feedback regarding buggies and dealing with more than 1 child when out and about. For example which current features of a buggy do you find benifitial, which cause problems, what would you like to see in a buggy ?

We have already found the issue of collapsability an issue, especiallyfor getting on buses if there is already one on board, with some tests of existing products. For example most require 2 hands and quite a bit of effort if you have anything else in your hands. Any views on this particular issue ?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated, thanks :)

Isla x

sarah707
29-01-2008, 07:12 PM
Hello Isla - what an interesting project! And how clever of you to find us here - we have a lot of buggy experience :laughing:

A practical in-built buggy board that clips in place when not in use, but is easy to drop down for when the 5 year old is tired... easy to collapse (the easiest I know is my maclaren)... light enough to be carried with one hand - if there was a strap it would have to tuck away (or be clipped somewhere) for health and safety (strangulation) reasons... rain cover that does not tear because it is permanently being bent and folded down... non-permanent hood for same reason...

Hmmm I'll have a think! :D

carolinel
29-01-2008, 07:20 PM
large basket underneath is a must.

perhaps a d shaped handle on the side that the elder child has to hold when walking, that could also double up as a carry handle when pushchair folded.

def agree with Sarah re the raincover!!

Spangles
29-01-2008, 08:00 PM
This is really interesting Isla! All I can say off the top of my head is it would be great to have a smallish pocket at the back to just pop your phone, purse and keys in but I'll think of some more - that's not just for doubles!

Hey - a couple of built in toys?

My double buggy is a nightmare to put up and collapse, it takes ages and it's really hard and stressful! You have to use your whole body weight to do it and both hands, it's really dreadful!

Also a couple of buggies that I've had have had really uncomfortable positions for the seat backs - the poor children look really uncomfortable!

Also, the foot rests seem to be positioned strangely so that the children's feet can't sit on them properly.

The rain cover I've got at the moment has no structure so if it's windy it's blown straight onto their faces.

This probably isn't helpful at all but I wanted to moan about it! Ha ha!

I'll keep an eye on this thread as it looks like it will be a very fascinating one!

Schnakes
29-01-2008, 08:01 PM
Ooh - good ideas Caroline!!

My main bugbears about my buggy (Marco tandem) are:

* The wheels dont swivel very well when there is two children seated
* The oldest child has to sit at the front which hinders manouverabilty
* Its difficult to keep clean
* The basket may as well not be there...its big enough, but the gap to actually put stuff in it is about 1cm wide!!
* The handles are too high, and are not cushioned
* The seats dont seem the comfortable, and the front seat has no headrest
* Its not very attractive!!!!

Good points:
* It folds down well so is easy to store
* The back seat is raised above the front, so little one has a view when we're out and about. I hate those buggies with a sling underneath, where the view is the bit of buggy above them!
* I can get on to buses easily because its so small. It doesnt have bits that stick out etc - very compact.

Sx

Cammie Doodle
29-01-2008, 08:21 PM
Wow Isla, I agree with most of these ideas We dont want much do we lol. I have just got rid of a triple buggy that was quite old ,but that been made at Gordons. It was just too wide for the counrty lane where I live . You will have to post your findings / drawings/ photos when you finish (if you have any)
June

peggy
29-01-2008, 09:16 PM
a motorised one that the childminder could sit on board too!!!! (oh yeah thats called a "people carrier"!

Seriously, i like the lightweight ones but its got to be hard wearing, nice shopping storage underneath and a decent bag for shopping on the bars would be great - loving the built in buggy board idea! A small pocket on the hood already including a universal sized pac mac!!! Drinks holders some where would be nice.

