Prams as a status symbol/pram snobbery

[Mamamooligans]

So today I was looking at prams and overheard a woman telling who I assume was her mother 'we're only looking at the icandys and bugaboos, I wouldn't be caught dead with anything else.'

Is this a common attitude? To be honest I don't really like the look of most icandys and bugaboos, I think the bucket seats look uncomfy. I don't get why anyone would rule out other brands, surely you want whats comfiest for baby and suits your lifestyle best? Not just based on brand or cost?

Do people choose prams as a status symbol? Do you judge people based on what pram they have?

I love my Bugaboo bee. If you're in London and on off buses tubes etc I think they're great. I've never needed to trade it for a stroller. We only use a babyzen for holidays.

@Princessfaffalot we had the stokke too, the height to push so I didn't have to slouch was the winner for me. Bonus points for it being cool af at the time

Any big purchase will be seen by some as a status symbol - house, car, pram, holidays etc. The pram is probably the most expensive thing people buy for a new baby so it's not surprising that it gets attention. And of course the different brands market to different groups, that's normal too.

I'm another one who loves my uppababy vista. I will admit to pram snobbery in that I absolutely judge anyone who buys another brand, they're just so bloody practical.

Oh, what really bewilders me is the people who pay a couple of hundred extra for a different colour.

The egg looks really shit. I remember the thread a few months ago on AIBU with the woman who wanted to take her egg on holiday but didn’t want it to get damaged. A few people asked why she wouldn’t just get a cheaper stroller for her holiday and she basically said she wanted to have the fancy pram in photos . I had never even seen an egg pram in person until this week, it looks ridiculous.

I have a bugaboo though, it’s a fantastic pram. Very sturdy and looks nice. Yes, the look of a pram does matter to me and there are certain prams I really wouldn’t want to use at all (Graco for example- grim).

I do own my home and have a nice car so didn’t skint myself to keep up appearances .

I'm the opposite when I see an Uppababy Vista, I think wow that's so impractical looking and that they really get in the way. Often see people struggling in door ways with them. I'm in London though.

Yeah IrishMamaMia it's not a city pram, they have the Cruz for that. I live in the suburbs though and mostly walk so it's brilliant for that. I don't find I struggle with it in shops and it's been fine on quiet non rush hour trains, but I wouldn't want to bring it on a bus.

We got a small lightweight buggy for nursery (baby jogger city tour) and I thought we'd end up using it whenever we went out in the car cos it's so much lighter and quicker to get in the boot, but actually we don't. Big basket makes the vista so much more practical and DD is happier in it. She's 16 months and we're back at work full-time but we still have the vista out several times a weekend.

It’s so easy to get a pram/pushchair second hand, there are just so many around yet the marketing for babies is just a license to print money as people are brainwashed into thinking they must have everything new and fashionable.
I was lucky in that I had my DS a lot later than my friends had their children so I was inundated with hand me downs, I had at least three pushchairs/prams, no idea what brand they were and couldn’t care less. I didn’t have to buy anything new for my DS until he was about 8. He even had second hand shoes, is a county level sports player now so can’t have done his feet any harm.

@mindystclaire to be fair I only ever hear good things about it. My parents love in Ireland and most people have it there. I liked the Cruz when I was pram shopping but most reviews didn't seem as good as for the vista.

it would take them ages to set them up and dismantle tgem - such a faff

Cannot see how it would possibly take ages to set up a Bugaboo. The base flips out without needing to do anything to it and then you put the seat or carry cot on top just by lining it up.

I wasn’t aware of any snobbery but when I asked friends for recommendations on Facebook, most said the Bugaboo and it was the one we liked most in the shop too. It’s lasted two children and been used for 4.5 years so far. I couldn’t tell you what any of my friends have!

The pram as a status symbol has been around for a long time - my husband’s granny told me when she was having her babies in the 60s people were buying the Silvercross coach pram on time payment. She never had one as couldn’t believe people would go into debt for something so frivolous.
It’s defiantly a thing though! I like the Silvercross and Bugaboo but they’re just not functional for my lifestyle. I prefer a more functional, three wheel all terrain. I have a Mountain Buggy lux. My daughter’s 3 and we’ve only just stopped using it, and now getting ready to use it for baby no 4. I had an umbrella stroller only for holidays as we couldn’t fit the big pram and our luggage in the hire car.

Well I'm thankful to whoever it is buying these expensive prams because it means I can get a good second hand deal. I bought a version 1 bugaboo for £140 for my son. It works fine and has no sun fade, nice and clean. I will probably get most of that back when I come to sell it.

We loved to a pushchair to have more space in the car and give me the option to take him on buses and trains more easily. Got a mint condition M&P armadillo for £50.

Couldn't be happier with them and I saved a lot of money for other things, but it wouldn't have been possible without other people buying new before passing them on.

That said I do look at these frilly white things with fur hood and wonder how it's going to look after it's been dragged through mud and sand, but perhaps not everyone gets theirs as filthy as I seem to do!

iCandy and Bugaboos are terrible, wouldn’t touch those brands at all!

We are fans of Nuna and Silvercross.

