what pushchair/pram/travel system should be buy?

[Trudyscrumptious76]

Hello I'm asking a little early I know but I like to get my head around things so I'm making an informed choice. Can anyone recommend a site that helps you pick the pram for your lifestyle or recommend what we should be looking at? I'm sure I don't need a thermometer on my pushchair! We plan to use a sling most of the time for at least 6 months, depending on how much little one weighs! I rarely use public transport, drive mostly, when not driving we walk a lot and have 2 dogs that go out on the fields every day. I'll definitely need a car seat, but by the time I've bought that it's not much more to stretch to a travel system, which will be good for the grandparents.

Help! There are so many choices out there. We went to Babies r us but they seem to only do Graco. Are they any good or is it worth paying extra for the silver cross ones or even more expensive ones like the Janes? I don't mind paying for quality, but I'm not paying extra just to be fashionable.

We live in a 2up 2down terrace, so nothing too bulky to store would be great. We do have an estate car but the dogs have 1st shout on the room in the boot so again the more compact the better.

Thanks.

 

[Cosmopolitan]

Maybe Maxi Cosi Mura or Quinny Zapp? But that's just because I have the same requirements and looked at them, don't really have any experience.

 

[polkadots]

We've got a red Bugaboo Chameleon and it's worked a treat!
They are pretty expensive, but i really cannot fault them in anyway. They fold down nicely too.

 

[aramintalovegrove]

Depending on how serious you are about it, if you are going to wear your baby quite a bit then I would definatley NOT buy anything expensive. I have only used my pushchair a handful of times and would have begrudged buying anything too expensive, thank god I didnt have the money for a bugaboo . I wouldnt bother buying a pram/carrycot.

I brought the loola streety from kiddiecare. they have a good website but I highly reccommended to go there if you can as it has all the big brands under one roof and you are encouraged try out (they even have an assult type area to try on cobbles, bouncing up stairs, grass etc), but looking at your location its prob a bit far for you. Independent pram shops usually have better stock than toys r us, if you could go try out some and then see if you can get a better deal online once you know what you want.

The streety does the job for us and as a travel system it worked out cheap with the car seat included, especially as i got it at a barginous price to boot

 

[Sherlock]

The Jane range is great but I doubt its for you. I never thought of it as fashionable, just hard wearing and

We have an estate car and a dog and he goes in first and the pushchair in after. He has plenty of room but the pushchair takes up a lot. Also it is quite bulky so won't fit in your house easily. We leave ours in the garage or car overnight. Sometimes the porch.

Have you considered a Phil & Teds sport? They fold flat and don't take up much room. We road tested one but I still loved the Jane over the P&T so we went with the Jane. But P&T was the only other one came close for our needs with farm living, dogs and field etc, plus town and grandparents also.

If you walk your dogs across fields etc I'd look to a 3 wheeler over a 4. And something with inflatable tyres, not hard ones. Hence me suggesting the P&T Sport

This one is down from £449 to £299 and comes with the twin pack so handy for the future.

http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... alt_image1

 

[Tenshineko]

I bought this at the weekend:

http://www.mothercare.com/gp/produc...ie=UTF8&m=A2LBKNDJ2KZUGQ&n=189188031&mcb=core

I saw it online and thought it sounded fab so we went to look at it. It was really light, im a right weaklin and thought it was light. It's easy to use and quite small. Good value for money aswell. Im not an expert on prams though, its the first one iv ever bought

 

[linzi-x-]

i have the urban detour altitude travel system, i love it.. but to be honest i wouldnt advise it for you.. its rather bulky when folded and not too clever for the car but for walk and out and about its fantastic, really easy to push. ooooo i just love it

 

[xmcnickyx]

I have a quinny buzz. The main reason I got it was that you can attach the car seat directly to the frame without having a pram part on as well. The wheels are massive so I can't fit it in the boot of my Fiesta but the wheels come off so it's fine.

