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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to just NOT get and in fact be slightly frightened of one particular area of MN??

95 replies

BunnyLebowski · 04/11/2010 22:27

I've never ventured in there out of sheer fear but I've always wondered why there is an entire topic dedicated to......

Pushchairs???

With thread titles including such baffling words as Stokke and pramette and buggysnuggle? Oh and precisely who the hell are Phil and Ted? Confused

It all sounds so elaborate and confusing and....well....utterly pointless.

Aren't they just vehicles in which to transport our loin-fruit from playgroup to Greggs or am I missing summat?

Don't people just buy whatever Travel System is on offer at the start and then (once they've wised up) grab whichever pushchair is 50% off in the Asda Baby Event? (or even better inherit one from a family member)

Or is it just me?

OP posts:
Meglet · 04/11/2010 22:28

I found choosing a pushchair much like buying a car. In fact the car was easier Hmm.

Eleison · 04/11/2010 22:31

Baffles me too. I bought a pushchair before they became a lifestyle statement. It was a one-off dull transaction, like buying a stepladder would be.

The weirdest brandname is 'hauck infinity'. I was that on MN the other day and thought it was a discussion of some mathematicians' problem. I can imagine someone getting the ~Nobel Prize for solving Hauck Infinity Paradox.

MrsShrekTheThird · 04/11/2010 22:32

I'm more scared of AIBU

(leaves thread)

onceamai · 04/11/2010 22:33

Was Silver Cross or McLaren in my day - all covered in flowers.

sleepysox · 04/11/2010 22:33

The phrase 'each to their own' springs to mind. Or 'live and let live'.

SpikyBinkle · 04/11/2010 22:34

I agree with you Meglet. And some of them are almost as expensive. Shock

I used to wonder what the fuss was about and was happy to inherit SIL's hand-me-down for my first baby. Then I began to develop pushchair envy...

My choice never features in the discussions anyway.

Thingiebob · 04/11/2010 22:34

Rofl at Hauck Infinity Paradox!

BaronessBomburst · 04/11/2010 22:35

DB and SIL started their family one year ahead of us and did all the research, checked out Which reports, asked friends, traipsed around shops, analysed things for weeks, tested things etc etc - so we just bought whatever they had. Easy! :)

Original poster
BunnyLebowski · 04/11/2010 22:35

Grin at Hauck Infinity Paradox!

It just seems so fundamentally ^twattish* to see a buggy as some kind of status symbol or something to be judged on.

Meglet - how could it possibly be like buying a car? A car costs thousands and is a complicated piece of engineering. It requires furl and maintenance. Buying a car is a big thing.

A buggy is a deckchair on wheels???

OP posts:
missorinoco · 04/11/2010 22:35

I think Phil and Ted are a spin off Phil and Ted's most excellent adventure, but that's just from reading the blurb on my buggy, which is written in a similar style to the language used in the film.

MsKalo · 04/11/2010 22:36

Each to their own is very true but for me, it is bugaboo all the way and I find that when I come across other bugaboo mums we always exchange a smile that says 'bugaboos are great'! Lol

BaronessBomburst · 04/11/2010 22:37

..... only in MUCH nicer colours as Maxi Cosi are Dutch and so we get ranges that you lot don't! Ner ner ner ner!

Tidey · 04/11/2010 22:39

I don't get it either. I don't understand how a pushchair can be fashionable or unfashionable, or why some people get a new one every fortnight. Both my DC had a travel system thing, so it was a pram when they were babies and turned into a pushchair when they got bigger. No idea why they need to be lime green and only have one wheel or whatever nowadays. I sound really old fashioned. DD is only 3.

FrameyMcFrame · 04/11/2010 22:40

The pushchair shed is a fantastic thread...
I often read it for relaxation purposes.

sleepysox · 04/11/2010 22:41

I don't think it's to do with buggies being status symbols.

Some people have genuine requirements when it comes to pushchairs eg being able to use it on public transport, being able to fit in their boot, and so mn is a good place to get the low down.

Prams can be used for 7 years or more, if they are used for more than one child, and so they're an investment. People need to buy the right thing, thus saving money in the long run.

piratecat · 04/11/2010 22:41

i saw a thread where one lady had purchased a pram for 1200 squids, nealr y as much as i paid for my car !!!!

Original poster
BunnyLebowski · 04/11/2010 22:41

Tidey My dd is only 2 so you are definitely not old-fashioned.

Just in possession of common sense, an attribute clearly lacking in the non-questioning, keep-up-with-the-Joneses consumer zombies.

OP posts:
samcrow · 04/11/2010 22:43

Not unreasonable at all, I have the topic hidden as I just don't get it at all. Despite having pushed a pushchair for more years than I like to remember I never once noticed anyone else's unless it was a really way out colour or very ugly and even then I wouldn't have known what sort it was.

This is what the hide topic function is for Smile

VictorianIce · 04/11/2010 22:44

Bugaboo mums?

Really?

stealthsquiggle · 04/11/2010 22:44

PMSL. Soooo glad it's not me (best price decent travel system for DS, handed down to DD 4 years later, never felt the need for anything else other than light folding buggy when we got fed up with huge thing taking up entire boot of car). I was even gladder when I was biting my tongue refraining from mentioning the subject to a pregnant friend and she announced that someone had offered them a travel system and that was fine with her Grin (I would have offered her ours, but it was finally killed by a baggage handler just as DD was growing out of it anyway)

stealthsquiggle · 04/11/2010 22:45

not just me [duh]

LelloLorry · 04/11/2010 22:45

I completely get it, especially for people with multiple needs.
So you've bought your £900 travel system 3 months before baby's here, EMCS that was unprecedented, who the hell is going to lug that bad boy about?
For those who live in flats without lifts, what's lightest/easiest to carry with a baby?

For those who live in mountains, an all terain that can also go through the shops? A light one?
One for two kids? Those who are having twins?

There's a lot of crap out there, who wants to pay 1k plus for something thats going to break within 6 months and the manufacturer going to tell them to F off?
(iCandy springs to mind).
Stokke - a brand of baby gear that grows with your child, such as the highchair (suitable from 6mnths to teen/adultish), the pushchair is higher than most/all others, and is helpful to those with bad backs/grandparents.

Phil & Teds is a brand of pushchair, they're generally inline doubles + suitable for all terain.
Otherwise - buy a maclaren at the start, (a few can now be used with carseats), and bosh.

lissieloukatthosefireworks · 04/11/2010 22:45

tbh, i dont know why people buy several pushchairs. i understand buying an expensive one so it can be used for subsequent children, but some women end up with 6 or 7 pushchairs in their house.

but then dh doesnt understand why i need at least 8 pairs of boots...

flyingzebra · 04/11/2010 22:46

I totally agree.

Especially when you read threads from people who have tried 6 different types of prams/pushchairs/buggies/whatever you want to call them and their child is only 12 weeks old.

I remembered vaguely trying to research them when I was pregnant and getting upset because I didn't understand them and my friend with 3 kids said "OFG just pick one".

Never looked back Grin

ThighsBurntOnABigRocket · 04/11/2010 22:46

I have this pile of toot which is up in my mums loft ready for the next bub I don't plan to have in the next 8 years.

I will be ridiculed and pointed at when I do get it down but I don't care!! Its a pushchair!

A to B as they say Wink