Oh bother I love the bugaboo cameleon 3. Am I being ridiculous?

[DoodleHolly]

So I signed up to which, read their reports, read reviews, gave it a great deal of 'Proper Thought' and I came up with a few pushchairs that seemed practical.

I want rear facing from birth but not too huge. Ideally but not necessarily with maxi cosi connectors.

I narrowed the list down to uppababy vista or Cruz, easy walker June.

We crossed the country to look at these. For various reasons (including size of our second car) only the uppababy pushchairs ticked the boxes. But the handles are so so high.

And in a fit of desperation generosity, DH suggested I tried the bugaboos before going home.

Now I don't like the bee for various reasons but reluctantly agreed to try the cameleon 3. And I loved it.

Loved

Loved

Loved it.

Loved the way it had space but I didn't feel swamped by it. Loved the seat, the basket, handle height.

But I can't really find many reviews as its relatively new and claims to be 90% redesigned.

Does anyone have any experiences of the cam3, good or bad?

[DoodleHolly]

Oh sorry I spent so long talking about pushchairs!

[ZenNudist]

Not used a cam3 but can testify that the cam is a fantastic pram. Spacious for older babies, got the crib thing for newborns. Very sturdy and smooth ride. It takes a hammering without a problem which is good as I intend to get double use out of it.

and it looks cool

[Some0ne]

I can also recommend the older Bugaboos (I'm not sure which one I have). Ours is second hand, is on its third child, and is as solid as a rock still. They really are a fantastic buggy, there's nowhere they can't go. DH has been trying to persuade me to get rid of ours in favour of something more compact but I can't bring myself to.

[DoodleHolly]

I know. I was really surprised.

Good to hear about it taking a hammering. I'm not known for being gentle on things!

[DoodleHolly]

Just wish they were a tad more affordable! But then all pushchairs seem a lot more expensive than they were five years ago!

[Tiggywunkle]

I have just put on another thread. Although the Cam 3 has been heavily redesigned in essence its the same Cameleon. Some things are slightly better eg the wheel releases, but some things may be worse to those who have used Cam's in the past ie I dont like the floppy chassis when folded. But essentially if you asked the question do you like your Cameleon, the answers will all be valid to the Cam 3 - just bear in mind the slight differences. I think the swing away bumper bar is the best change for me. I have had 2 Cameleons which says a lot as DH doesn't normally let me have the same pushchair twice. I love them, and would have another. I think there's also other good pushchairs out there, but the Cameleon is a classic and fab.

[Ihateparties]

This is very good thread to highlight how you can think you've narrowed down your choices then go and look at things in real life and things change! I had a gecko and it was brilliant, as tiggy says above i don't normally revisit pushchairs but i would get another. I never folded mine though, i find the fold v obnoxious :-/

[NorthernNumpty]

Whilst I loved my Cameleon I only used it for 12 months, got an umbrella buggy for nursery purposes (had to leave in a buggy cupboard) and never went back to the cam. I would just bear that in mind as it then isn't good value for money, but I suppose they retain their value for resale

[DoodleHolly]

Good point northern but I don't leave a pushchair at nursery with DS so can't see that changing and lugged a Maclaren techno xt around for two years and only changed to a smaller pushchair because I couldn't see DS over the hood it was so huge and I couldn't stand the embarrassment after not realising DS was bent double so he could virtually reach the floor in a very expensive delicatessen helping himself to a small fortune of bread rolls from the "pick and mix" bread display

[Tiggywunkle]

NorthernNumpty We had our first Cameleon for around 18 months, and I actually made a profit on it when I sold it. I bought it new, but did a good deal, but two price increases and some canny buying and selling of accessories, left me in profit :) I think you are more likely to get a good return for your money on a good brand pushchair, than on a cheaper brand. BUT its a case of knowing the market and buying well and selling well - a Bugaboo will recoup you more money than a Bebecar or Silver Cross for example!

[DoodleHolly]

I've heard people mentioning having duplicate cameleons. Does this mean they haven't lasted well?

[Mosman]

It usually means they were tempted to try something else which didn't live up to the chameleon, so they re bought it. I've had two
The only thing I did find was that my quite dinky little girl out grew the seat at about 2 years with the footmuff in it, which I needed.
Given that she would still fit in a P&T now at 8 years i thought that was a bit strange.

