I'm thinking about getting a wagon that will hold 3 of my kids so that I can take them for walks thru the neighborhood. (I tried pushing a stroller & pulling a wagon for 2, but that's too hard.) Are there any options besides the Step 2 wagon with the trailer? I'd appreciate any feedback, positive or negative.
FYI: My twins just turned 3 and the "baby" is almost 2. Thanks!!
The step 2 choo choo wagon is the best thing we ever bought for our twins and older son. The all have their own space and cup holders and they LOVE it. They ask me almost every day if we can go for a walk in it. You may have seen that already, but just thought I would let you know just in case.
My kids, and daycare kids, all walk or ride ride on toys by the time they are 2. No reason to have them not use their own energy up!! The more they do it the more they can, so imo I would not bother with a wagon for that reason.
Wagons are fun however, and useful if you need to transport stuff around or if you are going on a longer walk and you want to have that back up. I like the one I have but I don't think they make it anymore - it's a radio flyer with really nice all terrain wheels and a flat bed - if I take off the sides I can fit 6 kids on it, lol. http://www.amazon.com/Radio-Flyer-2600-Discovery-Wagon/dp... is what it looks like.
I suggest you wait for garage sale season or go to a twins and triplets type sale to get one. Wagons are solidly built and never die, so you can get one for a steal that way and it will be in great shape. MIne is 6 yrs old and looks brand new still.
We LOVE ours and we got a ferw accessories, so it has a place for drink cups/water bottles and even a ice chest. It fits in the back of our Expedition. We;ve had it for almost 7 years and it still looks and works like it's new.
http://www.qualitytoys.com/causawa.html
or there is another one which looks similar, but not sure of the quality...
the Radio Flyer all terain wagon that is all wooden. We got ours from Toys R Us. I think $120 ish. I LOVE it! We got it for my first sons 1st birthday (he turns 6 next week) and have used it tons with doing home day care as well. Very useful for farms, zoos, festivals, etc. We STILL use it a lot. All the sides are removable, so without one side, I could even fit 4 kids. Two three year olds and a 2 year old would fit fine as long as they don't mind crossing their legs or legs alongside one another. None of these kids have ever minded, they really like the wagon. 5 year old even pulled me around the driveway in it. And it fits in the back of our Odyssey minivan without folding down any seats.
That said, for around the neighborhood, I don't think any wagon would be best...it's not the best for your back to use on a daily basis, pulling a wagon with one hand angled like that. I agree to get out the kids riding toys for that. Start small and work up the muscles. My older son LOVES bikes and always has, so when he turned 2 he'd ride a little plastic fisher Price tricycle a full mile around the neighborhood just fine. He loved those long bike rides even then. My older son was less trustworthy until age 3 when I could trust him not to suddenly turn to the middle of the street and not need to correct him every 15 seconds, but by 3 he could go up to a mile around the neighborhood on his 12" bike with training wheels just fine. So I'd start small and work toward a decent size walk with at LEAST the 3 year olds on riding toys/bikes. Have fun! :)
