To wish I’d bought an expensive pram?

[pramenvy20]

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!

That’s EXACTLY the source of my regret Bumps!

Not a con, lots of people find them invaluable. There are loads out there at varying price points to suit all needs, parents just need to be canny and not sucked in by the big brand names. We do use a sling for my son but for some reason it makes him spew for England, strangely for a sicky baby he’s happier in the lie flat cot.

DD doesn’t like buckle slings, only the fabric wraps. They are great but a pain to get on and off when out and about.

I bought a secondhand McLaren buggy on eBay, which turned out to be a lot older and a lot more worn than it looked in the photos (it was only £15 as I recall). I regret not just chucking it and getting a different one. I always felt self-conscious about my beautiful daughter sitting in this horrid tatty pushchair, but it just felt wasteful to get a new one. If I could go back in time, I'd have bought a different one - maybe not new, but newer.

The thing is, you use that thing constantly for a number of years, and it makes a big difference to how you feel. It's a small thing, but lots of small things every day add up to a big thing. If you can make a change to something you're happier with, I would OP.

I've had 4 DC and I've bought a lot of prams - pram envy is definitely a thing. But honestly none of the prams are totally perfect - there's always at least one niggly little thing that will bug you, it's just that when you see the elegant lady next to you, you don't know what it is about the pram that bugs her. I guarantee there will be something though.
Price isn't always a fair indicator of what is good. I've had expensive and cheap prams. If you hate yours then it's okay to buy another one

Yanbu
Only by the time I had dd3 (large age gap). Did I have the funds to buy a really lovely pram. It gave me huge pleasure.
Dd2 is about to have her first and it gives me great pleasure to buy her a really good pram.

YANBU - I went through 10 prams/pushchairs with my 2 until we found what we were happy with

It wasn't necessarily down to price disappointment, the most we spent on any of those was £500 and the one travel system I bought was returned to the store before ever being used because it just felt cheap.

Most were second hand and sold on so we didn't lose out too much - if it doesn't suit your needs then look around.

Looking back of course I don't know what the hell I was thinking but it was fun at the time

How old is your baby? I only ask because as soon as she's old enough to eat solid foods and climb in and out of her pram in her wellies, it will be covered in food and plastered in mud before you know it and you will be VERY glad you didn't spend a fortune on it.

For DS1 I had a nice but second hand pram which I was a bit precious about. For DS2 (close age gap) I bought a Phil and Ted's double from a friend for £50 and it's been the best thing ever. She also bought it second hand from a friend of hers, so it's been through three lots of children now and you can tell, but I wouldn't upgrade it for anything. Mine are in and out of it after jumping in puddles and playing in the mud, it goes anywhere which has been a blessing with all these lockdown walks and the boys can eat ice cream and have drinks in it as much as they like. I look at friends trying to keep their lovely expensive prams clean, but their kids just want to be kids and it's all so stressful.

I'll be sticking the trusty Phil and Ted's on Facebook free to a good home if I can't find a friend to hand it on to. It's worth nothing but will be handy for someone with the same priorities as me!

Op are you sure you can't get adaptors for your car seat that will get you attach it to the pram you have?

Research carefully, Mamas and Papas used to sell adaptors marketed for their prams and Alton car seat, but if you read the small print they also fitted the Maxi Cosi seats.

I did find it very handy to be able to put the carseat on the pram, esp if I was nipping into the shop for just a couple of things.

In a few years you will know you made the right choice. A lot of expensive proms are style over substance, and there are far better things to spend the price difference on.

Well done for your choice.

Oh here we go, here comes the competitive underspending always the way on mumsnet.

I had a fabric sling only - used the same one with all three DC. And later a single stroller - I went through two of those. I also had a double pushchair at one point - given to me for free by someone who was going to chuck it away at the tip! Prams take up too much space, are hard to use on public transport and are used for so short a space of time. I knew I would never ever want one.

Can’t you sell it and buy a better second hand one? I bought a second hand bugaboo donkey with all of the extras for £500. It was like new, she’d barely used it because it didn’t fit in her car boot.

We bought the cybex cloud car seat so we could take her out of the car and lay her flat without disturbing her, just clipped on with an adaptor. When our next baby is born later this year it turns into a double. Best money we spent!

You are a better person than me daisy

There is a faint undercurrent of moral superiority assumed on mumsnet among those who reject prams (unless fished out of skips).

It’s ... somewhat weird.

@HairyToity

I bought an expensive uppababy pram. I loved it. I'd all but stopped using it but when DD was 3 1/2 we had a festival, and decided to take it for the hanging around and bigger tyres for field. Anyway DD used it as a climbing frame and a mechanism broke. I could still use carrycot and car seat attachment when DS came along, but not seat. I bought a second hand baby jogger on ebay for £100 that I used from 6 months old, and it was great. You only need the all singing and dancing travel system for a short time. I regret spending £550 on this uppababy, and wish I'd bought a travel system second hand for £200, seeing as it broke anyway.