If its gonna be a double, my main gripe is that if i have a heavier child and its a side by side double buggy, my back seriously strains on the side of the heavier child - if you could sort that out without me having to have physio would be fantastic!!!!!!!! If its going on a bus, the frame cant be too wide and the wheels cant be too big, three wheelers look to be a nitemare on the buses.

oooh do let us know what you come up with!!!!!

angeldelight
29-01-2008, 09:19 PM
Agree with all the ideas hope you have fun with them

also welcome to the forum

Speak soon

Angel xx

miffy
29-01-2008, 09:34 PM
Lghtweight, easily steered, solid handle so you can position your hands wherever you want, easily collapsed and put up pref with one hand

Adjustable seats so can face forward or backward (towards pusher), compact - fits through doorways and into lifts with ease

Hard wearing - we do lots of mileage, sunshade and raincover as standard,
large shopping basket!

All at a very cheap price :)

Good luck with your project

Miffy xx

chubbymummy
29-01-2008, 10:07 PM
i agree with every one else

please let us know how you get on

Pipsqueak
29-01-2008, 10:12 PM
Comfortable seating position (for the child of course!!! lol), lightweight (but not so the wind can easily take it) and easily collapsing - one handed with a carry strap.
Large basket underneath with a pocket on the hood to store pennies, keys etc.
Easily cleaned is a must - a durable material that can be freshen up but will last the test of time.
The raincover must be pretty tough and have durability (small children tend to resent the cover no matter what the weather and little feet punch or pick holes in it :panic: )
Mine has clip of wheels which I must say is really handy when I need to clean them.
Swivel wheels that don't have a mind of their own and an adequate brake.

Moving onto a double......:D

Nice one and thank you for approaching us - the buggy is an essential part of our lives.:thumbsup:

Will you be letting us know of results etc?

mamapink
29-01-2008, 10:29 PM
HI

I agree with all the above posts but can i add i am nearly 6 foot tall i struggled with the height of the handles so adjustable handle heights are always handy and when a buggy board is added i really stoop so a solution to that and a board that stays on when buggy is folded down which i think some one said
loved the d shaped handle for little ones to hold idea !
and little pockets so items can be in easy reach please!!

xx:)

crazybones
30-01-2008, 08:15 AM
A raincover which can actually cover the feet of a 2 year old without the need for wellies all the time. My poor 2 year old mindee had a little pool in each welly when mum arrived last week because rain had run down cover straight into his wellies. Had to change him into my son's clothes (because of course she hadnt proved any!):rolleyes:

Annie

Banana
30-01-2008, 09:04 AM
Totally agree with that Annie!

A rain cover which goes past the foot rest, not one that stops on thier feet. I love my side by side buggy but its just not convenient in shops - to big for the aisle's. Needs to look smart and not like a throwback from the 80's. Built in buggy board would be Ace!!

Lots of good iseas suggested that I also agree with

x

emmadines
30-01-2008, 09:38 AM
a double buggy that fits and pushes like a single buggy (on buses/shops etc)
light
easily foldable/un folded
not expensive!!
big shopping basket
wont fall back if shopping on back of buggy!

susi513
30-01-2008, 12:43 PM
Durability is my priority - I want my products to last years, I don't want to be replacing them all the time.

Raincover - I want to see something stronger and more durable than those currently available. They always tear after what seems to be very little use. And the smallest tear renders them next to useless.
- needs to ensure dry legs, the fixings at the bottom are rarely adequate and by the end of the trip the child has wet feet & legs. I can see its no good going longer and draping on the floor and if you have too many fixings its going to take ages to take on & of. I thought about a fold of some sort so instead of flapping loose in the wind in front of childs feet if it fixed underneath a foot rest? But then there'd be no give if the child kicked out the rain cover could get damaged that way.
- a strong storage bag would perhaps help to reduce wear & tear during transit/storage?
- however good the raincover is, its not going to outlast the rest of the buggy so an online ordering of replacements thats not going to vanish the moment the buggy goes off the market. If you have a quality raincover that does meet my needs I don't want to replace it with a crappy universal one that doesn't fit well. (unless the cost of a crappy one every year adds up to less than the cost of your cover used over several years!)

VERY Compact when folded - to fit easily in car or on the bus (under your seat?) and to be brought in and out of storage regularly.

Lightweight (I ought to be building some muscles with all the children & equipment I carry but I'm still an unfit weakling). I've had to lift things quite high to store in the buses storage so have found that hard to do.

