Second hand pram

[Sarahl82]

Hi, I'm 21 weeks pregnant and husband's sister who has two children (9 and 5) has offered me some of her old baby stuff. Most of it I'm happy to accept, except the pram. I want my own pram but my husband thinks we should just take his sister's old one (money isn't an issue but he thinks it would be better spent on something else). Am I being unreasonable? I just think a pram is a very personal item and I really want to choose my own.

[Shmithecat]

No, Yanbu at all. I didn't want anything 2nd hand for my DS, especially the pram. It's a very personal choice. My ds is 2yo now and I've bought a couple of 2nd hand pushchairs as he's got bigger. But No, for his first I wanted brand new.

[YerAuntFanny]

If you have your heart set on a new one and money allows then you should get one! Especially given that you're saving money by accepting other things from your SIL.

Personally, I think it's worth taking a look at what she has and thinking it over with your budget in mind as it may be a really good pram that you could jazz up and personality with new accessories but if you don't want it then just say thank you but it's not quite what you're after.

Another compromise may be to accept the main pram and buy a really good pushchair for when baby is older which might be useful when you want to travel light or if you fancy switching to something smaller.

[YerAuntFanny]

*personalise not personality

[crocodarl]

Another compromise may be to accept the main pram and buy a really good pushchair for when baby is older which might be useful when you want to travel light or if you fancy switching to something smaller.

I agree with this. The bassinet attachment for tiny babies can be quite expensive and you only need for about 6 months, maybe less if it's warmer weather or your baby is able to sit in a reclined sitting position sooner. So why bother getting a new one?

Rather get a cool pushchair you really like, and spend a bit more because you won't need the baby attachment. And you can even wait a few months after the baby is born to find out how you get on with pushing a pushchair, to know what kind of pushchair would be most useful for you. You might think you know now, but the reality could be different...(Eg are you more of a 3 big wheels rough terrain type or would 4 wheels and a coffee cup holder be more useful? Will it have to fold up to go in the boot of the car most days or will you walk everywhere?)

[Rockandrollwithit]

I used my sisters pram second hand because it was an icandy and they are expensive! I would accept and then spend the money you have saved on something else for the baby.

Don't understand the aversion to second hand myself, especially from family members.

[loveulotslikejellytots]

I wanted new for dd and got a new one. But in hindsight I wish I'd gone 2nd hand. My mum bought it but it was £800. We moved dd out of the bassinet at 4 months because she was so long, then switched to a lightweight stroller at 12 months. It is immaculate! Looked at selling it on (Silver cross Pioneer with all the extras) only reach about £250 here. Daft really considering how long we used it for. We're having another baby so I'm kind of glad it will get used again!

Could you look at SIL's pram? It may not suit you in terms of: will it fit in your car, where will you store it at home, will it be suitable for public transport if you use it? But worth a look. Even if you used it as a spare for parents or in laws to keep at their house?

[confusedlittleone]

I'd do both although we currently have 5 pushchairs 😂

[Sunshinegirl82]

I'd say it depends on the pram but assuming it was bought for the eldest and has seen two children through the baby/toddler years I can imagine it might have seen better days. It must be going on for 10 years old.

A new pram doesn't have to be crazy expensive. I know some people like to switch to a stroller my DS is 19 months and I have no plans to move him out of our icandy any time soon so I feel we've got really good use out of it so far.

I would absolutely insist on new car seats and mattresses come hell or high water!

[Notso]

It depends really, if it's the kind of pram you'd want to buy anyway then I'd go for it. If it's unsuitable then no.
When I was pg with DC1 I was offered loads of prams. One was, as my grandma told me a million times the pram Madonna had for her daughter. It was far too big for my needs so I stuck to my guns despite much criticism from the family.

[HopeAndJoy16]

I bought a second hand Sola off the Internet for less than £100 because I knew as soon as our child was big enough we would be getting rid and getting something smaller (small terraced house so storage an issue). We used the bassinet for less than 4 months and by 7 months we had bought a City2. I couldn't imagine spending £££ on something that was used for less than a year! But I wouldnt feel obliged to accept hand downs from family. Especially if you have the money/space or know you're going to use it for more than one child.

[piglet81]

It's your money so if it's important to you then buy new. Personally it wasn't important to me and I was very pleased with our eBay bargain secondhand (in v good nick).

[Mol1628]

I’d get new. It’s nice being able to choose a pram for your first baby.
Or if you want to save money find the model you want and see if you can get it second hand.

[ForgivenessIsDivine]

I have three children and I wish I hadnt bought into the whole expensive pram thing, I spent a fortune on a travel system for my first ... waste of money!

I bought a baby jogger city mini for our third and wish I had that and a series of slings / baby carriers for all three. Babies shouldn't be in car seats at a young age for more than 30 minutes so putting the car seat on the chassis is superfluous and the city jogger is nearly flat and worked well with a lodger two layer foot muff as a carry cot substitute. I was a more robust parent by number three so DS2 was a more robust child!!

I would also have liked a lie flat car seat for long journeys though the safety record of those seems to depend on who has the biggest research budget...

[BustopherJones]

On the one hand, if you want a new one and can afford it, you don’t have to take the second hand one. However, I just used a sling for the first few months as I wanted to see what I’d use the buggy for, but ended up with a baby who hated lying down so wouldn’t have used a carry cot at all. a lot of friends were on their second buggy by then, as hadn’t got in with their first one, and others got a stroller as soon as they could so probably spent longer researching which oram they wanted than using it.

If you have really specific needs so very sure of what you want then no point in getting something you won’t like. But a lot of people I know bought an expensive travel system, then wanted to change later on, but had to go for a cheaper option and wished they’d done it the other way round.