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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not buy a pram for baby?

190 replies

starsshineinthecountry · 04/01/2016 22:04

I know it seems to be on the list of essentials but I have a lovely sling and a wrap and don't really see me pushing a pram much. I have hardly any space, like walking in areas where pushing a pram would be difficult and want to keep costs down.

Is it worth buying one or can I get away without using one?

OP posts:
FlumptyDumpty · 05/01/2016 01:29

Will you want to buy shopping with LO? The bottom of the pram is invaluable for this. I wouldn't be able to carry my DD in a sling and heavy shopping bags. Perhaps not a problem if you will always do your shopping by car though.

AntiHop · 05/01/2016 01:36

My dd is 16 months old and I continue to almost exclusively use a sling. However I didn't choose a sling until after she was born after several trips to a sling library so a pram was useful until I'd managed to get to the sling library. I do think it's useful to have one for those occasions where a pram would suit you that day. I probably used my pram only a handful of times during the whole of 2015 but it was useful for those few times so I don't regret buying it. I do wish I'd got one second hand considering how little I use it.

ouryve I don't have a car so I take a shopping trolley type bag with wheels. You can get much more in one of those than under a pram.

Hellochicken · 05/01/2016 01:48

There is so much time for buying all these things after baby born.
If I could go back in time I'd tell myself to buy bare essentials and see what I actually need.
But I wanted to be prepared, and I suppose I might have felt unwell after giving birth so might have needed everything there.

Try just sling, I put car seat in shopping trolley. I cannot shop with pram as not enough room for groceries.

PiperIsTerrysChoclateOrange · 05/01/2016 02:03

I think all baby items are a bit of a hit and miss.

Should never have bothered with a cot, DS hated it and wouldn't settle in one no matter what I did.

Dd I got a nappy wrapper, that was a waste of time.

Your baby may prefer a sling or a prism only time will tell.

What I suggest is research the Pram you would pick and if DC or you doesn't get on well with a sling then someone can go and get the Pram or get it delivered.

Italiangreyhound · 05/01/2016 02:07

In the early days babies need to lie flat for a while to sleep, yes they can sleep in slings etc but lying flat is good too. Which is why buggy type things are not good for small babies unless the baby can lie flat in them.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/what-you-need-for-baby.aspx#close

Also a lot of time in a car seat is not great for them either.

A pram is a great place to sleep. Yes, they do take up space but they are only needed for the first few months/year. You can take the baby out for a walk, bring them home and they can stay in the lounge or in the lounge in the 'carry cot' bit of the pram.

You can buy a clean good quality pram second hand and a new mattress for it. No second hand mattresses for baby either in the cot or the pram, I am sure you know that.

I know slings have loads of benefits but I never liked the idea much, was worried about backache etc. If you go to the shops with baby and a sling, you cannot really do much shopping as you can't carry much. If you want to use a combination of all of the options but get them good quality and use them for any further kids and sell them on!

Italiangreyhound · 05/01/2016 02:13

PS you are not being unreasonable at all, it is your choice, of course. Congratulations. (PS My best advice ever, sleep when your baby sleeps!)

BoxofSnails · 05/01/2016 02:14

YANBU, it's definitely what I'd do if I had my time again. Eventually I bought a Mountain Buggy as no car and nursery/work "commute" was a 50 minute off road walk. But there's plenty of time for working out what works. I had an emergency CS and was out with a sling the first trips, and using a rucksack type carrier when she was older for tired legs moments. There are other ways if you want to do it differently.

sianihedgehog · 05/01/2016 02:39

I planned to do this, but impulse bought a travel system and am SO glad I did. I ended up with an emergency cs and couldn't even put the sling on empty for the first few weeks. And my DS has turned out to be a MASSIVE baby, and is hugely unwieldy to wear now at 4.5 months. I also tend to walk everywhere rather than driving or taking buses, and the pram is fucking brilliant for carrying shopping and baby paraphernalia. There's no way I could walk three miles each way into town and walk back carrying all of the Christmas presents while baby wearing, but it was manageable with the pram!

Honestly, I'd buy something, whether it's a cheap used pram or a lie flat stroller or whatever. Just something so that if you do have a cs you don't end up trapped. There's no need to spend silly money, though!

tbtc20 · 05/01/2016 03:43

I borrowed a pram for the first three months and then went to a pushchair that reclined nearly all the way (Maclaren).
I did use my sling a great deal but it was nice having a pram for longer walks, if I wanted to carry stuff or try on clothes.

Is there someone who can lend you one?

why am I awake?

Teapot13 · 05/01/2016 03:48

I would not have been able to manage without a pram.

Some babies love to sleep in them, although I suppose not all. I always found I needed a pram because you always need a place to put the baby, and your lap/strapped to you is not always what you need.