Easy & quick to unfold & fold (can this be done without removing the raincover?) - if you're getting on a bus it needs to be one handed operation - the 5 year old can stand beside you and follow instructions, but your 2 year old will need to be carried or hold hands getting on & off the bus. You don't want to be leaving the 2 year old by the roadside while you load your stuff, nor do you want to deposit them on the bus and have to come back for the rest of your stuff. Both children need to remain within sight & sound at all times. Also think about having to carry changing bag and anything else from the under-buggy storage. Offers to help you carry stuff on/off buses are few and far between, I found. You have to assume no-one will help and to take/buy no more than you can carry by yourself.

When waiting in the bus queue you have a choice whether to fold the buggy while you waiting for the arrival of the bus and struggle to carry everything on whilst keeping the children happy and close by. Or to keep them restrained and wait til the bus arrives, you move along the queue pushing the buggy then hold everybody up when you finally get to the bus and have to unfold/pack buggy etc.

Some buses can drop the floor to allow wheelchairs and buggies to be wheeled on. So buggy would have to be as narrow as is possible in respect of giving each child sufficient room for comfort but to maximise accessibility (also shop doorways, narrow pathways, the weekly wheelie bin obstacle course etc).

Storage underneath. My double buggy has to carry football kits, trumpets, packed lunches, book bags etc as the school children always come out with more than they can comfortably carry. I use my double buggy even if I only have one child needing a ride when doing the school run.

Neutral unisex colours - orange, green etc. Otherwise I don't care what it looks like.

PRICE usually is the overriding deciding factor when making a purchase. Not that the cheapest price tag wins, but the cheapest in respect of the years of use you're expecting to get. Durability is SO important to me.

My current double buggy is on its way out after about 5 years. I had higher expectations when I bought it. The brake puts itself on when I go up & down kerbs. The metal frame of the seat is poking out of the seat material thats worn through. The raincover is long gone. The straps are fiddly to shorten when adjusting from child to child, which is a necessity every day.

I prefer the side-by-side double buggies as I like that the children both have a clear view in front and can talk to each other, although the width does mean I can't get it in the front door until I've folded it up.

HTH

Thanks for the opportunity to make a comment and for considering childminders as your profile.

Schnakes
30-01-2008, 02:48 PM
Excellent point about the brakes - I forgot that! My buggies brakes are really hard to put down...and rarely stay down - esp on a moving bus!

I would also like to say thanks for asking us our opinion! Its nice to be heard. :)

Sx

emmadines
30-01-2008, 03:48 PM
Excellent point about the brakes - I forgot that! My buggies brakes are really hard to put down...and rarely stay down - esp on a moving bus!

I would also like to say thanks for asking us our opinion! Its nice to be heard. :)

Sx

on moving buses! my buggy moves regardless of the brackes are on or not those floors asr sooooo slippery.

Lincsminder
30-01-2008, 05:23 PM
Light weight under 9kg

Easy to fold, umbrella style so can fit in boot or along floor in back of car

Handles on both sides so older child can hold on to buggy

Fold down buggy board that does not need removing when folding buggy

Rain cover that is long enough to cover childs feet and high enough to cover standing child

MUST be able to face me

unisex colours

covers that are removable for washing with out having to undo screws.

A durable storage bag to put the buggy in so if wheels are muddy it wont get the caar dirty

hard wheels NOT ones that need pumping up all the time.

Must be stearable one handed

Storage either underneath or zipped up side bags

samw
30-01-2008, 05:50 PM
I agree with everyone else especially the raincover, buggy board and the brakes comments.