A bit of our Uppababy broke and we rang up and they express couriered a free replacement. It was a big bit, and a three year old pram.

I was obsessed by other people's prams. Other people's nappy bags. Anything that made other people look like they had it more together than me. My kids are now older and I realise it was probably symptomatic of new parenthood.

Also there is no such thing as a pram that does everything you want. It might be compact and easy to steer but a bloody nightmare on uneven ground. Or be easy to get a car seat on and off but has a shallow carrycot. There isn't one wonderful pram.

I'm thinking is it down to people's circumstances and lifestyles though, so if you drive a lot and are in and out of the car and don't use a pram/pushchair much then it doesn't seem as necessary to have the little extras on a pram, which are the things you pay for? I can't drive yet (DP can) so walk a lot, and it was important to us that we got a pram that was going to be comfortable for DD, functional and comfortable to push and use for me, and had good wheels with decent shock absorbers.

We went for a Bugaboo which was around £1100, but for me it was honestly worth every penny - it pushes smoothly and isn't clunky or awkard, the front swivel wheels are a godsend for manoeuvring it, it folds down nicely and most importantly is comfortable for my DD. It was lovely tucking her in in the carry cot like a little bed when she was tiny, yes she only stayed in it for about 4 months but she was comfy and cosy for those 4 months and could sleep properly laid down without being bunched up in a car seat on the frame. We have a car seat on a base that stays in the car instead that grows with DD.

When she was sitting up we swapped the carrycot to the seat and she loved how high the seat sat up so she could nosy about, also still a lovely comfy seat. The wheels could take a lot of different terrain and the shock absorbers were really good, the front wheels also folded in to allow it to be pushed along the beach, which was all great for us as we walk/beach/are out a lot. DD only stopped using it when she was 3 and loved being in it!

It's still literally good as new and put away to use for any more babies that may come. It was worth every penny for me and I used it loads. When I was pregnant I pushed my friend's Silver Cross pushchair to try it and it honestly felt awkward and clunky.

It's not about the cost, my pram could have cost £1100 or it could have cost £200, it wouldn't have mattered at all as long as my DD was as comfy as she was in this pram, but I think sometimes those little extras are what you pay for. We were lucky to afford it at the time so went for it as a bit of a splash out and I'm so glad we did as it's in great condition to use again. But if I couldn't have afforded it I totally would have bought a second hand one.
And don't worry I always had an elegant lady next to me too, might have had a lovely pram but it was never me who was elegant

So basically I get what you mean and where you're coming from OP, from a splashing out perspective and also a functional one!
What pram was it you really fancied? Maybe something will come up on fb marketplace or similar?

@TheKeatingFive I agree I find it very bizarre this desperate race to have the cheapest, yet longest serving item.
Someone will be along soon to say they paid £25 for a full travel system and it did all 7 children without a hitch.

OP- you are allowed to treat yourself and if you want a new travel system there is no shame in that!
I find it very odd that people seem to think you would regret buying a pram? So it gets dirty? I’m confused, do people’s cars or wellies not get dirty when they go out? Why on earth would you regret buying a pram because your child used it. Only on mumsnet!!

[quote FuckyouBrennan]@TheKeatingFive I agree I find it very bizarre this desperate race to have the cheapest, yet longest serving item.
Someone will be along soon to say they paid £25 for a full travel system and it did all 7 children without a hitch.

OP- you are allowed to treat yourself and if you want a new travel system there is no shame in that!
I find it very odd that people seem to think you would regret buying a pram? So it gets dirty? I’m confused, do people’s cars or wellies not get dirty when they go out? Why on earth would you regret buying a pram because your child used it. Only on mumsnet!![/quote]
Totally agree with this!

Someone will be along soon to say they paid £25 for a full travel system and it did all 7 children without a hitch

Then someone else will be along to say if they didn’t fish it out of a skip, it doesn’t count. 🤣

I wouldnt spend £1200 on a pram unless you are earning > £1000 per day (maybe you are?).

Put it this way whatever pram you buy you will be selling it an NCT sale in 1 or 3 or 5 years time for about £75 so is it really worth it?

Can you sell the current pram and buy a better system second hand? Loads have attachments for your car seat so you wouldn't need a new one.

I spent £700 on what was a top of the range uppababy at the time. It was cheaper than the 1k models because the "new" range (identical except leather handlebar) had just come out. DD is 2.5 now and I still use it daily for the nursery run and longer walks. It was probably the best baby thing I bought so I get where you're coming from. I bought adapters for the maxi cosi car seat.

But I expect to sell it on eventually for maybe £150. Maybe decide on the pram you actually want, then look for it second hand? There are some v good deals to be had

By 6 months you won't be worrying as they are getting heavy to lift. For number 2 bought a car set that stays in the car because it was easier than lifting it in and out