Pushchair advice

[DaddyYannis]

Been lurking a while and this is my first post. Thanks all for sharing your stories, it has been really helpful to us in getting to this stage in the adoption process.

We have recently heard that we've been linked with a 10 mth old baby girl - hooray! We're very excited and now planning all the purchases we need to make to get our home ready for her arrival. The big one seems to be the pushchair.

I thought I wanted something parent-facing to help build attachment, and help get us both used to each other. However some of the prices are a little eye-watering. The Bugaboo Bee looks pretty perfect but is certainly pricey - in your experience is it worth shelling out the £££ even though we might only get a max of 2 years use out of it? Or am I over-thinking this and should we just get something a little less flash?

Any and all advice gratefully received!

[sparklybuttired]

Have you looked on eBay to see if there are any second hand Ones or your local Facebook sites ?

[TimerousBeastie]

Mamas and papas do reconditioned pushchairs on their website, we got a lovely parent facing one for our lo.

[Puffedsleevedress]

I'm in the same position as you, though with an 8 month old arriving in 6 weeks. Congratulations!
I've found loads of really good buys on eBay, though I haven't picked anything yet. I'm a keen rambler so I need something for all terrains. A colleague has just told me to save money by not buying a pram system with a flat carrycot that I'll never use due to her age. I'm off to google again now!

[user1471555041]

Our lo came home at 10 months and we bought an Uppababy and love it. We didn't buy the option with the carrycot as we wouldn't have used it because of her age.

[JustHappy3]

I found that first of all my AD (at 9 months) wanted to be looking at me, then she went through a phase of wanting to see where she was going and about 20 months it switched back to being happier looking at me. But we also got a smartrike at about 18 months which she loved.
If you have car boot space then a 2nd hand bugaboo chameleon is great. (The bar is often nibbled but you can get a cover for a fiver on amazon). But the Bee is equally good (perhaps not as great for rougher ground) and folds up.
If you'll be on public transport a lot then just get a cheap fold up one.
Congratulations!

[user1493550293]

It might be worth finding out what buggy your little girl's foster carers have and seeing if you can get a similar one. I did fta from two days but when I changed buggy as lo got older it took lo a few days to get used to a different buggy so might be one less unfamiliar thing for your little girl.

Congratulations too!!!!!!

[DaddyYannis]

Thank you for the responses :-) I'm umming and ahhing about whether to get second hand or not - we had a look at one we saw advertised the other day and to be honest it looked pretty knackered, but I guess they're not all like that! Not sure when we're getting to meet the foster carer yet but seeing what she's using now sounds like a good idea.

Feels like I have read every online review going and tested a few in-store as well. Contenders are Bugaboo Bee, M&P Zoom or P&T Mod.

And thank for the congrats, we're throwing caution to the wind and allowing ourselves to be extremely excited about it!

[Rainatnight]

Congratulations!

As long as you go parent-facing then it's really down to your personal preference and lifestyle. I have a Bee 3 which I bought second hand in really excellent condition. Have you joined any of the Facebook selling groups?

[Rainatnight]

Oh yeah, the Bee turns around to face outwards if you want that later (which I never do because I'd miss her lovely face and crazy babble chat)

[Rainatnight]

Strikethrough fail

[DaddyYannis]

Ooh thanks Facebook selling group sounds interesting, how do I find one?

I am already romanticising about how me and DD will have these amazing chats on the way to the shops but I am sure the reality will probably be quite different...

[llangennith]

Congratulations OP and I hope it all goes well. I think you have to accept the fact that babies and children generally are very expensive! Remember your baby will be in her buggy for hours at a time so it has to be big enough (she may be a large child), comfortable, and weatherproof. A large shade canopy is a must for summer and encouraging sleep.
You will very likely get a second more compact buggy as she gets older for short trips on the bus etc.

[Peppaismysaviour]

We adopted LO at ten months and got a less flashy joie chrome from Mothercare. We got two months rear facing before she demanded to see around her (by leaning out and turning her head to look forward!)
Was certainly a lot more affordable than other similar prans but it is one of our best purchases, sturdy and has been the saving grace for many adventures. It is light and small enough to get on the bus but with storage to carry a weeks shopping!

[Rainatnight]

The page is called Bugaboo Selling Page UK. And there's also one called London Pushchairs (or something).

We have great chats, and DD also very kindly shares whatever she's eating at the time which is handy and endearing.

[mamoosh]

We got an Uppababy Cruz which can be forward or parent facing. It was really helpful to go to John Lewis and try out a few prams and take the advice of one of their pram consultants. There are loads of them for sale second hand on eBay or Gumtree. I am happy with our Cruz! Good for urban life, if you want to go on lots of country walks then it's probably not for you.

[tldr]

Type your town name into FB and see what local groups come up - there'll likely be a mixture of selling sites, parent chat, local gossip and freecycling. The parent groups are also useful for finding baby groups and events and what not when you're ready for that.

(I have no clue re prams, I remember having to ask mumsnet all kind of idiot questions...)

[motherchuckinhen16]

Would recommend booking a free consultation at John Lewis nursery department. They will go through the various pushchair makes which you can try out. You can also look at cots, slings, car seats etc
We found it invaluable as we learnt a lot especially about the isofix bases and from there decided what we wanted.
We bought a nearly new uppababy off Ebay at a fraction of the price of a new one :-)

[Thandie1973]

I would highly recommend mamas and papas for a second hand pushchair. We recently purchased an armadillo XT which has the parent facing option and is quite easy to fold. Mamas and Papas sell ex display and preloved pushchairs with a 2 year and 1 year warranty respectively but only online. They are also cleaneed and checking thoroughly.

[Mintylizzy9]

Congrats!!!

Mamas and papas armadillo flip is good, easy fold and compact. Fits easily into my fiesta. Has a bigger seat also so does right up to 3/4 years old. My DS is big for his age at 3.5 we rarely use it now but it's a god send on holiday and he is still really comfy in it and I haven't had to swap it out for a smaller lighter umbrella style as it's compact enough but tough enough to hold him or 2 suitcases in the airport 😁.

[Kewcumber]

Just a warning - DS hadn't ever been in a pram/pushchair before and hated them with a fury (unusual I know) and it wasn't helpful to binding to have to snap stiff-as-a-board child in half before strapping them in!

I had to sling it until he was older by which time my lovely back facing pushchair was pointless and we switched to an ordinary stroller type.

Also make sure when rear facing it's easy to push - I had one that was fine when facing forward but handled like a tank facing rear.

[Kewcumber]

binding = bonding.

No binding involved.

[zigzagbetty]

We got a second hand britax for 15 pounds and its still going strong!! It makes me laugh when people compliment it and ask where it from! The rear facing we found (and still find) has been great for building attachment with our now 10 month old!
We bought cheap as my neice refused to use her very expensive travel system and is now in a cheap buggy