I've got an uppababy vista and just to provide contrast, I'm not a fan of the big bulky bastard! For DS1 I did use it a lot as I didn't have a car and the basket size is great but it's cumbersome and quite antisocial if you're trying to take it on a bus. DS2 only went in it a few times and I got fed up of it. As a double it's really heavy too and I quickly swapped it for a second hand baby jogger, which is my hands down top recommendation for twins or close in age kids.

I wouldn't be running with a vista either, even with the fixed wheels it's suspension can't cope. I have an out n about sport for that.

My best pram buy was a second hand mamas and papas armadillo city. That's been through both my children and is still going for baby three. It folds tiny and is great for on and off the bus.

To the op (finally!) Yes pram snobbery is a thing. But I've had a few prams and the fact is, it's not the brand that matters, it's the function. And if it doesn't work for your lifestyle (car/no car/back problems/tall/running/flat/house etc) then the brand is irrelevant.

iCandy and Bugaboos are terrible, wouldn’t touch those brands at all

Why? What makes them terrible?

iCandy and Bugaboos are terrible, wouldn’t touch those brands at all!

Just shows it’s different strokes for different folks. I’ve been really happy with our (very well used) iCandy Orange and have had no problems with it whatsoever, but absolutely hated my sister’s silver cross when I looked after my niece.

Ugh, hated the pram snobbery.

My friend from work happened to be selling her Quinny travel system when I was expecting DC1. I knew her and trusted that the car seat hadn’t been in an accident. It was in great nick and I paid her £200 including extras such as footmuff.

That Quinny did Dc1, 2 and 3 well over the years. Especially as the years went on, it was certainly not one of the cool brands but I try to extend recycling to all areas of life. I bet loads of proms end up in landfill 😞.

With my eldest the first 2 Prams I had were gifted and second hand 1st was a travel system which broke early on. The second was old didn’t have swivel wheels and was a horrendous orange and blue tartan affair. DD loved being pushed about in it though as it was very bouncy.

When DD was 9 months I spotted a Graco stroller on sale in Halfords for £25 and it was £25 very well spent. While not at all fancy it was a brilliant buggy, good basket, built in feeding tray, lightweight and easy to fold (I wish I had kept it) This was 14 years ago now and if it was on sale now I’d buy it again.

DD2 had a Mamma and Pappa’s all in on Pramette, Stroller that cost £180 from Argos. Plain black, not fashionable but practical. The brake broke at about the 12 month mark and ended up buying a cheap stroller.

DD3 purchased second hand Silvercross Wayfarer and I bloody love it. Looks great, and DD finds it very comfortable, it’s been in constant use for 19 months now and I still choose to use it over the cheap stroller I bought.

You are very right, through baby groups I've met many people who have spent upwards of £350+ on prams and they've admitted its because they wouldn't want to be seen with other brands. Personally I wouldn't spend more than £200 on a travel system. The bonus is though if you don't mind second hand there are always plenty of people who sell them dirt cheap and like new condition.

We were very lucky and my parents bought us a bugaboo Fox- we picked it out purely because of the reviews, it handled the best in the shop (and we tried out a lot), and it folds down small enough to fit in our tiny car boot. I do also like how it looks- but I don't see why that's something that other people should look down on? Everyone likes different things, and everyone should just choose to spend their own money on what they want without judging others.

Another Jané lover here.

Well designed, with lie flat car seat. No need for desperate carry cot.

Got 2 children out of it and then sold it on.

I had a mamas and papas sola that I used daily for 2 years (we lived in the city) and when I fell pregnant with no2 I opted for the bugaboo donkey as I needed to have something that I could use for two dc or 1 dc. I used it before dc2 arrived and the side basket was a GODSEND in the last 2 months of pregnancy!! It cost me 1200 but was worth every single penny!I used it for 2.5 years and then sold it for 500! So for me it made complete sense. I also sold the M&P sola for 100!!

Case in point, on another not very busy but sensible question thread, two posters stating the make of their pram (not relevant to the question at all) rather than just saying 'in the pram' 🙄

We had a bugaboo for dd (14 years ago) and we used it from birth up until she was about 4yrs (long city walks).

We picked it because it was by far the most comfortable one for the baby - warm, cosy, air filled wheels, filled in space behind the legs so wind not whistling through. Plus it was very comfortable for us to wheel both rurally where we lived and in the nearby city.

We never regretted it for one moment and never had another stroller or buggy. And it travelled every where with us - several trips to Australia, Thailand, Canada as well as loads of places in Europe.

I always felt dd was very very comfy in it and loved that it could recline when she feel asleep.

We had the cosy toes for the winter and she was so snug - she herself loved it.

I have friends who had a mcclarens and it was like pushing a supermarket trolley!

My sister had a stokke and loved it

But you know, like all things, each to their own!

Love my bugaboo Fox. I’ve used to on different terrains and it’s so light and easy to push many of my friends have said they wish they’d looked at one when they bought theirs.
It’s also got a massive carrycot in it so my little one (5 months) still has plenty of room the stretch out in it and I’ll be changing it over for the seat unit so would only bother to purchase another stroller for the sake of flying as I wouldn’t want the Fox being damaged in the hold.

I loved my Bugaboo Bee it’s lasted 7 years, and we got it because it fitted our needs.

I did buy a Maclaren but hated it and went back to the Bee.