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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that Prams and Travel Systems are a total con?

121 replies

morningpaper · 15/01/2009 11:52

I get angry looking at all the prams and travel systems on the market. They are a total CON and so unecessary.

You need:

  • a sling for a few weeks
  • a buggy

If you REALLY want a proper pram, you can buy a second-hand lie-flat face-mummy pram or borrow one from a friend for the first few weeks.

Anything more than that is an OPTIONAL EXTRAVAGANCE and should be seen as so.

AIBU?

OP posts:
wontbepreggersagain · 15/01/2009 13:20

i think i'll bow gracefully out of this discussion before i even get involved- i have prams including a twin 3 in 1 system, lightweight buggy and coachbuilt monstrosity- BUT they are all used on a daily basis for different reasons!

Not all of us could cope with just a maclaren and a sling.

PixelHerder · 15/01/2009 13:27

"- a sling for a few weeks

  • a buggy"

wouldn't have worked for me personally.

If I had to start from scratch again (DD now 2.6) I'd get:

  1. a second hand Mountain Buggy Terrain with a suitable newborn carrycot bit. This would do for the newborn stage, plus going for walks on anything other than tarmac.
If looked after, they have a really good resale value so needn't cost a lot overall.
  1. a new Maclaren Techno
For 'everyday' use on pavements/in shops and in and out of the car. I think it's worth a new one for me as it gets used most days and takes a bit of a bashing what with tons of shopping hanging off handles etc.

I had a sling but didn't get on with it at all - far too heavy to carry baby, baby bag and shopping around town for more than about 10 mins. And post-birth you're not exactly at your fittest, even if you had no problems or stitches.

I do love rear-facing prams for the under 18 month stage though - so in the name of pram porn would probably be tempted by something like a second-hand Bugaboo Bee for a while, to be sold on ebay once its use had passed.

I don't think travel systems are a con per se - but people can get sucked into buying the wrong equipment due to lack of experience and understanding of what they will need/get the best use out of. Most travel-system type prams are too bulky to easily use in narrow shop aisles, so I don't rate them for that reason alone!

No one pram/buggy/travel system does it ALL imho.

PixelHerder · 15/01/2009 13:30

Meant to say that the MB Terrain lasts ages as it has a large seat - DD (2.6) still fits in it comfortably and it's great for longer walks in woods etc, she hops in and out when she wants to.

siriusmew · 15/01/2009 13:31

My dad bought me a Mothercare Travel system for DS1 in 2004. Its now done 4 kids(Not all mine!) and is still going great guns. Manage to get it on the bus but only if old people move their shopping out of the buggy /wheelchair space! I can't get on with slings as have got back problems but always fancied one.

SweetEm · 15/01/2009 13:33

Sitting on fence and saying YABU and YANBU.

Agree travel systems a bit rubbish.

Disagree about Maclarens. Think they are rubbish if you like to have the baby facing you for more than a few weeks. I have a pram/buggy that was reversible which is great and is still going for second child. Still have ds facing me at 9 mo and dd liked to face me if she was tired/bored until she was quite old.

Original poster
morningpaper · 15/01/2009 13:42

someone really needs to invent a decent, cheap, backwards facing 'buggy'

James Dyson should do this instead of fecking around with stupid wheelbarrow-hoovers

OP posts:
MadMarg · 15/01/2009 13:42

A sling might be ok for a short period of time, but we used to often go out for hours on end, and sometimes even the whole day without a car. The Icandy Apple travel system was an absolute star. Nice inflatable wheels and my DS was able to lie flat and be comfortable. I put him in the seat when he was 5 months, but facing me. When he was older I was able to turn the seat around occasionally.

On the occasions when we hired a car we were able to use the car seat which, in the end, worked out cheaper than hiring one with the car - and we had it when friends would offer us lifts somewhere in their car.

I now have a Maclaren, but I don't regret the Icandy at all!

georgimama · 15/01/2009 13:43

Have Silver Cross gone out of business? Are you sure?

I had a Silver Cross sleepover and used (and still) use it all the time. It was a "proper" pram (so much so that the pram can be used as a moses basket and comes with a stand for that purpose, although we didn't) and was very safe, smooth and secure for DS. Although you can get lie flat McClaren types their little feet look terribly vulnerable to me!
It converts into a me facing pushchair and although bulky, I much prefer it to the cheapo buggy we also have for going to shops.

I loathe travel systems though as the temptation is to get baby straight out of car in car seat, walk around shops with baby still in car seat now attached to chasis, back in car, drive home. It isn't good for their backs when tiny.

I didn't pay 500 quid plus for it, I got it on Ebay from a shop, brand new, half the price of John Lewis. I keep saying this all over MN - baby equipment - Ebay shops!

It still looks brand new and will do for any subsequent DC.

