Pram/Buggy/Pushchair Snobs - am new at this and surprised!

[Stannie]

1st baby due in October and so am a total newbie at this Mummy Stuff..

I recently bought a Graco Travel System. It has all the things I want plus it was an attractive price in the sales.

First time I mentioned it was at a girly lunch and noses were definitely (if reasonably politely) turned up.. 2nd time I mentioned it (last night) there was a silence then "well, if you don't mind a Graco..."

What's up with a Graco ?? It seems that as I didn't buy a Quinny or Bugaboo I'm not "in"!

Will my DC be ridiculed because of his/her wheels? Will others refuse to go walking with me ? Is it REALLY that important ??

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[Chunkamatic]

No... maybe change your friends?! People find the most stupid things to be stuck up about.

It's maybe because they are (comparitively) quite cheap, and some people will choose to look down their noses... FWIW i'm at the other end of the scale, bought an expensive pram with money we were given and had people - and this is no lie - in my local town loudly whispering "who the hell does she think she is with that" behind my back. All my friends thought i was a tosser as well!!

You just do what you want to do and let others eat themselves up with judgey mcjudge bitterness, that's what i say!!

[arolf]

I got a Graco too :-) woman in mothercare was determined to sell us a bugaboo and maxi-cosi car seat, so we just found a different shop assistant and got what we wanted.

[Stannie]

Arolf - Mothercare person was also determined to sell me a Bugaboo - even when we pointed out that a Bugaboo would not suit our lifestyle at all! Think they must be on commission.. We also found another sales lady who was lovely and demonstrated the Graco happily ..

Chunkamatic - I think it's a city/country divide ? Only one of the lunch crowd was an actual friend of mine (she was mortified at their reaction - I wasn't too bothered!) the rest were Mums from her local Mum&Baby group. They are all in a big city and I live in the country.. It would appear I'm a hick ? (although my DvF wrap dresses would confuse the matter!)

I can understand the other end of the scale too - another mum at the LunchFromHell had a very expensive buggy (can't remember make but it was the best part of ?800!) that her parents had bought her - it was very nice - and some of the Mums were a bit snide about it.

I'm finding it quite amusing tbh! Couldn't believe this sort of thing exists but then it exists in other areas so why not I suppose..

[Chunkamatic]

The buggy is the least of some people's worries when it comes to competitive parenting! Mum and Baby groups are a breeding ground for it, or some of them are in my experience... it's like an extension of playground divisions over what trainers are best!

Maybe they were a bit jealous of your designer dress and saw a way to get one up. At least you know who not to mix with once your bablet is here!

[misdee]

the only thing i dont like about graco is that people tend to use the carseat on the chassis everytime they go out, even if not using the car

they arent actually that cheap. i was looking at them as a potential buggy as dh car going back next month. they boast the largest baskets on any buggy i have seen. so coulod've been great. as it was i picked up a second hand emmaljunga for £35.

[bagpuss]

I'm quite surprised how things seem to have changed compared to 9 or 10 years ago when I was looking for ds1's pram. Everybody had Graco then (or Mothercare equivalent) , myself included and nobody turned their noses up at them then. I think they are a good range, especially if you don't want to break the bank, and no, I don't think brand is all that important when most people switch to a maclaren at some point towards the end of the first year.

[quirkychick]

We had a Graco travel system for DD and plan to re-use it for DC2. Actually was very glad we my parents didn't spend loads as DD was in a sling a lot of the time and tall so we then got a Maclaren volo when she was bigger. Luckily, none of my friends were at all snobbish about it, a few had 2nd hand Gracos too.

[bevlin]

What a bunch of twats. Im glad I haven't come across competitive mums at all in 2 years (phew). I have bugaboo simply because of my life style. I needed light and easy to manoever. I walk miles everyday and it seemed the best FOR ME! Had the Graco done what I was looking for, Id have bought that instead. I really didn't know that there were such fanny's out there with opinions on buggy choice - get a life!
Sod them, I would'nt know what 'make' any of my other mums friends buggies are and I hang out with them on a weekly basis. Hopefully you will meet more interesting mums when the baby comes along! x

[bubblesincambridge]

Sod the pram, anyone know if Mulberry do changing bags??

[ExtraFancy]

I know how you feel - I knew nothing of the Pushchair Hierarchy and bought Britax Trekker based on cheapness and ability to cope with lots of walking.

TEN out of twelve of my antenatal group had bells-and-whistles Bugaboos - you can imagine how out of place my poor old buggy looked lined up in Starbucks

Having said that, I was the first one to change to a McClaren and we've pretty much all got them now.

[idreamofbeanie]

I haven't had anyone turn their noses up yet but I have had a huge amount of patronising sympathy from certain people. We decided to go for a Britax vigour as it suited our lifestyle and I saw one in great condition on Ebay for less than half the cheapest price I had found for a new one. I've mentioned to a few people that we got the pram on Ebay and a couple have had the reaction "poor you, it's such a pity you couldn't afford a nice new one but I'm sure it will be fine" followed up by sympathetically patting my hand (I kid you not ). Even a couple of friends were too embarrassed to admit they bought a bugaboo unless we felt bad that they could afford a better pram than us.

