Woohoo, nothing like a $7 travel system (P&T)

[hellokitty]

I have a P&T E3 with doubles kit I used for my older two kids and now baby #3 is on the way. I didn't want to shell out $30 for the Graco conversion kit that P&T sells. I found out on car-seat.org that you can just rig up your own, "snap n go" type of strap system on your P&T for under $10, using the napper bar (you do NOT recline the seat). So, I told my DH about it, he measured how much strap length we'd need, ordered the parts online (we could not find nylon straps or the buckles/clips at any of our hardware or camping stores locally), and with shipping, it cost less than $7 for everything. It would have been even cheaper if we could have found the parts locally. It took him less than 10 minutes to put it together. My SR 32 fits perfectly on it and I am even more in love with my P&T that it can serve as a travel system too. :) It will come in really hand for 1/2 K and preschool pick up and drop off with the new baby in tow.

[wencit]

:cheerleader1:

I have a question for you, though. I have a P&T Sport and was planning to use it like a Snap N Go type stroller only for quick errands, etc. I thought you could just sort of rest the car seat on top of the bumper bar. (We have a Snugride 22.) What do you need the nylon straps and/or buckles for? Am I missing something?

ETA: BTW, what do you use for a cupholder with this stroller? Right now I throw everything in the basket, but when #2 comes along, I anticipate not having much space down there.

[gobadgers]

That sounds awesome! I'm also planning on just wedging the Snugride into our P&T for the occssional trip, but a strap would make regular trips possible.

I have an old fabric cupholder, and it isn't that great. I've heard the BOB cupholder is a good fit but I haven't tried it. I also have Skip Hop saddle bags, which have a cupholder each - good for sippies and water bottles but not for a coffee cup...

[hellokitty]

:cheerleader1:

I have a question for you, though. I have a P&T Sport and was planning to use it like a Snap N Go type stroller only for quick errands, etc. I thought you could just sort of rest the car seat on top of the bumper bar. (We have a Snugride 22.) What do you need the nylon straps and/or buckles for? Am I missing something?

ETA: BTW, what do you use for a cupholder with this stroller? Right now I throw everything in the basket, but when #2 comes along, I anticipate not having much space down there.

The strap and buckle makes it like the snap n go, in that it will keep the seat secure (if you've ever used a snap n go, they have the strap that goes across the top of the infant car seat). I actually jog with my stroller, so I would not trust it if I just rested it on top of the napper bar w/o being secured down or with a bungee cord (one of my friends uses a bungee cord, but I am really worried that one of my kids would mess with the cord and it would take somebody's eye out). I don't know about the newer P&T (mine is pretty old, I think v2), but for our napper bar in the older version, it has foam around it, so the carseat would not, "snap" into the bar, it just kind of sits on it.

I got the P&T fanny pack thing as a cup holder. It's more for closed containers (like a reusable drink container or water bottle), definitely not for a Starbuck's coffee or anything flimsy like a fast food drink. BTW, don't get the pannier bags, they suck. I just use a child's backpack as a pannier bag on the side of my P&T.

[wencit]

Ah, OK. I think my old P3 came with a strap like that; I'll have to dig it out and see if it works, too.

I'm still looking into cupholders for this stroller. You'd think for the amount of money they charge, they could include a cheapo $2 cupholder!

[gobadgers]

Hellokitty, I wish my husband could hang out with your husband. Last night I asked him if he could whip up something like this and he looked at me like I was nuts. Ah well...

For cupholders, I have one of the cheapo hard plastic ones for our other stroller, and I'm pretty sure it would work for the P&T too. I think it's Prince Lionhart brand, it has a hard plastic shell and a little flexible lining in it to either keep drinks hot, or keep them from bouncing around too much. It doesn't do a GREAT job either, but it's a small step up - I can get away with a half-full coffee cup anyway!

[wencit]

For cupholders, I have one of the cheapo hard plastic ones for our other stroller, and I'm pretty sure it would work for the P&T too. I think it's Prince Lionhart brand, it has a hard plastic shell and a little flexible lining in it to either keep drinks hot, or keep them from bouncing around too much. It doesn't do a GREAT job either, but it's a small step up - I can get away with a half-full coffee cup anyway!If it has a hard plastic shell, do you take it off when you fold the stroller? I'd imagine it would be unwieldy to fold the stroller with a hard plastic cupholder still attached (one of the reasons I took it off my P3).

[gobadgers]

If it has a hard plastic shell, do you take it off when you fold the stroller? I'd imagine it would be unwieldy to fold the stroller with a hard plastic cupholder still attached (one of the reasons I took it off my P3).

You know, I do take it off, but its easy because the cupholder just snaps off from the clip.