I never used a car though.

MissWimpyDimple · 05/01/2016 03:55

I was another one with an "angry octopus" and there is no way I could have coped with only a sling.

If you have a car, there is no reason at all that the pram can't live in there. Go for something very small folding and light - a yoyo or city mini, or even a zapp frame to pop the car seat onto for short trips into the supermarket.

Definitely buy second hand - ludicrous to pay £1000s.

poocatcherchampion · 05/01/2016 04:02

Not all babies sleep well in prams fwiw.

Keeping a pram in the car is fine OP.

If yoy decide to get one go eBay - paying out is pointless.

That is my 2 cents worth :)

silverstreak · 05/01/2016 06:18

Oh yes just remembered - DS was another angry octopus until about 7m when he turned into a whiney barnacle and hadn't stopped yet so Had to go in the buggy! I hurriedly bought a car seat converter for the Mountain Buggy and buggy board for DD and our worked out fine. Smile

knobblyknee · 05/01/2016 06:21

toobreathless
The things I find tricky are helping DD2 on and off toilets with baby in the sling

Isnt that what the hook on the back of the door is for? Grin

confusedandemployed · 05/01/2016 06:26

I had a cs and didn't have a pram, I was absolutely fine. Using the sling 7 days after with no issues (but admittedly I did heal very quickly). I couldn't think of anything worse than a cumbersome old pram. DD was either in the sling or the car seat for the first 3months and before anyone pipes up about the 2 hour rule - I can assure you all she was in the car seat for about 60mins max at any one time.
I had a from-birth pushchair but she really was a bit too tiny for it at first. She went in at 3 months and was fine. She was always mostly in the sling though. We still use one regularly and she's 3 in Feb!

Original poster
starsshineinthecountry · 05/01/2016 06:39

Grin at hook on the door!

Okay, silly questions:

Silly question 1 - why would a C sec mean a sling was impossible? Is it because they tie around the middle?

Silly question 2 - isn't shopping easier with a sling? Otherwise you have to negotiate trolley AND pram (how?)

Silly question 3 - everything I've read indicates that your strength seems to grow with the baby, so while if someone plonked a nine month old on my back NOW I'd stagger, having carried her from birth I won't, so much?

Silly question 4 - Italian, I thought it was bad for babies to be flat on their backs all the time? Can't it cause flat head syndrome?

The above is based purely on what I've read and not actual babies so all feel free to tell me I'm wrong!

OP posts:
shouldwestayorshouldwego · 05/01/2016 06:47

It all depends on your dc. Mine were much happier in slings, didn't use travel system after dd1. Dd2 was diddy and could still pop her forward facing at 17 months! I used slings until about 4-5 months and then Maclaren techno. Or sling if off road. Mine all had colic and hated being flat. The sling was the place they were happiest, other than being fed. I wore them to do cleaning and prepare veg.

MiaowTheCat · 05/01/2016 07:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MargaretHale · 05/01/2016 07:02

We got a back carrier when ds was 8 months as he refused to go in the pushchair (sounds mad but he had a trick of going absolutely rigid so I couldn't sit him in it and strap him in- I was out manoeuvred by a baby!). It Actually made my back stronger!

Saxons · 05/01/2016 07:04

I mostly wore slings but had a second hand pram off freecycle (foldaway macclaren)

pictish · 05/01/2016 07:17

Hmmm...I think it's a case of wait and see. There's no harm holding off on a buggy/pram until baby is here and you know if you want one or not.
Personally I was like you, thought I would use the sling far more and not fussed about a buggy.
Turned out I hated using a sling. I tried a good few different types, but I found them cumbersome and awkward. Much preferred using a buggy.

VinciWinchi · 05/01/2016 07:22

I had a very prem baby who came home in the winter. A pram was essential to keep him well-covered and to have somewhere to store the oxygen - so I would second keeping an open mind about it all.

KERALA1 · 05/01/2016 07:22

Yabu. Was essential for us. Only place my difficult baby would sleep. If I walked fast in pram she would nap and I could rush home and leave her in hall in pram. Wouldn't have got through without a buggy. Don't make rules for yourself before the baby arrives as no way of knowing

VocationalGoat · 05/01/2016 07:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

pictish · 05/01/2016 07:30

I agree with keeping an open mind btw. Some of the parenting choices I made for baby before he actually arrived fell flat on their face once he was actually here.
I was going to be a sling-wearing, long-time breastfeeding, co-sleeping all round earth mother. Oh yes.
Hated the sling, got a buggy. Hated breastfeeding and went on to formula at 5 months and hated co-sleeping as well, as I just didn't.

Not saying YOU will be surprised this way, but you might be. Just take it as it comes...and congratulations!