WIBU to insist on this pram?

[aliensprig]

I really, really want a Bugaboo Fox. In the reviews it ticks all the boxes for me: sturdy, lightweight, all-terrain, great storage and obviously pretty damn gorgeous!!

BUT DH doesn't think we should spend a grand on something we'll only use for about three years and wants us to get something second hand. He doesn't understand that there are literally billions of types out there, and some of the cheaper brands are cheap for a reason!

Also he won't ever be pushing the damn thing - I don't drive, and will be doing A LOT of walking with it. We live in a hilly town with some rural areas, so just buying something at random from the Argos catalogue isn't going to cut it. It needs to be light, easily folded, have good storage and be able to tackle mud, uneven ground, hills and busy streets.

WIBU to just buy the Fox regardless? We're not rich by any means, but we're not poor either, we can afford it. Plus I expect my parents will want to cover half the cost. Or should I compromise and get something cheaper like the baby jogger city mini? I don't like that it's forward facing only, but it's another all-terrain and my husband is more likely to agree on that one...

@helpmeiamatoad

Everything is relative! Everyone in the UK is rich compared to someone in a developing country. Doesn't mean everyone in the UK feels rich.

My parents happily spent over £1k on our pram, they wanted to, I didn't ask (we could have bought it ourselves if we wanted).

In comparison I can't afford a second horse - my neighbour can. She is richer than me, I'm not crying about it. You live within your means and everyone's means will differ. Just because I have one old horse worth £500 and she has 2 young horses worth £10k each doesn't mean she shouldn't have her horses and should want a cheaper one instead.

If you have a grand to spend on a pram then you are rich.

Well I think everybody knows this.

What's your point though? Are rich people not allowed to spend their money how they wish?

We hardly used our pram. A sling was usually more practical. I'm glad I didn't spend a grand on one!

@LaurieMarlow @Megan2018 You are both completely missing my point. If you read the OP she wrote ‘we are not rich’. I am telling her she is rich. Nowhere did I say ‘so don’t you dare spend your money on a pram!’

I have never understood the need for buying so many prams/ pushchairs/ buggies

I used the same pram for all 4 of mine ...30 odd years ago we had prams
, then I had a couple of McClaren buggies as they were easy to fold up and carry / put in the boot of a car
My Pram was expensive at the time , think it was around £300 , but that was me being a bit snobby over it
Anytime we travelled with first child , it was a huge boot full of stuff

by child number 4 it was a tesco carrier and a couple of nappies lol

I’m shocked at all the parents who actually let their children dictate going in the pram lol. If I want my child in a pram it’s going in one!!

I don't think being able to find a grand for something makes you rich!

The Bugaboo Fox came out just before we had our DC and we were very hesitant to pay as much as we did for it but in the end we bit the bullet and went for it and we love it!!! I also loved the Stoke but I am so happy we didn't go for that as they truly are style over substance.! We don't have a car so we felt that it was important to have a good pram and we live the individual suspension on each wheel which means that when you use it to walk in the forest it's great. We have found it to be a really good multi-terrain pram that is also great in the city. It is just a brilliant pram - great basket, light, easy to control, easy to get on and off of public transport and super comfy for out DC. For those advising the OP to buy one second hand the problem is that it's a very new model so she will struggle to find one. However, the final deciding factor for us was that they hold their value so when we do sell it we expect to get back between a third and half of what we paid.
Finally, for those advising slings I bet you've all got cars? We love our sling and use it a lot but there's no way we could do a family day out or a trip to the shops with a sling and without a car you have to schlep a lot of stuff around that also needs to be carried so they are best kept for shorter trips.
We recently borrowed a buggy whilst in the uk to avoid putting our Fox on the plane and we were so so happy to get back to it!!!
The one thing I'd say about the Fox is that imo it's the best option if you are carless but I think that there are easier and quicker prams to fold up to put in boots???

"I don't get it either. It's the same sort of inverse snobbery that comes out on wedding threads. The MN ideal is to use a potato hula hoop as an engagement ring, spend less than £100 in total on your big day and still manage to invite everyone's partners. Even then you'd still get criticised for asking for money instead of having a gift list."

Oh please. It's more that people can't imagine wasting money on something just because it's a fucking brand or because you want to show off to your friends.

If you want it, just buy the thing but don't kid yourself it's because you think it's good quality or lightweight or whatever the fuck. You're buying it because you got marketed to. I buy some pointless crap as well but I don't kid myself that it's because I actually believe it's better.

Used my travel system for 7 months.

By the end of 7 months DD had grown out of the car seat.

Passed it on to a friend of my DP's whose family has helped us out loads. We only spent about £300 on it as it was on sale.

We have actually spent more on slings, buggies and replacement car seat. (At 7 months DD couldn't fit into the new car seat with the 9 month insert as she was too tall.) DD prefers being in a sling/carrier and it's much easier on public transport.

So unfortunately I agree with your DP and the PPs who have said buy something second hand.

Get as much pre-owned as possible and use your money for important things such as new mattresses and car seat.

“If you want it, just buy the thing but don't kid yourself it's because you think it's good quality or lightweight or whatever the fuck. You're buying it because you got marketed to.”

Yep- this. Buy it because it pleases you and you’ve got the money (I recently spent pushing 100 quid on a candle) But all this the more you spend the better the thing rubbish is just that.
And the “something random from the Argos catalogue” sounds like pure snobbery to me.

Oh please. It's more that people can't imagine wasting money on something just because it's a fucking brand or because you want to show off to your friends.

Please direct us all to the post where anyone has said that was their motivation for picking whatever pram they choose. Do the people who bought theirs' secondhand also deserve the same ire? I mean, it's still a brand isn't it?

