The Best Stroller for Two Kids With a Bigger Age Gap: Why We Chose the Austlen Entourage

We're about to become a family of four.

Our son is due in July, right after our daughter turns four, and when we started thinking about strollers for two kids, I quickly realized something:

A four-year age gap makes stroller shopping surprisingly complicated.

Our daughter is obviously not a baby anymore.

She can walk.

She wants to walk.

But does that mean I expect a newly four-year-old to walk through an airport, spend an entire day sightseeing, make it through a zoo or keep going for miles on a family vacation without ever wanting a break?

Absolutely not.

At the same time, buying a traditional double stroller designed around two little kids didn't make much sense either.

That's ultimately why we chose the Austlen Entourage.

For the ages our kids will be, the way we travel and the amount of stuff we tend to bring with us, it just felt like the best fit.

Four Years Apart Changes What I Want From a Double Stroller

If I were expecting two children very close in age, two traditional stroller seats might be exactly what I wanted.

But that's not our situation.

By the time her little brother arrives, our daughter will have just turned four.

She's entering that in-between stage where she doesn't necessarily need a stroller seat every minute, but she's also nowhere near being able to keep up with adults for every mile of a long day.

That's why I kept coming back to the Entourage's Sit + Stand.

It's not just a standing board.

There's an integrated Platform Rider when she wants to stand and a real Jump Seat when she actually wants to sit down and rest.

And the Sit + Stand is rated up to 75 pounds.

That's a huge distinction for me.

I don't want my daughter to be forced into a traditional second stroller seat when she wants to feel like a big kid.

But I also don't want her only option to be standing when she's exhausted.

She can walk.

She can stand.

She can actually sit.

That's what makes the Entourage feel like the best stroller for two kids with a bigger age gap for us.

And the Baby Has Plenty of Growing Room, Too

While our daughter is on one end of the stroller-age spectrum, our son will obviously be at the very beginning.

The Entourage Primary Seat is rated from birth up to 65 pounds and includes a built-in bassinet mode. We can also use an infant car seat with the appropriate adapter.

If we ever want two traditional seats, the optional Second Seat gives us that configuration, too. It's designed from 6 months up to 40 pounds.

So we're not buying a stroller that only works for our exact ages on the day our son is born.

We're buying one with multiple ways to accommodate them as both kids change.

That's Why "Single to Double" Wasn't Enough for Me

I looked at this differently once I started thinking beyond the newborn stage.

A stroller might convert beautifully from a single to a double.

But what happens when that older child doesn't want to sit in a traditional stroller seat anymore?

That's why I think the Entourage makes such a strong case for the best single to double to Sit and Stand stroller.

It can start as a single.

It can become a traditional double with the Second Seat.

It can use an infant car seat.

And for our bigger age gap, it can switch to the Sit + Stand with both seated and standing options.

Then, eventually, when our daughter doesn't need a ride at all, we can remove the rear seating and retract the stroller again.

The frame itself changes along with what we need.

That's very different from committing to one giant double-stroller configuration for the next several years.

We Travel a Lot, So I'm Already Thinking About the Stuff

Our kids' seating was only half of my decision.

We travel a lot.

And if you've ever traveled with kids, you know the children themselves are sometimes the easiest things to transport.

It's everything that comes with them.

Diaper bag.

Carry-ons.

Jackets.

Snacks.

Blankets.

Baby gear.

Whatever the four-year-old absolutely had to bring and then stopped carrying approximately six minutes after leaving the house.

This is where I think we're going to fully utilize the Entourage.

The Entourage 2.0 is rated to carry up to 200 pounds of kids + cargo.

That's not just diaper-bag storage.

That's legitimate hauling capacity.

My Best Travel Stroller Doesn't Need to Be Tiny

I think "travel stroller" sometimes gets treated as another way of saying "tiny stroller."

That's not what best travel stroller means for our family.

If I'm running into a store for five minutes with one child, sure, a lightweight stroller might be easier.

But when we're traveling with two kids and everything those two kids require, I care about something completely different.

I want somewhere for the baby.

I want somewhere for my four-year-old when she's done walking.

I want room for our bags.

I want a stroller that feels solid when it's loaded.

And I want the flexibility to change configurations as the kids get older.

For that kind of travel, I'd rather have the stroller capable of carrying the load than save a few pounds on the stroller itself.

Yes, It's Heavier Than a Lightweight Stroller

This was one of the things I thought about before buying it.

The Entourage is a full-size stroller, and the stroller itself weighs 32 pounds. The Sit + Stand adds 6 pounds total, bringing that configuration to about 38 pounds.

Is that heavier than a little lightweight "travel" stroller?

Of course.

But that's not really an apples-to-apples comparison.

A tiny lightweight stroller isn't designed to do what we're asking the Entourage to do.

When I compare the Entourage with other full-size strollers for two children, its weight is actually comparable (see table below). When put next to single-to-double strollers, that's especially impressive to me considering how much more weight it's designed to carry. And ultimately, there isn't really a way around using stronger, more substantial components if I want a stroller designed to safely carry bigger kids and significantly more cargo.

That's the tradeoff I'm willing to make.

The Entourage feels very well constructed, which is exactly what I want when I'm planning to load it with two children and travel gear.