I was quite shocked the first time - we could have bought a new pram but I don't see the point in wasting the money when we can get a perfectly good second hand model (we did buy a new mattress for the carrycot part but the rest is great, just a few little scratches). Nothing wrong with buying a new one if that's what you want but I didn't mind and it's not like the baby will care so why shell out an extra £200? Now I just laugh .

[giggly]

I am 32 weeks with no 2 and bought a quinny speedi 4 years ago, when everyone had to have a bugaboo and at £500 cheaper I thought the quinny was a much better buy.

Some friends have the bugaboo and I am sure they have kidded themselves on that they are great prams, I have always thought that the seat looks really small and as for the shopping bag, well its just crap.

Can I just say my requirements for a pram where somewhat guided by pregnancy maddnes had to be red and a 3 wheeler.

Now everyone has quinnys and I dont want to be lumped into the must have mummies.

Oh and for whats its worth I think mamas and papas strollers are much better than the maclarens

[LittleCheese]

stanni i had a graco travel system for dd and loved it when i first bought it but when it came to being practical it was rather large and heavy to lift in and out of the car i also found i was using my car seat on the chassi a lot as i didnt have the soft carry cot so it was the only way i could have dd facing me. I have replaced it for new baby but not because of brand just because i was dissapointed i hadnt done more research before buying it

[AcademicMum]

There's nothing wrong with Graco. We had a basic travel system for ds1, and a one with a carry cot for ds2. The second one was actually the only buggy I could find that had everything on it I wanted! I'm convinced buying prams is like buying cars, some people just choose on the basis of the badge and not because of whether or not it ticks all the boxes.

(My requirements for a pram were: 1. allows baby to lie flat (Graco Quattro does this with the carry cot); 2. nice comfy looking buggy; 3. easy to fold; 4. fit in boot of car (many of the umbrella fold buggies didn't); 5. not too expensive).

At the end of the day the babies aren't bothered by the name of the buggy so long as it does the job and who cares what some superficial idiots think? Change friends if that is the basis on which they judge people.

[Northernlurker]

Personally I don't rate Graco though. You will be fine for about 8 months and then it will be knackered - I have seen countless women pushing knackered Gracos!

[carrielou2007]

There is so much snobbery around buggies and all the other useless crapp necessary items needed for little ones.

It really does come down to what suits you. There will be a few raised eyebrows if you mention Graco as they do not have a very good reputation (platicky, rickity, poor quality) and I personally would not buy one. I would never say this to someone who has just told me they have bought a graco though!

I had to borrow my sisters (lovely) pram whislst still waiting for mine to be delivered and bumped into someone I had met at antenatal and she totally looked the pram up and down and sort of sneered at me. Months later I bumped into her again and her beautiful pram by then was covered in bits of dried food, with milk stains etc and she practially dribbled over my cleaned every week as I'm just like that bugaboo .

[scottishmummy]

lookey prams go from A to B,no big deal.buy the pram you want

good for being canny and getting a good price

congratulations on pg

[madmissy]

the thing with using the car seat though is that its not good for babys spine i cant stand seeing people in shopping centres with car seat on chassis..... lay the seat flat!!! its safer for bub!

i personally don't like graco i find they look to plastic.

for ds1 (dc3) i have got a fabby m&p bargain off ebay so will use that.

ive had hundreds of buggys and fair few bugaboos sadly they dont last long and they are not all that practical

[4thtimelucky]

Mmm, looking at buggys in John Lewis today and the Graco Mosaic travel system seems to tick all the boxes for us too - we were the only ones looking at that area and everyone was looking at the bugaboo's! For us it ticks the boxes we have - lightweight, umbrella fold so small, lie flat and with me at just over 5', the handle height is OK - I was looking on line at maclaren xlr but the handles were too high for me. And it seems remarkable value for money. Am I missing something?! I don't get this buggy snobbery thing either but them am also new to this, Stannie.

[lucky1979]

Stannie, I'm due end of October with my first as well, and have NO experience with buggies and so on either. We've just ordered the Mamas and Papas Ultima 8 in 1 in the sale as it had all the bits and saves us having to buy a moses basket for downstairs as well. My only concern with it was the car seat didn't score as highly on saftey tests as the Maxi-Cosi, but in the end justified that it was only one star different on the Which report so will buy the proper car seat base as well which makes it better for safety.

DH refused to pay for the Bugaboo on principle as he said we might as well buy the baby a car for that price. In the end though we tried out every single one and just picked the one we thought fitted our lifestyle best - I adored one of the pale pink Gracos but it didn't have a carrycot bit so wasn't practical. If your pram/buggy/whatever works for you then it's a good one!

[PrammyMammy]

Giggly - i am 34 weeks with dc2 and also bought the Quinny Speedi when ds was born. I still have it here for when dc2 arrives. Everyone seems to go straight for the Buzz and the Speedi doesn't get a look in, which is a shame because it is much, much better. I don't know anyone who bought a Buzz and liked everything about it.
OP - Graco pushchairs are soo hard wearing, my sister bought a 2nd hand travel system when her dd was born 3.5 years ago, i'm not sure how old exactly it is, but now it is still in good condition with only a sun faded hood, and she used it almost every day until recently. The seats are nice and spacey too.

[Gateau]

Pram snobbery is just the tip of the iceberg. Just you wait. The snobbery just doesn't stop when you become a parent. Snobbery and smuggery are rife amongst Mums, it seems.Mums will look down on other Mums for just about anything. You just have to ignore and feel sorry for their trivial minds.