You don't need a £1000 pram. I think it is a luxury purchase so you need to agree it with your dh. Although there's nothing wrong with getting it if you can afford it.

We spent about £750 on a travel system and the dc barely went in them as they preferred slings!

'All terrain' 😂 that thing will barely go over a pavement.

I have a O&A Nipper specifically for offroading and it still struggles. Yabu for ever paying that much for a frigging pram. Lunacy.

If it will bring you joy and you can afford it, buy the one you want. I would also say beware of second hand, unless you can see it before you buy it. Make sure you get one that still looks nice.

We got a Phil and Ted Sport (11 years ago) which we paid for twice due to falling for an ebay scammer, and I thought it was going to be the answer to everything, but then I realised I'd need something much smaller and more lightweight for negotiating shops, trains etc, so we got a secondhand McLaren collapsible thing. The Phil and Ted ebay debacle had cost us so much, I got a really cheap secondhand one. It cost £15 and was so shabby, filthy and faded, with a lot of wear on the wheels. It looked like it had been used by at least ten children but I persevered with it when it was needed for ease. However, I always felt dreadful using that McLaren because of the way it looked - I can remember feeling so self-conscious and like a Bad Mother because I was pushing my beautiful baby around in this piece of junk, even though it was perfectly functional (I had PND which might have contributed to the feelings). But using the Phil and Ted I felt great, and the reasons why we chose it turned out to be correct, and it was the right thing to have.

Mamas and papas very kindly gave a demonstration which meant you brought your car around and they showed you how to stow the bagaboo etc. After that it was obvious the OH had to give up his big car and use the small car for work.

for carrying all the baby stuff

Seriously though, what baby stuff?? I stuck couple of nappies and some wipes in the pocket of my Ergo sling and was good to go: school run, town, bus, car, park, wherever.

DS2 slept, woke, fed and did pretty much everything in the sling (DS1 did too when I'd realised that I didn't need wheels). If you really need a pram/buggy, why spend a grand?

OP companies will try to flog you 'baby stuff', 99% of which is totally unnecessary.

@SeriouslyEnoughAlreadyRantOver
'Cheap' is relative. Doesn't mean you need to spend £1k.
I really only agree with you to an extent. My mother bought a Fly Kids second-hand to use while we are at hers (so we never have to travel with a buggy). I don't know what she paid for it second-hand (on FB Marketplace) but a quick look online seems to reveal prices from £80-£120. I would not pay ANY money for it as I don't like it at all. It steers really badly and is difficult to lift even from road to pavement.
The GB Pockit costs a little more, but not loads more, and as I bought it second-hand (for travel purposes) I saved money on it. Much better value than the Fly Kids even though it's not perfect (poor suspension means I wouldn't want it for everyday use).
The Mountain Buggy Nano (which I have rented when travelling) costs about £100 more than the GB Pocket IIRC and is also extremely good. My everyday buggy (the Quinny Zapp Flex Plus) is about £100 more again and is brilliant. But by that point you are still barely up to £500 and the OP is talking about spending twice that. So to dismiss everything under that as 'cheap' seems really oversimplistic.

Oh just to say you can get bugger all in the basket at the bottom if you were thinking of doing some shopping whilst out and about.

I have the baby jogger city mini and I love it!!! Owned it for 6 yrs and used it with 3 kids. I did end up buying a double stroller and used that too sometimes (Phil & Teds - loved it!!) but the baby jogger has been my ride or die! Just saying, I also wasn't willing to spend a grand and have zero regrets. I also bought that Phil & Teds used and sold it after 2 years for more than I originally paid 😀

Sorry not RTFT... Does the Fox convert easily to a double? We had the Uppababy Vista (paid c.500) and it was super. Huuuuuuge basket, great on all terrain, and converted to a double when DC2 arrived 21 months after DC1. We then sold it on for £230 after getting four years solid use from it.

Haven’t RTFT but just beware that you may tire of lugging the travel system around once baby is 6 months or so; three of my friends retired their Bugaboo/iCandy/Egg systems for forward facing strollers fairly early on.

We had a Maxi Cosi Zelia as our travel system - bloody brilliant, the carrycot transformed into a seat unit and vice versa and the shopping basket was MASSIVE. Once she stopped staying asleep when lifting the car seat in and out of the car, we switched to a Baby Jogger City Mini GT, which is fab for our bumpy village tracks.

Friends have Mountain Buggy strollers that they rave about.

@ChocChocButtons if you met my DC you would see why I let them dictate. It was full on hysterical screaming every single time, as soon as I picked them up they stopped! I felt they had barely been born, everything was new so why would I want to upset them more than I had to.

Also I'm not a tight arse (as per others on thread), my slings are freaking expensive, though admittedly less than £1k. Just pointing out that some babies truly hate prams and feel desperate to be close to their mummy at all times.

Most of my cars haven't cost as much as that! They are asurdly expensive imo.

I'd look for one 2nd hand.

My mate got most of a Bugaboo "travel system" at a boot fair, and then found the missing bit (car seat?) and some accessories on Ebay absurdly cheap. She ended up with hundreds of pounds worth of stuff for barely a tenth of the price of new.

She sold it for what she paid for it when it was no longer required.

I think a lot of people saying they dumped the pram at 6 months are the ones who drive. Getting a big pram in and out of a car every day would be a right pita, and I can see in that case why you might then go for a small stroller. But for someone with no car, who’ll rarely even have to fold it, that’s just not a problem. Our pram lives in our hallway and it stays there so dd can nap in it. It’s never folded as it’s always in use. The same people tend to be on threads aghast that 3 year olds are in buggies at all. Totally different ballgame once you’re driving.