to be amazed at the price of prams

[Greavesey]

Firstly, Hi. Post Number 1. Ever. :)

Went pram shopping with DW the other week and was massively shocked at the price and complexity of these previously unknown machines. I mean I've looked online as well and its mental. DW wants the full-monty travel system with Isofix pebble cabrios etc, we're talking the best part of £800. AIBU for two things.
1 expecting prams to be cheap
2 expecting hoping DW to consider 2nd hand, ebay etc

Short and sweet.

X post wannabe! Get yourself a Maclaren!

Are they cosy enough for a baby though? I will go have a nosy now!

Unless you really want air tyres or parent facing, then the Baby Jogger City Mini is your friend. They do a version with air tyres now too. You 'll get one for under £300, and a maxi cost car seat is around £100 and you can get adapters to put the maxi cosi on the Baby Jogger.

It's the time of year for NCT nearly new sales. Fantastic for baby bargains! Look on their website to find one near you.

I look forward to your rant about the price of shoes in 18 months or so.

Both my babies went in Maclaren All Seasons from birth with no problems. I think the Maclaren Techno XT is more or less the same model. It lies flat for a newborn and has about 4 seat settings to use as they want to sit up. It is the only buggy I have ever bought and intend it to last till me second child no longer needs it.

Definitely ebay. I got my Bugaboo Bee second hand and bought it from someone who was clearly a pramaholic. It was literally box fresh when I got it and I saved about £150 off RRP.

Its my 2nd so Im also not adverse to second hand. But that will depend on something good coming up on gumtree in the next week or so as Im due 2nd nov!!

I would prefer parent facing and a more pram look. Not sure why. But I had a pram which converted to a pushchair with DD and although it was bulky and heavy, I used it the whole way through. It took a lot of wear so I cant use it again or I would.

It just seems like theres very little choice in 2 in 1s but loads of 3 in 1s!!

Thanks for your help :)

I'm another one that thinks travel systems are a complete con - but I don't drive (DH does though) so walk everywhere therefore didn't care about a car seat that fitted onto the pushchair.

I did care about something light for hills / tube / bus and flat and I've had Mamas & Papas Pliko pramette twice (1st one did DS1&2 but was trashed so got new one for DS3) and used every day for first year pretty much before moving onto the Maclaren.

If I'd been worried about only buying one, I'd have got the Maclaren. Honestly, they are really all you NEED although obviously you might WANT something different. I think one of the ones suitable from birth comes with what looks like a holdall to put the baby in which DH was very keen on, looked like a kitbag or something . Really don't spend £800 if you don't want to.

Is the baby city jogger mini an umbrella fold? You will need one of these if you plan to get on a plane with a toddler. I have flown with my 18mo and 1) she will not follow you walking so I need to push her to the gate 2) she is too heavy for a sling or baby bjorn 3) two airlines told me they only accept umbrella fold strollers.

I have a travel system and a maclaren. My maclaren is from birth but I can't see myself putting a newborn in a 5 point harness.

And I don't think a travel system is a con. I drove a lot and you don't want I wake a baby to transfer her from carseat to pram. Many times DD stayed asleep from car to shop and back to the car.

I love my huge travel system, and still use it now ds is walking at 16months, but we also have a Maclaren for in the car. It suits how we live and looking forward to using it as a pram again for next dc.

Its a M&P Ultima, but we got it less than half RRP by buying a discontinued colour off the internet, which presumably would work with any other brand as well! They also have really cheap ex display models at the M&P outlet centres if you have one anywhere near you. Or you could wait for a good sale - you could use Tesco exchange vouchers on the pushchairs they had last time they had that on.

I found that you needed nothing short of a science degree to work out what buggy/ travel system/pram/pushchair you should get.

Like you, I was horrified at the prices and ended up haggling in the shop corner over an ex display model!

The guy that helped me to chose though was really helpful and made me assess my lifestyle before steering me towards what seemed to fit the most, which was a mountain buggy swift, which also incidentally was one of the few I could fit into the boot if my small car. Very important to make sure it fits there before buying!

I love my travel system
Ds is 6.5 months and I have no plans to move to a buggy yet. You just need to shop around and get something that suits your lifestyle. I got mine as a shop display model with 40% off, in perfect condition. Do loads of research and you'll be fine.

They can be expensive, but you can shop around and might just find a bargain. Don't just look in the department stores or chains etc, although these places are handy to test drive them!

I love our travel system, and as DC2 is using it all, I feel we're definitely getting our money's worth out of it.

Don't buy a second hand car seat though, as you won't know it's history, best to spend the cash on a new one in that instance.

experienced third timer here! For dd3, who is now 9 months, I wanted a McLaren xlr with detachable carrycot. Available in several cool colours on amazon for about 250. It was ideal cos I didn't want a travel system and knew I'd buy a McLaren at 6 months anyway. The xlr with carrycot meant I could use it from birth. It's fantastic, best pushchair I've had.