FromGirders · 15/01/2009 13:51

Maybe if you have decent pavements, or hardly walk anywhere you can get away with a buggy. Living (and workingas i was at the time) in a rural area, I needed a decent all terrain pram, with a carrycot type thing.
Five and a half years of constant use later, mine is still going strong, and I am the only person I know in real life who has only ever bought one pram.
Tried a buggy thing once, borrowed it from a friend to go on a bus trip. Never again. My wrists were in agony by the end of the day, and it was soo much heavier to push than my pram. Hell on wheels.

HelenBurns · 15/01/2009 13:57

@ Bubbaluv

I think tbh you probably are just better at steering. I used to go into a lot of potholes and lampposts...

I agree P&T a big faff!

I used ds1's expensive buggy (200 odd in 2003) daily till he was about 3 and a half. It was superb but ultra heavy, I had muscle strain constantly towards the end. That was a Cosatto.

I ditched it when he was 4, as the brakes had seized and it was just annoying me by then. It did such a good job though, really ran it into the ground. I used to use it for skip raiding. Two irons safes in the basket and a load of bricks, it was a good buggy...

giantkatestacks · 15/01/2009 13:58

FromGirders - thats just it though isnt it - you have to buy whatever is going to be suitable for your situation and not be swayed by the colour or by the fact that someone down the road has got one etc...

I push a buggy about 4 miles every day (school run) and its fine - you have to have it set at the right height for you though.

I personally cant get a threewheeler up a kerb without a great palaver and then sometimes we just bounce off it and people tut - am a bit of a weedy thing though...

HelenBurns · 15/01/2009 13:58

iron safes. I would not want two irons.

FruitynNutty · 15/01/2009 13:58

My shoulders start aching at the very thought of a sling. DS was a bit of a whopper when born so was in sling for all of 2 weeks before I gave up. My Bugaboo Frog was the best item we bought 3.5 years ago and I will be using it again for DC2 so I reckon I've got my moneys worth!

Original poster
morningpaper · 15/01/2009 13:59

lol @ skip-raiding

OP posts:
FruitynNutty · 15/01/2009 14:01

Also, now I'm a Childminder, I use the Bugaboo occasionally for the mindees - if I don't need the double - well worth it and is still going strong, never had a problem with it

HelenBurns · 15/01/2009 14:05

I'm gonna distinguish here between different Bugaboos.

I never had a Frog. I've seen them about and I have to admit they look less pretentious and sturdier than the Cam. I also really find the quilted hood lining attractive

It's a shame they don't make them any more. My brand new Cam had a dent in the foam, the brake made a loud farting noise when pushed (had to be replaced) and the number of times it nearly went over going down a kerb, I hate to think about.

I have come to the conclusion that Bugaboos are for controlled people with clean houses and the ability to wear make up quite often. And hairstyles.

I need something I can treat very badly.

sarah293 · 15/01/2009 14:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

TinkerBellesMumandFiFi2 · 15/01/2009 14:07

I used a sling last time - wrap sling that I made myself so really saving money - and a second hand travel system (£40) mainly for other people to use or when we were eating out etc when we needed to put her down, she was in the sling till she started climbing out at 2! This time I have bought a new travel system and I'm not using a sling because my back is so bad and mostly she will be pushed by someone else. I got a Silver Cross 3D and with sales and tax back it was a lot cheaper than it should have been. Almost everything with Tink was second hand, I've kept a lot but I wanted something new and hers.

FrannyandZooey · 15/01/2009 14:17

i am big fan of mothercare 3 wheeler
can't get on with those stroller things - uncomfortable for all parties concerned
maybe if you don't do much walking, and do your shopping in the car?
otherwise you need loads of space to bung your veg, and nice pneumatic wheels

of course sling / shopping trolley thing is best combination

knickerelasticjones · 15/01/2009 14:18

re the OP - does it really matter?

Yes travel systems can cost a fortune and be more expensive than you really need, but so can cars, clothing, houses, shoes etc etc. Need I go on?

Why are you getting your knickers in a knot over this?

People have wanted to show off with their babies for many a long year - nothing change, hence the all-singing, all-dancing pram system.

And I've seen plenty of sling wearing / Maclaren pushing mums who are just smugger than Mrs Smugola's smugest smug pie because they seem to think they are the epitomy of mothering splendour.

(I may even have been one of those, but I'm not telling)

so why not just chill.....?

Original poster
morningpaper · 15/01/2009 14:18

I would have had you down as a backwards-facing girl, Franny

OP posts:
FrannyandZooey · 15/01/2009 14:20

oh yes absolutely! except could not afford
so did sling until about 2 years old
ds2 has never been in pram
this is not so much boast as complaint

FrannyandZooey · 15/01/2009 14:20

oh yes absolutely! except could not afford
so did sling until about 2 years old
ds2 has never been in pram
this is not so much boast as complaint

FrannyandZooey · 15/01/2009 14:21

you know that sounds a bit rude

ChristmasPenguin · 15/01/2009 14:22

YANBU.
Our travel system was brilliant for a very short while (interchangeable car seat/carry cot) but as soon as he was big enough for a buggy, I got one and now staring at the much hated Quinny Buzz that's taking up room in our conservatory.