Pushchairs / Prams ? Where to start?

[keelie_b]

hi Again,

Well if my back allows it, my mums taking me to buy my pushchair tomorrow

Where the heck do i start? theres thousands of different ones!
I dont like 3 wheelers but thats bout as much as i know about pushchairs/prams.

Should i get one of these that flips round and does everything? or one thats a carseat? or a car seat fitted in my car all the time so i just lift baby in and out of it? I've got a 3 door car would that sway you either way?

I just i want one with some underneath storage and obviously it would be nice for it to look nice.
I dont know where to start looking or what

 

[charlie84]

Get on down to mothercare hun and try um all out Wheel them round the shop etc

I had a three door car and i struggled getting baby into the back so had her in the front (had no air bags).
Plus if your car is a bit on the small side check what kind of size buggy you will be able to fit in your boot.

Travel systems can be handy as usually you get everything, pram, carseat, car base. But they can be bulky.
I have now gotton rid of my travel system for this reason. Oh and the fact i live in a flat so lugging the thing up and down a flight of stairs annoyed me.
I now have a small buggy and a carseat which remains in OHs car.

 

[EllieBelle]

I had a list of must haves.......

1) Handle must adjust (as we are both tall).
2) Car seat MUST be attachable to pushchair chassis
3) The car seat MUST have a fixed base for the car
4) Must be a 3 wheeler as better for all terrain and I need to be able to walk dog etc
5) Ideally comes with carry cot too.

It really depends on your lifestyle, if you are going to be using the car a lot I would definitely suggest getting a car seat that has a fixed base in the car (we originally went to look at the Jane Slalom Pro but decided against it as the seat only straps in with the seatbelt and I knew it would drive me insane after a while as far too fiddly), if you want the car seat to also fit to the pushchair chassis, then this cuts down your options even further (ie you can take the car seat straight out of the car and fit it on the pushchair chassis).

Try to think and imagine your typical week and what works best for you - I didnt even think about how the car seat fixed into the car until my husband mentioned it.......when she showed us how awkward and fiddly it can be to try and fit a car seat using seatbelts, well I would have been swearing very quickly. We have to use the car a lot as live in a tiny village with no amenities, so ease of use in the car was a real must!

After taking all our must haves into consideration, and also what car seats will fit into which cars (another very important point), I just changed my car as couldnt get any of the decent car seats to fit my car (the old one didnt have isofix points). !

In the end we decided on the Icandy Apple Jogger - has all of the above (and comes with a carrycot), and the Cosi Maxi car seat fits the pushchair chassis and also has the option of a fixed base for the car

http://www.icandyuk.com/products_detail.php?id=apple_jogger

Good luck its an absolute minefield, and the prices vary enormously........

 

[Sherlock]

I'd always always always try whatever you plan to use in the car in your car before buying to make sure it fits. Not all travel system infant carriers fit all cars. Nor do all car seats. Also remember that its advised for health and safety reasons to not leave a small baby in an infant carrier or car seat for extended periods. Make sure they are taken out every hour or so and not left in for longer periods without a break.

If you have a 3 door it makes it more awkward taking a car seat in and out, but then putting a baby into a fixed one isn't much fun either. Try both sorts out and see what works for you.

Look at a pram/pushchair combo or a travel system. The pram part for the early months then something that is more for as LO grows and is able to support their own head and be more upright for longer periods of time. If you want something that faces you in the early months and then faces forward later on.

Personally I don't like infant carriers much. We got a totally different car seat from birth to age 4 and then got our pushchair/pram we loved. We got a 3 wheeler as we live on a farm. Was a lie flat pram part till LO was about 8 weeks old then we began tilting it up a little till at 16 weeks he went into his pushchair part and loves it. I personally don't like leaving LO in something like an infant carrier and preferred to have him more flat lying in the early months for his back and breathing.

End of the day its what you like and find comfortable pushing around. Think about

a) if its going to be used in town only or off road also (if off road then only a 3 wheeler will do IMHO and then something designed more for that purpose)
b) if its going on public transport or in a car (needs to fit the bus or boot folded up)
c) easy to lift, fold up and open out etc
d) Suitability as baby grows and needs change
e) Budget (you can spend a fortune and find you got the wrong thing so test drive them first)
f) Infant carrier (that can fit onto a travel system) or fitted car seat that won't need to

 

[BabyMagic]

We have a bugaboo cameleon and we absolutely love it. I think it's supposed to be one of the most versatile buggies around (it has suspension etc).

Before you hit the stores think what your budget is, as that will narrow down the buggies you should be looking at.

As a practical tip, when pushing the prams around the shop check which ones you can push with one hand only - there may be times when you have your baby (or Starbucks ) in your arms or you may need an umbrella when it rains. I was looking after my friends baby whilst she was swimming and the only way to get him to sleep is push him in his pram. I had my daughter in my arms and their pram was nearly impossible to push with one hand.

I actually stopped people on the street and asked their opinions on their buggies.