As a selfish kind of point, I would like for someone to come up with an idea of attaching an umberella to a buggy for us poor people who dont drive and are constantly getting caught in the rain. I know its not going to be too useful when the winds are high etc, but for the occasional shower rather than wearing a waterproof jacket all the time. :thumbsup:

Sam

isla
30-01-2008, 06:56 PM
hey thank you all for getting back to me so quickly. Today we trialed mini me (our 2 yr old which we have made out of a football cradboard and a mixture of masking and ducktape) and it soon became obviouse quite how ill catered for people are when dealing with public tranport or even just with more than one child ! Today we were testing a standard buggy as is and testing it on trips down to the beach and to the park etc, the plan is for friday is to test this with mini me and one of us pretending to be 5 :laughing: we will also be looking at food shopping with the buggy and going around shops in a city centre.

We are still in the research stage but once we start sketching im going to try and get some of the stuff up on here (once i work out how to) so that you can see where we are going with things and give suggestions:)

Kepp the ideas coming they are all really usefull and theyr helping us alot !

Isla xx

emmadines
30-01-2008, 07:39 PM
hey thank you all for getting back to me so quickly. Today we trialed mini me (our 2 yr old which we have made out of a football cradboard and a mixture of masking and ducktape) and it soon became obviouse quite how ill catered for people are when dealing with public tranport or even just with more than one child ! Today we were testing a standard buggy as is and testing it on trips down to the beach and to the park etc, the plan is for friday is to test this with mini me and one of us pretending to be 5 :laughing: we will also be looking at food shopping with the buggy and going around shops in a city centre.

We are still in the research stage but once we start sketching im going to try and get some of the stuff up on here (once i work out how to) so that you can see where we are going with things and give suggestions:)

Kepp the ideas coming they are all really usefull and theyr helping us alot !

Isla xx

can you u tube that! lol that could be quiet funny!:laughing: :laughing:

good luck

Pipsqueak
30-01-2008, 10:25 PM
Please come back often and update us on results and progress.

Would you like any tips for how "mini me" should be behaving and how the 5yr old should be behaving at any given point in the day?

ie/ you are in a rush, mini me is throwing a paddy because you want them in the buggy and they have gone rigid and you are desperately trying to stuff the child into the buggy straps. (don't forget to add an increasing high pitched wailing to mini me and a couple of kicked shins - yours). The 5 year old will not want the toilet until you are half way down the road and will start dancing and holding themselves telling you that "nooooooo I can't wait":D

LittleMissSparkles
31-01-2008, 08:32 AM
Please come back often and update us on results and progress.

Would you like any tips for how "mini me" should be behaving and how the 5yr old should be behaving at any given point in the day?

ie/ you are in a rush, mini me is throwing a paddy because you want them in the buggy and they have gone rigid and you are desperately trying to stuff the child into the buggy straps. (don't forget to add an increasing high pitched wailing to mini me and a couple of kicked shins - yours). The 5 year old will not want the toilet until you are half way down the road and will start dancing and holding themselves telling you that "nooooooo I can't wait":D


:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Schnakes
31-01-2008, 11:36 AM
Vik, that last post is so funny!!!! :laughing:

Sx

isla
31-01-2008, 06:05 PM
hi sam just to let you know there is actually currently a such a device available, i came across it during my research its called the buggy brolly and you can find it at www.promotingchildminders.com or at www.buggybrolly.com :)

isla x

isla
31-01-2008, 06:12 PM
i shall also see what i can do about posting up a video once its all done on youtube as i agree its halarious, thankfully i have position of childminder/director in the filming and one of the guys is going to be the 5yr old - however i dont think this will be too much of a stretch as when we went to look at locations and trail our route we had to stop off at the park to play and so one could climb the spiders web frame thing :laughing: !

But deffinatly pointers would be really useful as to how we need to imagine them acting as there will also be a certain amount of 'sqwirmyness' which 2 yr olds have which we cant account for, although i think one of our lecturers is bringing in her 2 yr old for us to play with. But the 5 yr old pointers would be particulkarly useful, thanks :)

isla x

Rubybubbles
31-01-2008, 06:27 PM
hi sam just to let you know there is actually currently a such a device available, i came across it during my research its called the buggy brolly and you can find it at www.promotingchildminders.com or at www.buggybrolly.com :)

isla x

haha that is :laughing:

Nothing to add, think eevryone said what I would say, your project sound so much fun