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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wish I’d bought an expensive pram?

274 replies

pramenvy20 · 12/03/2021 06:40

Before I had my baby I looked at the price of prams and thought how silly it was to spend that amount, and I bought a second hand one.

I regret it now so much. I saw a woman yesterday just park, get the frame from the boot and attach her car seat to it without disturbing her baby. No fuss or faff!

Mine is fine so I’ll probably vote that I am BU because I am ... but I wish I’d bought a really lovely pram!

OP posts:
GoryGilmore · 12/03/2021 07:49

My cheap joie travel system has been great, would definitely recommend.

BertieBotts · 12/03/2021 07:50

Have a look at the stroller workshop on YouTube, they do simple repairs which might help you get some ideas about some maintenance you can do on your old pram. For example we got a second hand britax b-agile that is stiff to push but it turned out the front swivel wheels were all rusted up and a son as I cleaned that off, it's good as new!

Which car seat do you have, and which pushchair? If you bought the car seat separately it will almost certainly go into many many prams. You might even be able to get adapters for yours, failing that you could get a more lightweight or cheaper one or even another second hand higher end one that's compatible.

I always think the good thing about buying second hand is the fact you can make mistakes and get something else. You'd have to buy five or six prams at what you paid compared to the cost of a brand new higher end one.

People defo regret new prams too. I think you've been smart to buy second hand but I also don't think you should see it as the end of the road just because you already have one.

Walesrecommendations · 12/03/2021 07:52

We have a joie travel system, was 400/500, can't remember exactly and I've used the car seat on the pram base once in 6 months to take her into hospital. It just has never been necessary to use it over transferring her to the carry cot. I also found she slept better lying flat in the carrycot than in the car seat so you never know, even if you had one your baby might not have slept through changing the seat over etc. I probably wouldn't bother with a travel system if I was buying again but it's all hindsight with your first baby it seems!

Vursayles · 12/03/2021 07:52

Do not feel bad! You couldn’t possibly beat us for stinginess, we spent £55 on a second hand Britax pram which is currently seeing us through our second baby, who will soon be out of it at 5.5 months. I love it, it’s clunky, hard to manipulate and too big, but it’s charmingly to me-fashioned and very reliable. I’ll be so sad to see it go.

Pushing babies around in car seat chairs for long isn’t a great idea anyway. And just think of all the lovely things you can buy for baby with the cash you’ve saved!

daisypond · 12/03/2021 07:53

I think all prams are a waste of money, expensive or not! I had three DC and we never had a pram at all.

Vursayles · 12/03/2021 07:53

*old-fashioned

Eatingsoupwithafork · 12/03/2021 07:53

Hopefully this will make you feel better! I spent a fortune on a pram system (first time parent syndrome) and I deeply regret it. My LO stopped using it as soon as she could walk so I didn’t even get a year out of it which was annoying. We then bought a cheap, unbranded pushchair (less than £50) in case she got tired as it was easy to bring on walks and easy for her to push as she loves pushing her pram. Guess what... she loves it and will actually volunteer to get in it. Big lesson learnt.

daisypond · 12/03/2021 07:54

Or a car seat, I should add as well.

Pickupapigeon · 12/03/2021 07:55

Expensive isn’t always better. We’ve got a twin bugaboo. It wasn’t cheap but clicking it all together can be really awkward.

Boatonthehorizon · 12/03/2021 07:57

They are a status symbol which used to annoy me but so are a lot of things that Im more ok with being staus symbols. Car, house, job, clothes, voice, shoes....

It might be a classic masculine is ok, feminine is silly, sexist thing really. (Like books. Hope I'm making some sense.)

Parrnting is a learning journey. My advice would be... now youve realised...get rid of old pram and buy new one today, online. New pram will last years and you'll look back on your early foolish pram with a smile.

oakleaffy · 12/03/2021 07:57

Buggerboo

Who invented the names for prams!

MrsXx4 · 12/03/2021 07:58

Maybe sell your one and put the money towards a new one if that’s a possibility?

I bought my pram from FB marketplace for £200, it’s a Silvercross Wave currently in John Lewis priced £1300. The lady I bought it from had never even got the bassinet bit out of the box! I did shop around on marketplace but I found there were a lot of good ones being advertised at the time I wanted one. However I didn’t want to use the Silvercross car seat with it being second hand, luckily Silvercross do attachments which worked with my car seat for when ds was very little.

