Is it really worth buying a cheap new stroller for a holiday? I need convincing.

[Tigermoth]

My husband wants me to buy a new stroller for our mediterranean holiday.

I see deposits of sand on the seat, ice cream dribbles and worse. He sees 'perfect' family walking along with angelic toddler, joining in the early evening promenade.

I have a much loved, tatty, but entirely OK Maclaren Day Tripper. Very lightweight and strong. I am sure it will scrub up fine.

I know I could buy a new stroller for under £20.00. But I would be worried that such a cheapie would break and all other strollers I have examined have been heavier as well.

I know I will go back to my Maclaren after the holiday, so whatever I buy will be cluttering up our understairs cupboard.

Help needed please!

Any tips on how to give an old stroller a really good clean.
Any recommendations on cheap, STRONG new strollers.

etc etc......

I think anyone offering a buggy valeting service would make a fortune, I'd love to find somewhere that steam cleaned the things. Have you enquired at Swaddlings, Tigermoth?
Failing that, I'd get your husband to shop around and pay for the cheap new stroller on his own. What price for guessing your Daytripper will be jetting off to the Med after all?
My only other advice would be that if you take the seat off to clean it, write down what poppers went where as you dismantle it. It took me two days and a lot of cussing to get our Opus seat back onto the frame. And despite it saying 100% polyester machine washable the bugger had shrunk too.

how long before you go, tigermoth?

i would have thought a good scrub with something like 1001, front and back, followed by a hosing-down, outside on a nice hot day, would clean it up beautifully. scrub the frame with a kitchen brush too, get in all the crevices, and then give the joints and wheels a squirt of WD40.

alternatively if you have a very good friend who would lend you a smarter one that might do but then you'd have to clean hers up before you gave it back...

I'm about to look after a new baby and I really don't need a new buggy. Today I saw the Marks an Spencer version of the new Maclaren Techno, they've got it on special at £114 normally £149. Have to say I am very tempted!! Has anyone seen the new Titanium leather buggy from Maclaren, it costs £1000 it looks really cool in black leather. Very Victoria Beckham!!

Tigermoth, we bought a buggy for £19.99 in Argos 20 months ago and have used nothing else since. It has travelled to lots of different countries, bumped across some very rough terrain and is still going strong. It is light, folds up umbrella style, seems to be comfortable as ds has fallen asleep in it on numerous occasions even though it doesn't recline. It has a dark navy check, so it doesn't even look dirty. If you've got a spare £20 - go for it!

Marina, pushchair steam cleaning, now there's a thought! I phoned Swaddlings on the vaguest off-chance of this and asked, but no, they don't offer this service. Suggested soap, water and a scrubbing brush. They are clean out of buggies, since they close on 15th September, so hurry for those last few bargains.

If the buying is left to my husband I fear he will find that £1000 titanium leather buggy that Joe has mentioned.

I need to scrub out our buggy anyway - it's pretty disgusting - so will get out the scrubbing brushes and WD40, see what we end up with, and show it to my husband.

Thanks, Bugsy, for the Argos recommendation. If your buggy copes with rough terrain as well as tarmac, it's the one for us. I strongly suspect that I will end up buying one, so will look in the catalogue asap.

Any other suggestions greatly appreciated.

Whoops, Alibubbles, I meant you, not Joe.

Tigermoth we bought a £29.99 from Toys R us - one up from the real cheapie since it has a lie back feature so when you go out for dinner in the evening little one can fall asleep in it. Its fab and all the others just sit in the garage collecting dust. If the other one is really grim have you thought about taking it to the jet wash - we do our bikes there !
have a good holiday

Tigermoth, we went to Mallorca when our daughter was 8 months, for some reason I allowed myself to be talked into not taking a buggy by my other half.....needless to say Day 1 found us in the nearest large town buying a buggy. We bought the cheapest and smallest we could find. It has become a very useful addition. Not only does it fold up smaller than our Mothercare, Maclaren style one, but it is lighter, so all in all not a bad purchase.

On another note, how old is your little one? Could you get a back pack carrier instead?

PS. by 'little one' I meant child not buggy...!

Cawthorne, thanks for your message. I will definitely go to Toys R Us to see what they have on the buggy front, and to stock up with some little toys for the journey. The idea of jet washing my old pushchair is really inspired - I could buy some foamy car interior shampoo for it at the garage, too. I'll let you know how I get on.

Emmagee, my toddler is a very wriggly 2 year old. When he puts his mind to it, he can escape from most strap-in seats ( car seat, high chair and pushchair) and his cot. Luckily he doesn't do this very often. I had thought of a back pack carrier but I think he's a bit too old now.

Funny you should say your partner talked you into leaving the buggy behind. My husband has tried this on several occasions, too. I have learned to ignore him. I made a great mistake when my oldest son was three - my husband persuaded me to throw our buggy away completely , saying our son was old enough to walk everywhere. Yes, he walked pretty OK with my husband but when he was with mummy, we had tantrums and tears if he wasn't picked up and carried for part of the journey. I won't make that mistake again.

if you use a jetwash on a buggy doesn't it blow it into the next street?

Not if you sit your toddler in it ....

better buy some kids' shampoo too then!

When we take a pushchair on a hot holiday, I always either give it a bath in the room before we go home and shower it off or take it out by the pool and give it a shower (depending who's watching!). Then leave it to dry in the sun for the day.

funny story..
bought a cheap asda double buggy las year before going to greece with the twins. after red rain (some kind of saharan sand) on it, several rounds of vomit and a mashed banana at the airport squashed into it , the lie back catch came loose and i had to take it back to asda when we got home.
they gave me a full refund in cash but was i embarrased at the condition of the buggy after 2 weeks!
my Dh refers to it as the free loan of the buggy from asda...

Just come back from Florida, and I too was persuaded by my husband that we didn't need a buggy! It was too hot and too much walking for a 4 year old ,so we ended up hiring buggies in the parks, which the 8 year old ended up sharing with his brother! Husband grumbled about the cost, but as we already have 2 buggies at home, I really couldn't face the prospect of bringing another one home!
I think the moral of all the tales is, under NO circumstances listen to husbands' advice on taking buggies on holiday!!!

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Thanks for the tip, RobinW. I think I've left it rather too late to arrange to rent a secondhand buggy or to buy one.

Poor you, Mel - and lucky you, Cos!

when are you going then, tigermoth? hope you have a great time - try not to worry too much about poor old us stuck here in the wind and rain...

Hi JanH. I'm here till the weekend, so you havn't got rid of me quite yet!

Just to tie up loose ends. In case anyone is remotely interested, I finally settled on another lightweight McLaren day tripper. Having assessed our old McLaren in readiness for its mega clean, I found the hood and rain protector were damaged and the brakes were a bit spongy. As it was not going to last another winter, I bought a replacement for £64.00.

Now with two pushchairs in the house, I hope I will never be churning with frustration on realising that my husband has mistakenly driven off with the pushchair in the boot of the car, leaving toddler stranded without wheels at home with me.

hi, tigermoth, did you have a wonderful time strolling in the corsican sunshine with your new stroller?
now you have 2 better make sure it's the crappy old one your DH drives off with!

Hi Janh, Thanks for asking about our holiday and a definite yes to both your questions. Glad you're back - I was thinking of putting a message for you on the persons missing board.