how many pushchairs have you got?

[Bo]

My husband is constantly moaning about how many pushchairs I have (only 3).
I got a hideous 3-in-1 thing 2 years ago for my 1st baby. I hated it so much I eventually got a cheap mothercare buggy. Then, having my 2nd quite soon I got a double.
I use the double every day, but if I'm going out in the car I still use the car seat & chassis of the original pain, and if we're going on holiday I use the cheap buggy. So, although I still use all 3 to some extent or other he moans so much about it.

There must be people out there with just as many (perhaps more).

I'm planning to get every type of baby/child transportaion available to really piss him off.
a backpack carrier
a buggy board (by the way, how good are these?)
run out of ideas already.

We have quite a collection too, and only one baby so far.......

We have:
SiL's 3-in-one, which she used for her 2 children. DD slept in the carrycot for naps and still sometimes sleeps in the pushchair bit at MiL's.
A Mamas and Papas pushchair which has very chunky wheels and is good for country walks etc. Unfortunately it also weighs a ton and is slightly too wide to go through many doorways and aisles. DH didn't believe me until it happened to him..!
A Mothercare Salsa stroller- OK, nice hood, don't like the raincover, wouldn't buy it now!
Mum and MiL (who care for DD while we're at work)both went out and bought lightweight buggies for about £30.
We also have a secondhand babysling and a hipseat.

I like to wind DH up by always looking at the latest in buggies - my justification is that he's always looking at cars! At the moment I'm quietly coveting a Maclaren techno - anyone got one?

Well, Bo, don't forget to buy a Hippychick (side-saddle belt seat for older toddlers, very good by all accounts) and a Tagalong trailer for your bike. Really infuriate him - buy a bike too if necessary!
We have got by with two pushchairs (Maclaren Opus V from birth, truly excellent til the wheels came off at 18 months - but by then it must have done hundreds of miles and stairs - and a Graco Citisport. Light, comfortable for him, crap catch means it is always unfolding itself).
Most people I know have had at least two for their first child alone...

I must be the abnormal then....We've only got the one. It's a 3-in-1 Mama's & Papa's. We had our son in the carrycot stage at birth & then moved him into the push chair stage when he could sit up (facing us) then turned it to face the world a month or so later. Now he can walk & climb we've taken the front bar off so he can get in & out himself. We did contemplate getting another pram (a buggy or something) but as we are thinking about baby No2, it seems to make more sense to wait till then when we'll need a double buggy type thing....talking of which.....do they do them so that a new-born can lie flat in his/her part but that the older baby is not restricted in their section?

Penguinsmum,
I have a Maclaren Techno stroller and I think it's the best thing since sliced bread, I had a Graco travel system from birth which was excellent for the carseat clicking into it and not waking baby BUT the wheels are wide and it takes up half the boot in my Golf. So when she was out of the 1st stage car seat I looked for a stroller. I was really naughty buying the Techno cos they were so much more than the Daytripper and Mistral - but it's gorgeous! I was going to get the M'care Salsa one but I fell in love with the Techno on sight - it's a dream to push, higher handles than most strollers (am nearly 6', so need it), folds really small, has extendable leg rest, removable washable seat - I could go on...! The only gripe I have is that the brakes are really difficult to click on and off (ie impossible in flip flops!) but I was nosying someone's the other day that looked more recent than mine (I bought mine last Sept) and the brakes looked different so they may have sorted that problem. Go buy it , you won't regret it (but then I'm a shopaholic with more storecards than sense!)

I'm glad I'm not the only one with such a collection - I was given a 2 in one by a friend when I was pregnant and being 'sensible' I accepted it even tho I really wanted a chassis I could put the car seat on and a more modern pattern - then I bought a techno - yes I was seduced by its flashy looks too - couldn't choose between it and Vogue but went with Techno as it looked nicer!
Then in a mad moment of rebellion ( when baby was already 5 months so really NOT sensible!!)I bought a 3 in one system just to get a car seat that would go on chassis as the whole thing was reduced to £180 and that way I got a nicer car seat too! Wish I'd done it ages ago.
My husband also thinks I'm mad.....
Just as well we don't have any illusions about putting the cars in the garage!
Julie

Don't get rid of a double buggy too soon! It may be cluttering up the place, but mine gets more use now than when I needed it ....! . My younger son frequently has friends round to play, and the double buggy gets loads of use ferrying them around.

My boys are 22 months apart, but the elder one is very tall and heavy, and my back was lousy after the pregnancy and birth, so he was swiftly encouraged to walk, and the double buggy was gathering dust Several times I considered selling it, but I'm really glad I didn't.

Hi

I'm about to be a first-time mum and thinking of getting the Techno as it seems ideal for living in London and getting around tube and bus. But I've heard mixed reviews about how suitable it would be for a newborn because it doesn't lie completely flat - any views?

Thanks

Hi Florenceuk,
I was wondering how it would be for new-borns, bought mine when dd was 9 months and it was fine for her but it's definitely not a full lie back position even though it says it's fine from birth. I don't have a big problem with newborns not lying absolutely flat, but I know some people do. I think it would be fine as long as you had a cosy toes or something padded for them to lie on. What I said I'd do 'next time' (though this will not be for another 10 yrs or so!) would be not to bother with a travel system but to buy a car seat and chassis on it's own and a seperate stroller so you could get use out of both from early on...Maybe you could think about doing that if you need to buy a first stage car seat anyway, then when baby is tiny you could use the carseat more than the stroller and vice versa as they get older? That's just from my experience anyway...