Original poster
pramenvy20 · 12/03/2021 07:58

If I have another baby (which I soooo want) dd will be 18 months - 2 so probably be looking at a double. So I guess that won’t be easier!

OP posts:
Lovemusic33 · 12/03/2021 08:02

This was me 17 years ago, I remember it well 🤣 I bought a 2nd hand pushchair for Dd1, thinking a pushchair is just a pushchair but dd was a awful baby that cried as soon as I attempted to move her so I soon realised that buying a travel system would be so much easier. We went out and bought a new travel system but not a high price one. I think I ended up buying 4 pushchairs before she was 6 months old.

The best thing to do is talk to other mums and see what they have found to be the best prom/pushchair. I would buy 2nd hand, you can always replace the car seat? The best pushchair I bought was a 2nd hand mountain buggy when dd was a bit older.

MerryDecembermas · 12/03/2021 08:02

I got a system rrp 1200 or something daft for 300. Un used from ebay. YABU if you don't like what you have, sell it and get another one. Ebay is fab, set up your searches with alerts on newly listed matches and you're away.

Skeroooerrat · 12/03/2021 08:02

Oh I got rid of my brown mclaren forward facing that the inlaws bought and bought a second hand buggerboo bee on ebay made all the difference for me

Skeroooerrat · 12/03/2021 08:03

Also hated the Icandy travel system we got instead of the buggerboo version and put up with it for 6 months hating it. Wish I hadn't bothered!

EggscellentEggplant · 12/03/2021 08:04

I paid £160 for mine new from amazon and its perfect. Other mums have commented how it looks easier to manoeuvre than theirs and are then sick at the thought they spent £1000. Oh and you can get an additional attachment for mine to use car seat on it but i never bothered and havent needed it. It's not advisable to have them in a car seat for long anyway. Are you sure you cant buy an attachment?

Original poster
pramenvy20 · 12/03/2021 08:04

I really can’t afford anything else just at the moment but thanks Smile

OP posts:
Crosstrainer · 12/03/2021 08:06

I don’t think - despite their claims - that one pram can ever do everything you want. (It’s like a car - a 4x4 is ideal in the snow on a rural back road, but a smart car is better if you’re trying to park in Covent Garden.) We spent an absolute fortune on ours back in the day; top of the range model, bought all the bells and whistles on top. And - to be fair - when the baby was small and you were going somewhere in the car, it was bloody good. But when she got a little bit older and we started going on the train? Too big, too heavy, too cumbersome. So we ended up buying a little stroller as well. Just chalk it up to experience; if you come to need a double buggy, you’ll know exactly what will work and be able to get exactly the right thing.

FuckyouBrennan · 12/03/2021 08:06

To everyone saying £200 is an expensive second hand pram; absolutely not!!!
OP I think the responses on here will depend on how old posters DC are. I just sold my pram on eBay for £495 and there were lots of bidders. My DC are 7, 3 & 2.

Needcoffeecoffeecoffee · 12/03/2021 08:08

I researched and researched with dd and found one that suited all our needs and was convinced this was the only travel system I needed. By 12 mths we had a McLaren buggy which was much easier and lasted years. It was passed down to other 2 dds.
I had pram envy as my well researched travel system looked so big and chunky next to the icandy and bugaboo!
However the other parents also bought buggies at 12mths!
I would recommend getting a maclaren over a cheap pushchair they last longer and it makes a difference

daisypond · 12/03/2021 08:08

I think prams are a huge con. I never had one. I had a sling and then later a cheap umbrella-fold stroller. That was it.

Bumpsadaisie · 12/03/2021 08:10

We had a second hand bugaboo. It was great - prob got it for half the cost of new. It was v flexible etc. And great for the grandparents as light and adaptable.

Two kids had it before our two and then we sold it on for 25% of the price new and three other children used it.

You can have a good pram without feeling your spending silly money or being wasteful.

If it spent £1200 on it would have felt a bit OTT though.

On the other hand - you only ever have one first baby and if you feel you'd like a smart pram and can afford it - why the hell not!

Heyha · 12/03/2021 08:12

Paid about £500 for full travel system brand new as went to John Lewis and couldn't see any difference between it and the fancy brands that were twice the price! Said fancy brands are currently selling for about £200 on facebay. I'll not get more than half that for mine second hand but I can live with that.

For those getting frothy about kids in cars seats- 10 min drive to shop, 30 min round the supermarket, 10 min back is still well within limits of car seat use and a good nap time for a little one. It takes me that long to drive to any family but nobody seems to get upset about that? 🤔