to think that prams have got out of hand?

[Pandora2016]

I'm current up duffed with my first, so will need to buy a pram.

I naively thought it wasn't much more than a small bed/chair on wheels business.

No. They are now called 'travel systems' and can cost almost as much as our car.

What fresh hell is this and how the bloody hell do you choose one??? Babies don't vary that much surely??

Thinking that a lot of this is sales spin......

What's with all the pram threads in the last few days is someone pram trolling?

I agree with the pp about what you want to do with your pram (other than ferry a baby about). I got a cheap pram that was new just because it fitted in the back of my Mini! Bought a really good second hand one that's way better for walks and jogging. Still looking forward to getting rid of them though!

Yanbu! I hated pram shopping with dc1. The vast array was just mind boggling. We knew we hoped to have kids close together tho, so I decided to get one which converted to a double first time round, which thankfully narrowed my search a lot, making it easier. Went for a baby jogger city select, which is pretty big but I love it (sturdy, great on grass, huge basket underneath, car seat goes on). Luckily we did end up having DS 20 months after I had DD, so I'm very glad I went for a double in the first place

When I had Dd1 I was 15 I got the pram my DB had used for this dcs it was really heavy and we lived in a top floor flat.

Had dd2 last year 23YEARS after dd1. When we went pram shopping the assistant asked what are you looking for 3wheels ,4wheels ,fixed wheels,swivel wheels do you want a travel system 3in1,4in1.

DH and I were standing there looking shell shocked all I wanted was a pram with a shopping basket.
Bloody pram ending up costing a fortune, she definitely seen us coming.

Humph, have just had a look and the only ones I like the look of are dolls prams. I want one with a wicker basket!

YANBU.

We got by with:

• a Graco Mirage travel system for DC1,
• Graco Stadium Duo when DC2 came along as we could put heavy DC1 in the back and DC2 in the car seat from the travel system in the front
• another Mirage for when we needed only needed a single which we continued to use once we no longer needed the tandem
• two umbrella fold buggies, and we only ditched the first and got the second because we got a car and the first one was too long to fit across the boot between the wheel arches
• and finally we ended up getting a monster pushchair with a sprung chassis for DC2 as she got too heavy to push in the mirage but still needed a pushchair as DH had the car for work. Got that as a bargain from a charity shop though.

The combined cost of all of those was still way less than an iCandy or anything of that ilk though. :)

Just get a second hand one. I gave my whole travel system away to a friend of a friend and it was spotless.

Also go onto kiddicare.com I bought my travel system for £300 in the sale when it should have £900.

They're a consumer item like anything else though...different price points, tastes, functions etc.

I am also someone who has 3 buggies! A baby jogger plus carry cot (awesome for London buses/trains) as it has a one handed fold option. A maclaran for holidays as v light/portable. And then I had another baby so I've got a second hand Phil and teds. I need them all!!

Buy good quality or second hand. All mine have lasted brilliantly and I'll be able to sell on for good money once to buggy days are over!

Sure it's not twins OP?

Yanbu. It's crazy.

I got a city mini baby jogger. Not too expensive. Folds easily with one hand. Light. Can be used from birth as it is as it lies flat. You can buy a carry cot for it if you wish. You can put a maxi cosi car seat on it. I only started using it a few months ago when baby became too heavy for wearing the sling all the time but so far I'm really happy. Only disadvantage is it's not parent facing.

Sparkling I would rather cut my own heart out with a spoon than be seen dead with that.

It's odd isn't it? It seemed to start around the time I had DS which was 8 years ago but looking at TTC now and trying to cost out what we'll need to buy baby stuff and DH asked me for a rough idea and TBH I don't even know what a reasonable budget is for one any more

What I did when I had DS was go to a big baby goods warehouse and had a look at a few, I refused all help from shop assistants, just looked myself and then asked their opinion afterwards. From that I got an idea of different features that different pushchairs had, decided which were important to me (in my case, I wanted a seat which could parent face, a main seat which would lie flat so no need for expensive carrycot I didn't plan to use - some people like this as can use as moses basket - wasn't bothered about car seat connector, wanted a bar handle rather than separates so I could push one handed.) Then I looked at the cheaper ones which had these features and ended up paying about £220 for the Loola Up. The big name ones at the time were about £500 all-in.

DH doesn't want to go and actually test out prams until I'm actually upduffed which I agree with, so I have no idea what to budget this time. The ones I learned about back then don't seem to exist any more and they all have a baffling array of features. But yep - pick out a few features to focus on is my advice and from there you'll find a starting point. You definitely don't need to pay loads.

I have actually seen one with my own eyes Pandora. I tried not to stare and DH who never notices a thing, even he clocked it.

it's ridiculous.

My first was more a sling baby so we only bought a pushchair a few weeks after she was born. Lots of people on mumsnet recommended a city jogger as I did lots of walking and lived city centre, in a flat at the time, so I just bought that on the internet when she was a few weeks old, got delivered next day. I've had that pushchair for both kids, did me fine. Never quite understood my SIL who tries out a new pushchair every couple of months it seems.

I bought a very very battered phil and teds double off ebay for £30 for a few months when DD2 was a baby and DD1 wasn't quite walking yet. DD2 never seemed to like the sling that much other than as a young baby. I sold it for more than that a year later.

Cityjogger is still going strong, it looks a state but it's indestructible, DD1 is 3.5 now. It's not ideal for little babies but it does go flat, and they're not little babies for very long. I think newborns are easier in slings.

Dd2 pram cost £1300 all in. It is the Optimus prime of prams. If I was to ever get caught in a blizzard my baby will know no wind chill - can also go over sand like piss.

l don't live where there are blizzards or beaches

I am so not sympathetic to your plight, Pandora (although I laughed a lot at your analysis of buggy brand names). Having bought an iCandy travel system second hand on eBay for a song, and packed it lovingly away for our second child, congratulating myself on my frugality, I am now expecting triplets. If you think singleton travel systems are expensive, check out the triplet ones. And try finding the model you want secondhand on eBay!

Can't remember exactly how much city jogger was but less than £200 new.

I don't think expensive prams are a new thing, I had my kids years ago before travel systems were invented and my Mam bought me a silver cross pram which has a bassinet attatchment for new babies and a pram (stroller) attatchment for when they were a bit older. I think it was quite a few hundred pounds from John Lewis. I loved it and got lots of use out of it.

I would have loved a car seat that could also go on a pram base.

We got a second hand red kite for £100. Slightly intimidating lining it up with all the bugaboos but we love it. If it wasn't for needing a double I'd quite happily keep this one around.

ALmost everyone I know who bought a travel system said it was a complete waste of money and they never used it.

Its crazy. But, for the first six months at least you will want a pram that lies flat, provides shelter from the wind, and has some sort of suspension to make it a more comfortable ride.

After that, if you don't use the pram a lot/are in and out of the car, an "umbrella fold" buggy is great. A lot of people therefore stop using their expensive pram fairly soon.

My conclusion is that it makes sense to buy a "nearly new" high end pram rather than a brand new cheaper one, and plan to buy a good quality brand new Maclaren stroller for use from 6 months.

I bought a second hand Bugaboo Cameleon for DD. once I'd mastered the fold, it was a great pram and we used it until she was three as it was really comfy. I bought it for £250 plus some accessories and sold it for £150 four years later, so I thought that was a pretty good deal.

I also think people who buy zillions of slings are ridiculous. I am not normally so vocal about such things, but hey, this is AIBU ;)

Nah I'll disagree there weebairn, they're so pretty! I think I got up to 10 or 12 at my peak, but loved and used them constantly. Like anything, people collect and have different interests.