In the grand scheme of things, the extra weight feels like a minor inconvenience.

The pros greatly outweigh the cons.

How Some Popular Options Compare for a Bigger Age Gap

For us, the important question wasn't simply, "Can this stroller carry two children?"

It was:

How will it carry our newborn AND our four-year-old, and what happens when our four-year-old gets tired?

Here's the comparison that matters more to me:

Feature	Austlen Entourage 2.0	UPPAbaby Vista V3	Nuna DEMI next
Type	Single → double → Sit + Stand	Single → double + optional standing board	Single → double + included standing board
Older-child option	Jump Seat + integrated Platform Rider	PiggyBack board	Rider Board
Older child can sit OR stand?	Yes	No, PiggyBack is standing	No, Rider Board is standing
Published older-child capacity	75 lbs	55 lbs	50 lbs
Traditional main seat capacity	65 lbs	50 lbs	50 lbs
Second traditional seat	Second Seat: 40 lbs	RumbleSeat: 40 lbs	Sibling Seat: 50 lbs
Published storage capacity	70-lb lower basket + 30-lb included Market Tote	30-lb basket	22-lb basket
Total kids + cargo capacity	Up to 200 lbs	No directly comparable overall figure published	No directly comparable current product-page figure published
Stroller weight with two seats	36.5 lbs	36.4 lbs*	39.4 lbs**
Best fit for our family	Baby + bigger child who may want to walk, sit OR stand, especially with lots of cargo	Traditional tandem + standing option	Traditional tandem + standing option

*independently measured, as website doesn't list a total weight

**Nuna DEMI next weight calculated from the manufacturer's published 26-lb stroller weight + approximately 3.4 lbs for the insert, canopy and armbar + 10-lb Sibling Seat.

What stands out to me isn't that the Entourage wins every individual specification (although it wins on almost everything!).

It's that the combination matches our situation unusually well.

A 65-pound Primary Seat.

A 75-pound older-child Sit + Stand.

A place to sit and stand.

And enough cargo capacity for the kind of trips we actually take.

That's exactly the combination I was looking for.

The Fold Matters for Travel, Too

There's another practical difference I appreciate.

The Entourage folds to 33.5"L × 24.5"W × 19"H with its wheels and fenders attached.

But dimensions alone don't tell the whole story.

When we're using the Sit + Stand, the Jump Seat and Platform Rider can remain attached when the stroller folds.

If we use the Second Seat instead, that can remain attached when folding, too.

That's important to me for travel because I don't just care about the measurement of the stroller chassis.

I care about everything I actually have to put in the car.

A stroller that publishes a smaller folded chassis measurement but requires me to remove another seating component still leaves me with that component to carry and store somewhere.

I like that our Entourage folds as the stroller we're actually using.

Why the Entourage Is the Best Fit for Us

Here's what ultimately made the Entourage our best single to double to Sit and Stand stroller, best travel stroller, and best stroller for two kids with a bigger age gap:

A true sit AND stand option for our older child, rather than limiting her to a traditional seat or standing-only board
Sit + Stand rated up to 75 lbs, giving our newly four-year-old plenty of useful riding capacity
Primary Seat rated from birth to 65 lbs, with built-in bassinet mode for the new baby
Optional Second Seat, so we still have a traditional double configuration if that's what we need
Up to 200 lbs of kids + cargo capacity, which is incredibly useful for family travel
70-lb lower storage basket + 30-lb included Market Tote, giving us substantial dedicated space for travel gear
Patented expandable and retractable frame, creating room when we need it and returning toward a single-stroller footprint when we don't
Sit + Stand folds with the stroller, without creating an awkward external rider board sticking out from the folded package
Second Seat can stay attached when folding, too, reducing the number of loose stroller pieces we have to pack
Solid, well-constructed feel, which gives me confidence when we're loading it with two children and everything we bring along
Full-size double-stroller weight rather than ultralight-stroller weight, a tradeoff we're happy to make for substantially greater kid and cargo capacity

The Stroller We Need for the Next Stage of Our Family

Right now, we're still waiting to meet our son.

Our daughter hasn't even officially become a big sister yet.

But I can already picture the trips ahead.

She'll probably insist she can walk.

Then she'll walk.

Then she'll stand on the Platform Rider.

Then she'll walk again.

Then, after a long day, she'll decide that actually sitting on the Jump Seat sounds pretty wonderful.

Meanwhile, her little brother will have the traditional stroller space he needs, and we'll still have somewhere to put all the stuff that somehow accompanies a family of four everywhere it goes.

Eventually, he'll get bigger.

She'll need the stroller less.

Our configuration will change.

And that's exactly why we bought this one.

I didn't want the best stroller for the few months when we have a newborn and a newly four-year-old.

I wanted the stroller that would keep making sense as both of those kids grow.

For our family, our four-year age gap and the way we love to travel, that's what makes the Austlen Entourage the best stroller for two kids with a bigger age gap, our best travel stroller, and especially the best single to double to Sit and Stand stroller.

Yes, it's an investment.

Yes, it's more substantial than a lightweight stroller.

But when I look at everything it gives us in return?

Those feel like minor inconveniences.

The pros greatly outweigh the cons.

And we can't wait to put ours to work.

Image provided by customer is for illustrative purposes. To read their review and other customer reviews, click here.