Get a Maclaren Techno XLR. Absolutely love mine.

Ours cost £250 (3 years ago), came with sun hood, rain cover and footmuff. All washable. Suitable from birth, although I used a sling more in the first few months. The Recaro infant carrier size 0/car seat clips into it if you want that sort of thing. The clips that attach to the buggy are sold separately and cost £20- we never used ours though. (I got the car seat on Ebay for £40).

Its done two children very well and is all washable. Twas very cosy for one august and one January baby. Quite long though- check it fits in your boot.

It fitted in my Fiesta but doesn't fit in a Touran without putting a seat down!!

YANBU - I am due in April, have been looking around and am shocked. My DD is 9yo and I got a bargain with her Graco travel system - bought by a friend just 6 months earlier, too big for her car and only ever used to push her PFB from the car park to the shops.

She sold it to me for £100 and I used it for 3 or 4 years - it was worth it's weight in gold.

I walked everywhere, so a big/sturdy pram was what suited my needs.

If you are more of a car-centric family, do not go for big and sturdy.

If you do a lot of walking (ie leisure time, out and about in the country) then you need lightweight but durable.

If you use the bus, you need to make sure it doesn't take up the entire pushchair/wheelchair section and can be easily collapsed should the need arise.

Bearing all this in mind, I trotted off to Mothercare (having got a feel for what is what in the world of prams 2012 online). I was shocked, you definitely pay the higher end for the branded prams.

Not worth it. From what I can work out, Graco is not-cool anymore (whereas it was in 2003 ) but Quinny and Stoke are tres-chic.

You get a decent, all inclusive, Graco travel system for around £400. Similar spec on a Quinny would set you back double that - for the privilege of wakling around with a brand stamped across the pram.

I'm looking at a Silver Cross at the moment, based purely on what is on offer, sturdiness and having spoken to a few others/read a few reviews, it seems to fit my needs.

I plan to wait until January sales and see what I can get for my money. I do not want to spend more than £450 on everything.

The baby-industry plays on new parents innocence/naivety and they would sell ice to the polar bears with a 150% markup if they could

Thanks for letting me vent my pram rant, it has been brewing for a while now!

Autumn I see we agree

Yes, kitcat, lol! I don't know why anyone would buy anything else, love my techno xlr. And the carrycot was so easy to attach when dd3 was teeny, until 6 months. And it will be the only pushchair I use until she's walking everywhere by herself, so 250 quite fair price for an attractive, very practical pushchair.

Im selling my silvercross 3d travelsystem............

Also consider how many children you might want- if this one is going to be an only then cheap and cheerful or 2nd hand is great. If you're going for two or more then it's probably worth splashing a bit more cash. If you're thinking of having them close together maybe one that will take a second seat. Think about what you want it for too- country walks or on and off public transport, big car or small boot.

Or just get a sling to start with and see what your post baby life is like before you buy a pram to suit it.

For car seats the maxi cosi and base is fab- most travel systems have adapters for it so you keep your options open. The base will save your back and frustration at getting it in and out. I do like travel systems when they're tiny as I don't like to disturb a sleeping baby. You're always getting them in and out anyway.

DS is not quite 8 months and I'm already thinking of selling my travel system!
In hindsight, sling up to 6 months and then cheap/light stroller is the smartest choice.
However I don't see how you can take the pleasure of shopping for it away from her! Perhaps show her this thread?

Wrt car seats, they all have to meet safety standards and I bought a cheap one from Mothercare for about £40. I bought it because it was really light and I wasn't fussed on having a travel system.

Someone up thread asked if the baby jogger city mini was umbrella fold. It isn't, so maybe not suitable for airlines, but it does fold very easily. you pull one handle and it folds - handy for when you have the baby in one arm and still need to collapse the pram.

a Silver Cross 3D you say....I am after the Linear, not keen on the handles on the 3D.

If it were down to me, I would buy 2nd hand this time round, however my mum is adamant that I get a new one as she is desperate to do the pram shopping, she has also offered to pay, so who am I to offend her

Luckily for mum, I am the biggest bargain hunter on the planet (owing to me being permanently skint!) so I wouldn't expect her to pay over the odds.

Agree with others OP - don't take the fun/excitement away from your wife. If you have the money available, buy new. Just don't get bedazzled by all the bumpf and brands.

Decide what your needs are (this thread is EXCELLENT for advice on things to consider), decide how much you are prepared to spend. Ask other parents their experiences (oh, you've done that one haha!) and then shop around.

Are you my husband?

oooo, please tell me this to actually your husband apache