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......

I would recommend venicci travel system. For £500 we got a spacious carrycot: doubles up as a Moses basket and you can adjust the mattress to sit baby up; multiple recline stroller with cosytoe and car seat with hood etc. Also comes with parasol, mosquito net, lovely change bag and the easiest to put on raincover. It's light and the suspension is brilliant. Looks really sleek and comes in a variety of colours.

In comparison DS had 4 prams: Bebe confort, 2 chicos and an Argos value stroller. Value stroller lasted the longest.

I hate buggy type pushchairs, like a deckchair on wheels. I have an Icandy which is apparently ugly though so what do I know

I don't get the issue people have with travel systems. The ability to click the car seats onto the chassis and then back on to the isofix definitely helped me get out with my twins in the early days.

Before anyone starts im well aware of the 2 hour rule, for trips to the supermarket, baby clinic etc it was a god send.

i have never seen a buggy that looked like a deckchair on wheels. I will keep an eye out.

We went for the Uppababy Cruz - was about £450, not including the car seat. Have been really happy with it. Used it every day for a year with DC1 and doing the same with DC2 (now 4 months). If you have a car and are planning more than one child, I think they're well worth it if you aren't planning to use a sling all the time. And pp's are right in that you can get them reasonably second hand if you keep your eyes open.

We went to a Chicco Liteway when DC1 started nursery (age 1) as it was a bit lighter and smaller. Both buggies still going strong.

i have never seen a buggy that looked like a deckchair on wheels. I will keep an eye out.

Ta-da!!

Oh colourful stripes? You can get them in navy too I think.

I've seen those in shops but I've never seen anybody actually pushing one in real life.

I can only imagine they are all like the one the MNer earlier mentioned that she bought and abandoned in the middle of Boots after 2 weeks

The 'deckchair' buggy is ideal to buy for a holiday for a toddler as they're so light, fold to almost nothing and can survive being thrown off the aeroplane hold.
..Maybe not in the rainbow stripes though.

Yep, Bertie. That was me. And that was the buggy!!

Bloody awful. Holiday or otherwise. A bugger to push and not at all good for a baby or toddler.

Exactly bunnybop. I always got DD out of the car seat long before the 2 hours max was reached and still found it useful to attach the car seat to the travel system for a quick shop. I also hate the deck chair like buggies - they look so flimsy.

We also got the Uppababy Cruz and while all of our friends moved to the deckchairs like buggies, we never needed to.

The great thing about all the pram madness is that you can get great buggies very cheaply on gumtree / local Fb selling page .

People with more money than sense buy multiple buggies for one child, then sell them barely used. Or get rid of them because they are the " wrong colour " for a subsequent child -and they are scared that it will make their child gay

That buggy is exactly what I meant I can see how they are handy for holidays and things but I have honestly never seen a child looking comfortable in one. I hate the small wheels on buggys as well.

It was 1999 but my McClaren buggy was much more sturdy than the holiday/deckchair one. Pushed it for miles with buggy board attached. Happy days.

I put thought into it and got a travel system ( mamas and papas from argos) £170 quid, light weight, brilliant....and has served us through TWO dc. And with first I had no car for years so did loads of miles in it....loads...and with larger child.

Many a mum friend has eyed up my light weight easy to manovre pram whilst lugging and tugging with £600 +worth of travel system and then they always got another push chair in addition .

Mine went down pretty near flat when they were new born, but not entirely very slight in cline. Aria.

In fact I was telling DD the other day, people target us at vulnerable times of our lives, eg teens, when get spotty, and usually beautiful....selling insecurity, buy creams etc and another key time is first baby, and travel systems!

YANBU. But come and join the dark side.

TBF Sparkling, I believe the actual branded Maclarens are still easier to manoeuvre than the cheapy crap deck chairs on wheels.

Still don't like em tho. We bought this when I downgraded from the heavy chassis pram, and it's just velly velly velly naice. Very roomy, and it turns on a hairpin. Perfect for a toddler, and if you buy it when it's on one of the frequent sales for £125 way cheaper than a Maclaren too.

I did have a brief foray into three wheelers when I wanted to do proper walking. It was rubbish. Every time I went for a walk I got a puncture.

So the buggy it was.

I am glad the pram days are long gone though looking at all the strange ones available now.

The funny thing about the status issue is how it changes depending on where you are. When I was in Paris, it was very much Bugaboo you needed to be seen with. The Stokke seemed to belong more on the 'chav' side of the divide, which is strange really because they were about the same price.

When I was visiting Barcelona it was all about the Stokke! When I visited Berne I don't know the brand, but they were all the equivalent of 4x4s: MASSIVE and no concern about taking them on busses either!! They also all had hand breaks (for Swiss "hills" - although not thaaat steep around Berne).

Then I was in The Hague and there were either Joolz or Bugaboo Chameleon amongst white (specifically), middle class Dutch or from what I saw, Stokke again with everyone else.

I really liked the Stokke, but couldn't get my head around the price and then was given a twice used hand me down that was pretty old so had a MASSIVE basket underneath that could fit a huge amount of shopping. I also had every type of sling around, but DD hated them all and screamed within two mins of being put in one because she was too hot (in a nappy). I was pretty sad about that in fact. She loved the big comfy pram though!

In 3 kids I bought 3 buggies, a single, a double and a stroller. I think I spent a grand total of around £400. Yanbu.

Those buggies are NOT handy for holidays. They RUIN holidays! or at least make a large contribution to the misery of an abroad holiday with my children

I found this kind of thing was alright and less expensive than a maclaren - I think I got one on a half price offer for about £30 but they can be found for £50ish full price.

Not deckchairy, but not cosy, lightweight and you can get some nice colours if you like that sort of thing without paying too much.

The deckchair ones do look entirely useless and actually, I do remember I have seen them used in real life. Either with a child who is FAR too big, maybe four or five years old or with a tiny baby who can barely sit up, really bizarre.

I only ever bought once, iCandy apple in 2008, got the whole setup for about £450 including a Maxi Cosi car seat and base. I got the apple as we planned on a second child and it would upgrade to a twin, (the pear, with a 'pip' adaptor, they love their fruit!) but DD came too late so 3 year old DS went on a buggy board instead. I was using it daily for nearly six years, pushing both Dc up the hill to school was quite the workout, but we lived on a lane so the full-suspension 3-wheeler was perfect.
Op, look out for good second hand especially if you are near me as I want to sell mine as a good make holds up well. The new prices seem to have shot up since I bought mine.

I don"t know why 'iCandy' but I think they predate the Apple products, as no way would Apple Megacorp have let them use the name otherwise!

did I mention I want to sell mine?

nor am I willing to pay £1500 for a chair on wheels.

That's what second hand is for. Have said this many times, but I bought a second hand Bugaboo for £200, used it pretty much every day for 3 years (lazy DD) then sold it for £130. Better than buying a cheaper one new.