Mumsnet Talk

Hi all,

Looking for our first pram!!! Waaaay confusing choices!
Planning on doing plenty of walks when baby comes, can walk to super market from the house and into little town so would like something with a reasonable sized basket. REALLY want a proper pram he can lie down in comfortably and snug in colder weather. Want something that we could go off road with on trails in our area.
We go on weekends away and things to scotland/wales/europe reasonably often so it would be well used- somthing sturdy and robust.
would like a infant carrier to fit it as a travel system.
Possibly wanting a layflat car seat for long journeys 5 hours +

SO, on our list (which changes often) are............

Something from Emmaljunga (love that they are made in sweden)
Great prams but MASSIVE.

Mountain buggy - urban jungle, with a carry cot attachment and a maxi cosi kit for car seat.

Jane slalom R transporter travel system, three wheeler with infant cradle car seat with ALSO a layflat pram that you can use in the car as well.
i am VERY much tempted by this!! its our favorite for a few weeks.

SO does anyone have anything to add or advice or thoughts on the choices, anything else we should look at?????

Any help much appreciated, thank you!!!

Have a look at Uppa baby. It's a travel system with big wheels for off-roading. Also, it's got a huge, easy to get to basket underneath. I don't have it (I have a bugaboo chameleon, which I love but isnt great for very hilly, muddy terrain), but my friend who does is short with a very tall DH and it works well for both of them.

The Vista is definitely worth a look. The new Baby Jogger City Mini GT due out in a couple of months would work well for travelling and going off road, but you would want a carrycot as it is forward facing in pushchair mode. Also the Easywalker June may cover all bases and is due out in May.

I wouldn't get anything too bulky and heavy like an Emmaljunga as it'll be a real pain to travel with. Unless you choose to get a seperate travelling pushchair that is.

In terms of a lie flat carseat, the ones I know of are the Britax Baby-Safe Sleeper, Jané Matrix and Transporter and the BeSafe Izi Sleep. The Izi Sleep has the same connections as Maxi-Cosi, so anything that will take a Maxi-Cosi carseat (like those above) will also take the Izi Sleep. There's also one made by Bebecar I think, but I seem to remember reading that it's not very safe.

For the amount of time you will use it and assuming you are not in the car for long period constantly then I wouldn't bother with a lie flat car seat. Most of the major ones recline nicely.

I travel constantly and I have reviewed this subject to death. My best advice is that you should resign yourself to purchasing two buggies. The first a travel system designed for walking on all terrain and useful from birth and a second for trips away because undoubtedly you will need something that will not take up the entire boot of the car and most travel systems do. The Uppababy Vista and Stokke are both great travel systems but they do not fold up small.

The smaller buggy (note there are many that can be used with a car seat) can be something from the Quinny, Baby Jogger or Maclaren ranges. I include these not because other ranges are not good but because these seem to come up regularly whenever I have reviewed this subject.

Sadly, there is no one buggy that does it all but if you prepare from the start for the inevitable then you can budget accordingly.

Plus don't forget a baby carrier might be something you may want to consider for long treks!?

Baby jogger gt with carry cot.

WOW!!! You all really know about this!!!

I have made a list of all the buggies you have all mentioned and I will be googling and going to seek places to look at them!!!

Everyone keeps telling me after a while I will ditch the travel system and have a maclaren like everyone else!!

Definetely need a baby carrier- that opens a whole new can of worms on decisions!!! aaaaahhhhhhh

People have already mentioned the Baby Jogger City Mini GT, but you might also consider the Baby Jogger City Elite, which has pretty much the same features as the GT but larger wheels that the GT and will therefore be a bit heavier.

We are really happy with our Elite. We are still using it with the lovely deluxe hard carry cot.

It is great for travelling, folds easily (and not that much bigger than the City Mini), fantastic for our walks off-road, the basket is more than sufficient and I use happymummy buggy hooks for when I do a larger shop, and we love the big padded seat, the adjustable handlebar, the handbrake. The adapters for the carrycot are also suitable for the maxi-cosi car seats which is great.

Good luck choosing.

(Oh and another plus is that the way the hard carrycot attaches means it sits really nice and high up and I get loads of comments when out walking about how lovely and near to me the baby is)

We don't all end up with Maclarens! I just couldn't do it. I'd get a Britax B-Agile or Maxi-Cosi Noa if I really wanted a compact stroller.

I am with you HypatiaTheProcrastinator.

Someone needs to design a travel system that fold pretty small even if it means a bit more effort. Where you do not have to remove the seat/cot to use the car seat. It would also be brilliant if the travel system would support Group 1 car seats for taking toddlers on planes with ease.

Actually what I should do is write an article about the pitfalls of the whole business. My DD clocked up 80,000 air miles in her first year and it has meant lots of planes, trains and automobiles; not to mention standing in immigration lines.

I have purchased 3 buggies, 3 baby sling/carriers, 3 changing bags, 3 travel bags and not to mention different types of feeding paraphernalia. Thank God for eBay!

You do not need to remove the seat fabric to use a carrycot or car seat on either the BJCM, BJCMGT, or BJCE, or the Britax B-Agile.

I agree with your friends in that if you buy something of hefty like an Emmaljunga, you will end up buying a lightweight pushchair as well. But equally you could buy a lighter weight pushchair like an iCandy Cherry or Bugaboo Bee or Cameleon or Babystyle Oyster or Uppababy Vista or Cruz which you may never feel you need anything smaller ie you can buy a good quality pushchair rather than a Maclaren.

But do look at those listed at the start of this response because they are really practical options.

My youngest is 3, my maclaren is in the garage. Bugaboo Frog is far nicer ride for her and much nicer for me to push also!

Wrap sling for when your baby is tiny.
Ergo sling for when they're a bit bigger.
Plus some sort of umbrella fold buggy and a maxi-cosi car seat thing.

That's pretty much all you need. I was a pushchair addict with DC1 but really haven't got on with them second time round and have stuck to slings. Not sure why.

And also - some babies don't really like the whole lying flat in a pram thing. DC1 refused - I think he went in the pram part of our travel system about three times before I gave up and used the car seat. He'd go rigid and scream.

Good luck!