I live in a 2 up 2 down too and there isn't an awful lot of of room for much but we keep the frame in the boot of the car. It can be taken apart so I have the frame in the car, the carseat under the stairs and the main pram part under Mollys cot.

I love it but if you're planning on wearing the baby a lot you might want to get something a little less expensive.

 

[JoAnn&Aimee]

I have the Silver Cross 3D Travel System, which is good but bulky for public transport, especially when no one bothers to help you. We are getting the Maclaren Quest stroller as it is lightweight. I think it also depends on how much usage you'll get out of it and how often you'll be using it. I was lucky as my parents bought the Silver Cross for us including the car seat which came to over £400 back then, the price reduced a week after my parents bought it.

Definately look about before buying.

 

[Trudyscrumptious76]

Mmmmm lots to consider. We're very serious about wearing the baby. We have a friend who sells slings and life is so much easier for her. Walking the dogs I'll use the sling as the are well behaved and no chance of dragging me and baby down the field. I mainly drive for work, so once on MAT leave the only place I'll go is to friends or the market for food. (how exciting!!! ) So will only need car seat and sling until babs is too heavy, hopefully around 6 months and it can then go into a pushchair. I like the idea of a carrycot, especially with this new thing of not leaving a baby in a car seat too long. But TBH we'd hardly use it.

It's just for the grandparents who will want to have baby, my ILs are in their 70's so can't see them wearing baby! My parents are in their 60's but I'm sure they'll find a pram easier.

I like the idea of a frame that I can leave in the car. I hadn't thought about that! The Phil and Ted looks great but can you attach a car seat?

Thanks ladies at least I've knocked the idea of a carry cot on the head. I know there are a few buggies that fold nearly flat that you can add a car seat to. So maybe the odd time bubs is with the olds and in the car seat for more than 2 hours I won't be damaging it's spine for life. Lets face it with eating and changing I doubt any baby is in a car seat for more than 2 hours!

I'll look at Kiddicare site it looks great. Thanks ladies! It's all a bit clearer now.

 

[ASD123456]

Hiya,

We are another Bugaboo chameleon users. I love it but it is pretty expensive. The Quinny Buzz is also a fave of mine. Both ccan have the Maxi cosi cabriofix atached to the base and both have a seperate base and carrcot.

You can also attach the maxi cosi cabrio to the phil and teds if you get the adaptors (which are around £30 iirc)

x

 

[Trudyscrumptious76]

Wow I've been looking at the Phil & Ted's sport it looks good. Not sure about the 3 wheel aspect are they sturdy? I'd prefer a double wheel (2 tyres) on the front.

The carry cot is only £30 odd pounds so could still have the carry cot option without breaking the bank. Now I know you can clip a carseat in too and we are planning to have more kids in the future, it could tick all the boxes. I just need to find one now and have a play with it. I'll probably hate it on sight!

 

[Magic Monkey]

I have had two 3 wheelers and they are very sturdy and so easy to push. They are much better if you want to go offroad too. My friend has a Phil and Ted's and uses it on the forest all the time. 3 wheelers are much better for going offroad too.

I have a Quinny Buzz and I wouldn't recommend it for offroad use as the front wheel gets stuck as soon as you go anywhere near any mud! I have had to lift mine out of the mud on more than one occasion. Also they aren't great for older children as the seat isn't very big and they don't sit upright when facing you.

 

[Jenny123]

I have the Mothercare urban detour xtreme travel system and its the best £250 I've ever spent! I too walk my dogs every day and use the baby bjorn sling which is much easier than trying to push a pushchair!

The Xtreme travel system is a 3 wheeler and is so easy to push, it is very light and I find it folds up really small - it fits in the boot of my mitsubishi colt easily with room for shopping too. Its easy to fold with one hand, not complicated at all. My mum helps me look after Hannah one day a week and she loves pushing her around in it - she says its really easy (my mum has quite bad arthritis). Its a very sturdy pushchair and because it has big wheels it goes up curbs easily and feels really safe to push Hannah around town in. She's very protected from the elements

The car seat is good too, nothing complicated. Hannah has plenty of room in it and is no where near out growing it yet. My friend has a baby 4 weeks older than Hannah who has out grown his Graco seat and pram already and she is looking at the Xtreme travel system as she loves mine so much.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[Trudyscrumptious76]

MagicMonkey you must be a mind reader! I was just looking at the Quinny Buzz. That's off the list!

