Stroller problem solved?

Since Trystan was born, I've been struggling with a bit of a dilemma--how to tote two children in one stroller. Charlotte is not quite big enough to walk all the time, and wearing Trystan in the sling can get hot in a hurry, especially outside at something like the park or the zoo. I haven't wanted to buy a new double stroller, like Sarahlynn did, for several reasons. First of all, they're expensive--the cheapest I've seen are around $80, and the nicer ones seem to start at $150. We already own 3 strollers--the regular "travel system" type one that came with our carseat (the one I prefer to use), a cheap but small and light umbrella stroller, and the jogging stroller (which is huge and cumbersome for regular "strolling"). If I bought a new double stroller, we'd have to find room to store the regular stroller somewhere (it's not that tiny either). Finally, the double strollers have one of two problems: either they're huge even when folded up (I drive an Accord, not a SUV), or they don't accomodate an infant that can't sit up on their own.

I had seen at Babies R Us a double stroller where teh rear seat is more of a platform for an older toddler/small child to ride on--a good compromise when your kids are 2+ years apart like mine are. Today I headed to Burlington Coat Factory and then BRU to check those out. I wasn't impressed--the storage baskets underneath were really hard to get to, they were still huge (one was the same size as a regular double stroller), and again, I'm leery of forking out $150 for another stroller.

I think I found an even better solution--a kit to attach a seat/platform onto my existing stroller. It was still somewhat pricey ($65), but cheaper than a whole stroller, and is about the size of a small stepstool (so, still eats trunk space, but not precious basement storage). The step has mounting poles that are semi-permanently attached to the stroller--no holes to drill or anything, but they screw on and off--and the seat/plaftorm snaps on and off of those mounting poles, so I can remove it when I only have Trystan. Install was pretty easy, and I've played with it in my kitchen--It drives well enough and is very stable even without Trystan in the stroller seat. With practice getting the platform on and off should be pretty easy. I think it might fit in my trunk with the platform still on, but I haven't tried that yet. Charlotte's still at daycare, so she hasn't gotten to take it for a test drive yet. Tomorrow I need to take Trystan down to the lab at Children's for bloodwork, and Charlotte's not in school, so we'll check the whole system out then.