How do you decide

[1sttimemum]

Hi All

Me and my partner are starting to think about prams etc - ready for purchase after xmas some point - i know it's still early but how the hell do you make a decision I don't particularly like the 3 wheeler ones (not meaning to offend anyone) but it's not me who will be lying in it. i will need a light weight one as i have a skin condition which affects my armpits.

XX

 

[moomoo192]

take into account things like will it be going in the car if so it will need to fold easily/be compact depending on what car you have.

Do you live in a flat where you'll need to take it upstairs, if so bear in mind the weight

Do you wnat swivel wheels or fixed...swivel are a lot easier in my opinion, i would never go fixed.

Does it come with carrycot for newborns or lie back position.

Weight

You really need to go to a shop and try them out, pushing them can make a huge difference and remember if they are heavy empty, what will they be like as baby gets bigger

if this is your 1st, go for a natural color, that way it can be used on the next baby too if you plan on having more

*edited to say* height adjustment in case your hubby or other family member are tall

 

[muppetmummy]

You can find reviews for most models of prams and pushchairs at dooyoo.co.uk and ciao.co.uk which have been written by people who have experience of using them.

Like moomoo has said, the main factor is your circumstances, do you get the bus, do you walk a lot, do you go offroad at all etc.

With James I lived in the city, had to catch several buses a day and lived in a second floor flat so had a maclaren stroller.

With this baby I never catch the bus, live in a house in a rural area and walk almost everywhere so have gone for an all terrain 3 wheeler.

If you go into somewhere like mothercare you can get them to give you demo of how the pram folds etc, and try pushing it around. When you come to buy it's worth checking out ebay cos you can get some excellant deals on there for brand new prams (saved almost £300 on mine!)

Have fun pram shopping

 

[Sherlock]

What the others have said really.

I made a written check list of my needs and wants ie, where we live, how much and what kind of walking we will be doing, dogs needing to walk alongside, collapsing for putting in car and putting back up again, lightweight, suspension, how long baby would need to be in it as we won't be buying a lightweight buggy when they get a bit older etc (we live on a farm so it'd be no good to us)

Once I'd got that list, it pretty much ruled out all the 4 wheelers for us and left the 3 wheelers and we then went to Mothercare to try them out and made our choice.

Then we didn't pay Mothercare prices for it but came home and shopped around online till we found it over £100 cheaper

 

[maybebaby]

What the others have said really, there's no substitute for trying it out. Any decent shop (Babies-R-Us, Mothercare, John Lewis etc) will let you try out a pram, including pushing it around folding it us and even taking it outside to make sure it fits folded in your car. If you're getting a travel system they'll make sure the car seat fits too. There's no obligation to buy after you've tried all that so shop ariund.

If you're really strugging pm one of our resident pramaholics (i.e. lozzi) as they give good advice having tried pretty much every pram on the market!

 

[MattM]

Definitely try it out. Don't just push it back and forth on the spot. Take it for a walk around the store. Try and get around corners and tight areas with it. I've tried a few that handle like tanks .

Also consider how it folds. Can you do it with one hand? Imagine it's pouring with rain in a busy car park and you've got a bit of shopping with you. You don't want to faff around trying to get it collapsed.