[DoodleHolly]

I'm not a big fan of foot muffs once they start waking so that's less of a problem. DS who is four and slightly taller than average was obviously too tall with the hood on but otherwise was happy in it as my guinea pig!

Bless him he takes til four years old to actually want to go in a pushchair!!

With the other pushchairs I actually measured the seat dimensions when we were there to check they were relatively standard but with the cameleon all reason went out of the window. So much for rational decision making! Might go to a local shop to double check dimensions of the seat.

Has anyone seen the dark grey seat unit? I've only seen the black but quite fancy the dark grey seat unit/basket and petrol blue hood.

[DoodleHolly]

Walking not waking.

Obviously I dont make my child freeze because they have dared to wake up!

[Tiggywunkle]

I had two simply because I had a Cameleon for DC1 but even though I had planned for DC2, I knew a buggy board at that stage would be hopeless. So the Cam got sold for a double....so DH (who normally has a rule that once a pushchair leaves we never get it again) said I could have another (because I hadn't really wanted it to go in the first place but needs must).

The Cameleon has a really good sized seat - my nearly 4 year old fitted into it. The issue is that the hood fabric folds onto the seat making it look smaller than it is. Even an older baby may well have their head resting on it. Its easy to simply push out of the way, or even remove the hood if its an issue. I know first time round it bugged me, but second time, I wasn't as bothered. But its a taller and deeper seat than the Cruz just as an example.

[Lamazeroo]

I test drove one for mumsnet, my review is in the pushchair review section. To sum it up quickly: adored it and can't recommend it highly enough. More info in my review (on phone so can't link, sorry!)

[rogersmellyonthetelly]

I had about 6 cameleons over the course of the 18 months from dd being 2 to 3.5 when she outgrew it leg wise. I was a pram addict and bought and sold pushchairs every other week, always second hand I hasten to add. The reason I had so many cameleons was that I would feel guilty about having such a lot of cash tied up in a pushchair that got used a couple of times a week, and see how small the stroller type folded, and sell the cam in favour of a smaller cheaper buggy. Then within a week of trying to manhandle a stroller with a toddler in when I was used to the one handed light steering and perfect suspension of the cam, I would want it back and spend another 3 weeks looking for a bargain cam to buy. This went on and on until finally dh banned me from selling the cam. I then kept it until she was too big for it.

[DoodleHolly]

rogers that's hilarious.

This is intended to be my last child if all goes well so soon enough I will have to master the art of selling on eBay! It scares me though.

Will def have to master it if getting a bugaboo!

[StateofConfusion]

I had loads of different pushchairs for my eldest two, someone swapped my mutsy for a bugaboo frog once dd didn't need a stroller anymore so I kept it just incase, dd2 was born two weeks ago and I can say honestly the bugaboo is the best pushchair I've ever used, it just moves so effortlessly the carrycots lovely and big and deep and we have the adapters for the britax baby safe shr carseat which snaps on and off so easily. I lOVE it.

[rogersmellyonthetelly]

Doodle - there are some bugaboo buy and sell pages on Facebook if you look, they are heavily policed by admins to keep scammers off, and a lot of the sellers are regulars that have reputations so as long as you pay by PayPal non gifted and it's someone on the page it's likely to be fine. Same for selling, fb is fee free!

[NorthernNumpty]

Thinking about selling mine on now I have seen how much they go for......

[Mosman]

I did that with my stokke sold it to fund buying a puppy - wish I had the pram now lol

[Boggler]

My dd is four months old and we agonised for ages over what pram to get (we made an expensive mistake on ds). In the end we went for a cameleon and I still love it. Its brilliantly easy to manoeuvre especially rundown shops etc it's light to push yet s reassuringly well made. My only gripe would be the maxi cosi pebble car seat we bought - I hate it. The straps are a pain and. It's difficult to get on and off the chassis. The cabrio might be better. Other than that I couldn't find fault with the cameleon.

[DoodleAlley]

Well ladies I am pleased and excited to report that I've jumped right in and ordered my bugaboo Cameleon 3 as of yesterday.

Bit of a wait but I wanted to use a local small business rather than a chain with stock in.

Very excited!

[LarnaJ]

Hi I have a bugaboo Cameleon 3. Can anyone recommend the best way to sell. Thanks