I feel happier about three wheels now. I didnt realise Mothercare did their own prams. This is all so new to me! At least I've narrowed it down to a three wheeler that lies flat, definitely car seat, possibly carrycot if cheap enough.

Thanks everyone!! I'm much more confident now.

 

[Sherlock]

Wow I've been looking at the Phil & Ted's sport it looks good. Not sure about the 3 wheel aspect are they sturdy? I'd prefer a double wheel (2 tyres) on the front.

The carry cot is only £30 odd pounds so could still have the carry cot option without breaking the bank. Now I know you can clip a carseat in too and we are planning to have more kids in the future, it could tick all the boxes. I just need to find one now and have a play with it. I'll probably hate it on sight!

Yeah there are carseats you can put on it I recall.

We tried it out and found it sturdy. Its leightweight as there is not much metal compared to say the Jane as it uses material for its carrycot etc. Met lots of Mums who have 2 plus children and get such good wear out of them when second baby comes along.

It is far more lightweight and smaller folding than our Jane, which should appeal. And comes in loads of funky colours.

In the end we only opted for the Jane as I had my heart set on it and we just bought a stand alone car seat from 0-4 so doing away with the infant carrier of the Jane not fitting our car. Had we not compromised on the infant carrier and car seat we'd have gotten the P&T Sport.

I'm not sure there are many 4 wheelers out there that can convert for 2 children as easily and neatly as the P&T. Most others are purpose built ones. I personally don't like 4 wheelers so never entertained them as options really. I find 3 wheelers far easier to manage and move round. But then 3 wheelers fit our lifestyle.

 

[Kittykins]

I've been looking at this one http://www.mamasandpapas.co.uk/product- ... 00/type-i/

We bought the M&P Herbie travel system, but I also want a second pushchair that I can run with. This seemed a good value option. May be worth looking at for you, though your requirements are different... For our second pushchair, all I care about is the wheel diameter, is it comfortable to push whilst running, will baby fall out if I go any faster than a slow jog, is it relatively light and maneouvrable? I'm not looking for compatibility, although this is compatible with the carseat. I am looking for good value - and this is £180, which so far seemed reasonable, compared to the Buzz and the Phil and Ted's.

 

[Trudyscrumptious76]

That does look a good one Kitty. I'm quite scared about jogging with baby, but once I'm used to it all I'm sure I'll want to be hitting the road again.

We've decided that we are not going to bother with a car seat that lifts in and out. Rather we'll get one that stays in all the time and is suitable from 0-4. Like you have Sherlock. As DH said if the baby is not supposed to be in a car seat for long why have one that clips into a buggy? Quite sensible for him! Especially as we'll be wearing baby mostly or in a carrycot (not one that attaches to a pram) I know the whole waking a sleeping baby thing when you take it out of the car could be a problem. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it! The longest we are in the car is 20 mins to the IL's or 3 hours to London which isn't all the time and we'll have to stop and get baby out after a bit anyway.

It's so difficult trying to guess what you might or might not need. I think the P&T is still top of the list however only if Ma and Pa feel like being generous for their 1st grandchild! otherwise it'll be a cheaper alternative. Plus the added option of keeping the same pram for subsequent children (if all goes to plan!) is a real draw. Also the baby can lie flat if the GPs want to go for a walk with bubs.

I just hope I like it when I see it. I'll have to get the red one so that we can match Kitty!

 

[Joanne85]

I would like to recomend the Leebruss prams. I had my travel system for 4 years now which I'm using for my second child now...LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT . As I follow them on Facebook I just had an update showing 4 new products. Goodluck in your search for the ideal pram.

 

[SunnySue]

This post is from 2009?? Not sure how it got here??