Good luck

 

[BabyMagic]

I forgot to say that prepare that your LO may not like the pram to start with. Our LO only started liking her pram around 5 - 6 weeks. So if your baby will be like ours, I would recommend getting a sling

 

[keelie_b]

wow i definately must have been tired whilst writing that post, i just read it back and cant believe how poorly written it is. Im embarrassed

thats for your advice its all been really helpfull. I am planning to get a sling or carrier of some sort for the first few weeks at least.
so let me get this straight, baby has a pram and then a pushchair? So the baby will be completely flat at first but then i can slowly raise him a little until he's big enough for a buggy?
I know this is a really basic thing, i dont know why its such hard work for me.

Thanks

 

[lea m]

I just wanted to say, I got an email off Mamas & Papas today and the prams are all reduced!! (or most are?)

 

[Sherlock]

thats for your advice its all been really helpfull. I am planning to get a sling or carrier of some sort for the first few weeks at least.
so let me get this straight, baby has a pram and then a pushchair? So the baby will be completely flat at first but then i can slowly raise him a little until he's big enough for a buggy?
I know this is a really basic thing, i dont know why its such hard work for me.

Thanks

Yes, you can't put a small baby in an upright pushchair from birth. They are not able to support their heads nor are their backs able to cope. They have to be older and have proper head control and be more able to sit up (have strength in their back).

You can get an infant carrier (baby car seat that can fit to some travel systems) and use this but its not advised for extended periods of time for various reasons. IMHO the best position for a newborn is to be lying flatter in a pram if out and about for longer periods.

Our pram then had a sit up option on it so as our LO got bigger (around 3 months) we started sitting him up a little more till around 4.5 months when he went into the pushchair part, which can also recline for when he sleeps.

 

[purple13]

my advice would be to get the best & safest car seat that you can afford.

then look to see what prams it goes with - you then have the option of using it with a pram whilst leaving LO undisturbed and asleep in the car seat when you nip to the shops etc.

my criteria (if it helps) were:

[*]must have safest car seat possible for my car
[*]must parent face
[*]must lie flat

if you want parent-facing, it cuts your options considerably anyway.

i ended up with a loola, with a creatis car seat. and i've also got a city mini. slings are the way forward, but prams have their uses and i rate both of mine

 

[ASD123456]

Not much advice on the pram, except parent facing is a must especially when the baby is new, I have a Bugaboo Cameleon and a Maclaren Techno and love them both for different reasons.

I am mainly posting to suggest when you choose your carseat get one with a base that you just leave in the car and then you just click the car seat on and off when you want to travel, much better than faffing with belts all the time especially if you have a three door car, we got the maxi cosi with an easy fix base. This also fitted onto the frame of the bugaboo which was great when you just want to pop into town quickly.

Alex xxx

 

[purple13]

I am mainly posting to suggest when you choose your carseat get one with a base that you just leave in the car and then you just click the car seat on and off when you want to travel, much better than faffing with belts all the time especially if you have a three door car, we got the maxi cosi with an easy fix base. This also fitted onto the frame of the bugaboo which was great when you just want to pop into town quickly.

make sure your car has isofix points first though! they can't be fitted retrospectively.

 

[claire_louise]

im really worried my car doesnt have isofix points


i've given myself a headache looking at car seats/buggys today

 

[purple13]

im really worried my car doesnt have isofix points


i've given myself a headache looking at car seats/buggys today

mine doesn't either. i bought the best car seat on the market that doesn't require isofix. we could have bought a new car, but to get a later model with isofix would have cost us money we didn't have and we would have had to get a less safe car; we chose to keep our v safe car and use a non-isofix car seat.

what car have you got? i just called a local dealership when i wasn't sure about the isofix points.

'which? online' is a good place to focus if you're really not sure what you want? you can find the best compatible car seat on there, then find the buggy to match.


how about you post your criteria here and we can help you narrow your choices down and give you our own reviews on the products?

 

[Magic Monkey]

I would second what Purple13 said, if you want a car seat that will fit your pram/pushchair, start with the car seat as it is so important that they are safe in the car. Isofix is the safest system, but if your car doesn't have it then the bases that use the seatbelt are also very safe - you can join Which? for a couple of quid and they tell you the safest carseats in each class.

My criteria were:

1. Had to fit a Maxi Cosi car seat
2. Had to lie flat/have a carry cot
3. Had to parent face once in the pushchair
4. Had to have just one handle - makes one handed pushing easier
5. Had to be fairly light and easy to fold/lift (I am a 5'0 weakling!)

Also consider the size of your boot, we went for a Quinny and it almost filled the boot of our large hatchback, I have since bought a smaller car (as well) and I have to put the seat unit on the back seat.

Also once you have a shortlist ask on here for honest opinions, with hindsight I wouldn't have bought what I did!

 

[scones]

This is a really ineresting thread for me too. I dont use a car all that much and my criteria are

*Must be parent facing
*Must come with carrycot/lay flat facility
*Fold down nicely, Im guessing that means is has to be 2 handles?
*Not fussed about carseat fixing into chassis as i dont like seeing newborns bunched up in carseats on their wheels
*Fairly decent storage underneath
*Budget about £300

I thought the loola looked good for my purposes,at the chicco trio? I think its called.

Are the mothercare urban detour ones any good as they have some nice colours?

 

[ASD123456]

im really worried my car doesnt have isofix points


i've given myself a headache looking at car seats/buggys today

ours doesn't either, we have the base that just uses the seat belt