Hello all! I'm planning on bringing my 4 year old and 1 year old to Osan with me and am currently looking at double strollers since I won't have a car.

Can anyone with a double stroller tell me how it has worked out for your? Is your stroller front to back or side-by-side? Do you have problems entering/exiting buildings? In the commissary? Do you run people off the sidewalks? Ages/weight of your children? If you can also tell me the make/model, it would be helpful.

Thanks!
Martha

I have a 2 1/2 and a 1 1/2 year old and I have a sit and stand stroller. I think they are great when you have an older child. The younger child has their seat in teh front, and then the old childer has a platform to stand on, or a little bench to sit on. It works out great. And if your older child wants to walk, he/she can just step off. Then you have more room to put stuff. Mine is a Baby Trend and will hold 40 lbs in each "seat."

I, personally, prefer to carry my daughter *she is 1 1/2* in a Mai Tei carrier made by babyhawk.com Then my son can go in the stroller. But, since I'm due with baby #3, we had to get a double.

I don't like the side-by-side strollers because they are way to wide to go into normal doorways, at least in my experience. And walking around the commissary/bx would be interesting.

The sideswalks downtown are not very wide. That is another thing to consider. But the ones on base are pretty nice.

I have a side by side and a front and back stoller and I never use them anymore. I have an almost 5 and almost 4 year old each weighing 25-30 lbs. Going around the BX isn't to bad, just your normal store problems (crowded, manuevering, etc) and I've never taken either stroller to the commissary. But off base is a terrible place for them. The sidewalks ar narrow and uneven. People just stand around taking up the whole sidewalk. PLus there are a LOT of cars parked on the sidewalk and people riding their scooters on the sidewalk making it impossible to go around except to go out in the street, which isn't safe of course. If you want to go to the market there is absolutely no room for a stroller, it gets so crowded and there is no room to move. I have a Graco tandeum stoller, which even in the best stiuation is difficult to move around, and a Jeep side by side one which is nice, but as I said there is no room. My best advice is get a single stoller for the 1 year old, get a sling or some kind of wearable baby carrier for the little one, and make the 4 year old walk. My youngset had a fit about it at first, but she got over it.

I've never had a problem with using the strollers in the market or the sidewalk. You just have to be a little more careful than the average person just walking. I would rather have my child in a stroller instead of walking because of how crazy the drivers are here. And I do mean crazy. I've almost been hit several times, and this is when I was scrunched up against a car walking and getting out of their way. So, if your 4 year old might not be good about staying on the side of the road, I'd be bringing a stroller.

Thanks for the input. I'm pretty set on bringing a stroller because my 4 year old will just wander off on his own, without one. How is the wear and tear on your stroller? Do you think I should get a small jogging stroller instead of a regular one?

Those jogging strollers might hold up a bit better, and it might be easier to get it off/on the sidewalk because a lot of them don't have the ramp type thing... sorry-- pregnant brain wno't let me remember what that part on the sidewalk is called.

Hey Martha!

I carry my nearly-one-year-old in a hiking backpack and push my two year old in a single stroller. My five year old walks. There have been *many* occasions when I have gone to the commissary and gotten more than the basket of the stroller can hold and my two year old has walked home from the commissary while the groceries rode in her stroller. Both of my older ones are good about staying with me when they're walking. I have them hold the side of the stroller when we cross big streets and walk on the store-side of the stroller when we're in town (there are no sidewalks except for in the market area, which is *supposed to be* closed off to cars and scooters but isn't). I don't know if it's because I just look like I need their sympathy or what, but I have never had a problem with cars or people getting out of my way. You have to be a little forward and kind of claim your space, as it were. From our house to the market area is about three or four blocks-worth of walking in the street and then the main gate is right off the market area and there are sidewalks on base.

If you're dead-set on getting a double stroller, I'd definitely go with a front-to-back instead of a side-by-side, but keep in mind that there are some pretty good hills on base between the main gate, commissary, and BX, and if you're pushing your four year old around you're going to be breaking a sweat!

Hope that helps!

Kara

I had a quick question about shots. What shots will my spouse be required to have before going to Korea, and are they shots he can get on base?

No shots are required. There are recommended shots, though. If you check on the CDC website, you'll see them.

I didn't get anything special before coming over, but I made sure my kids' shots were up to date.

I know that Hep A and B and Typhoid are recommended. Plus one that I can't remember, I think it had something to do with a disease or virus you get from being around pigs. I had already gotten a Hep B shot from days working as a deputy so I got the Hep A and Typhoid shot before I came over to be on the safe side.