I would absolutely agree with Lizzer - get a car seat like Britax with a Practicale chassis - for example- so the chassis is light and easy to put up and the baby is 'snug' to start with - plus doesn't have to be woken when moving from car to out and about - I don't think I would have wanted to put Alicia in techno from Birth - she was 4 months when I got it and wasn't wildly comfortable then for a month or so - but it's very much a personal thing. As I said I really regretted NOt getting a car seat/chassis combination frombirth
happy hunting!
julie

I've got the Techno - and, while it is really light and easy to manoeuvre, my fifteen month old son doesn't look that comfortable in it when he is asleep. It definitely doesn't go flat so I wouldn't recommend it for a new born.

Dixie you are NOT abnormal, I too have a mama's and papa's 3in1 and nothing else. I used it from birth to 3yrs with my first then for my second child for the past year and it's still going strong after taking a lot of hammering from Daddy when he piles suitcases on top of it in our small car. I'm really going to miss it when our second child doesn't need it anymore as I pile tons of shopping on the handles and it doesn't overbalance plus having the older child on the buggy board at times it really is an asset. Our friends have had 3/4 buggies/prams and I feel quite smug for making one good decision!

I'm a strong advocate of the three-in-one travel system, but they do tend to take up all the boot of the car. My bebecar raider (tip: buy abroad, heaps cheaper) has been fab, loads of use and nice and roomy, and the back folds down flat too. The only thing with it is that the front wheels don't swivel although I did see a newer version the other day that did swivel. I also have a mothercare buggy that does for trips away although after the sturdinesss of the bebecar i always feel like it's going to tip over. My advice would be to think about how you're going to be getting about the most and buy accordingly. Incidentally, how do you manage on the tube in London with a pushchair? I keep putting it off as I imagine it's a nightmare.

Could someone recommend a pushchair for me? I'm having a baby at the end of Sept, don't have a car and walk around to the shops a lot, also use black cabs a fair amount to get around. There's no way I could take a baby in a pushchair on the tube-- I'm far too clumsy. The travel systems with a car seat sound ok, but they're too heavy and it'd be a pain putting the carseat in and out of the cab each time. Maybe an all terrain thing? They're so light and seem easy to push around, plus they have a cot insert, which is a necessity. AND my next door neighbor has one. Every time I've seen her and her daughter out, her daughter is peacefully asleep in it, cute as anything! Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks.

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Thanks for all the advice so far. The trouble is, we've also been told not to leave newborns in car seats for too long - so I'm not sure if a car seat/chassis solves the problem. Maybe it's more useful for quick trips to the shops and travelling, rather than as a main buggy? Friends in NZ recommend a system called "Snap 'n Go" (I think this is actually made in the US) which appears to be a pretty lightweight set of wheels for a car seat, but I have not seen this for sale in the UK at all. Any idea how much the Britax chassis on its own costs?

Yes I'm tempted by the ATPs as well - but thought they would be too big for general day-to-day use and there is the problem of storage - we just don't have room for 3 different pushchairs. I noticed the Easywalker Traveller got pretty high reviews on this site, and it comes with a cot - any users want to expand further?

Florenceuk

From last autumn's M&S catalogue, the Britax Praticale chassis is 85 GBP (sorry, don't have the "pound" symbol on my keyboard!) and the Classicale chassis is 185 GBP.. I think. It's upstairs at the moment and I need to get going, but if it's a lot different, I'll let you know. They both fit the "Rock n Roll" carseat.

I've heard the same thing about babies being in carseats for too long. Not at one go, just being in them day in and day out for hours at a time. Can't remember why it was bad, though.

hi

I have ( don't ask why!!!) a praticale and classicale chassis and actually prefer the praticale as it's lighter - and I find less hassle to put up and down. The reason you are not supposed to leave newborns in for too, long is that its supposed to be bad for their backs- which should be flat for most of the day - it is this advice which stopped me buying a car set/chassis in the first place - but as I said I wish I'd ignored it!!! You could buy a push chair bit for the praticale too - there's a design - I forget the name but I've seen a friend with one recently which isn't a carry cot but a pushchair attachment for the chassis which can be changed to allow the baby to be completly flat and acts very much like a pram - I think it would get my vote if doing it again - and it's not hard to remove this part and put on the car seat - I think you really need to spend a good amount of time in a good shop trying them out - thats what I wish I'd done - then sit down with a big bit oif paper - write down all the pros and cons - and then come back here with any questions that occur to you!

I also have an ATP which I have been using for over a year (since daughter was 5 months old) and I'm very impressed with it. I don't have a car either and it is really good on trains ('cept when train guards get a bit huffy if you don't fold your pushchair up). I don't know if it is just my model or if they are generally a pain to collapse - so I never bother - it stays up all the time. As a result I use an umbrella folding stroller that I was given second hand if I get on a bus. Travelling by bus with the three wheeler would be impossible. The only other problem I've had with it is punctures. I do a lot of walking and after about a year the tyres got quite worn and I was continually mending punctures or buying new inner tubes. Nightmare if you walk anywhere thorny. Eventually I gave up and bought two new back tyres and since then I've haven't had any more punctures. Still I would definitely recommend buying an ATP - easy to push and very comfortable for daughter to sit in.

Thanks for the advice. What brand of ATPs do you have? We're getting a carseat, too, for any car trips. I think it might work out that our local mini cab service could hold it for us while we're out and about-- I could just put the baby in the front carrier.

Florenceuk, I was confused. It's not the "Rock n Roll" carseat, it's "Rock n something-else", maybe "Tot". I forget. Again. At any rate, if you're looking for it, you'll recognize the name when you see it!

Over the past 6 years an embarrassingly large amount! Graco, Silver Cross, Mon Bebe, Mamas and Papas, mostly bought second hand.