Pram envy...symptomatic of other issues/tranference of financial fustration

[Andie20521]

I know this is daft, I have a perfectly good pram, an old Brittax Travel System which was a bargain second hand. My DD is just 4mo.

It is slightly scruffed, and very heavy, but solid and practical with every possible accessory. However I am looking at all the other Mums with the trendy prams and feel jealous. I always swore that for the short time they use a pram for I wouldn't spend a fortune, I have never been one for keeping up with the Jones, but now with my pfb dd I want her to have the best.

It co-incided with money becoming tight so possibly a case of I want what I can't have (Say "cant" but Nana and Grandad would love to fork out if I said LO needed it but I couldn't bring myself to do that)

I need to be practical, money was always going to be tight on mat leave, but the realisation has finally sank in that its going to be like this for some time with child care costs when I return to work. (Yes I knew, but but for some reason it didn't register what the reality would be)

I just needed to vent, feeling like a scruffy second class citizen at the moment, and can't see it ending for years!

Hmm I'm not sure if DH & I touched on this very topic last night. I'm 33wks pg, first baby, and we've been waiting for my bonus (recvd in March paypacket) in order to go shopping for LO. All along we've been swaying towards M&P Sola pram, then saw the Zoom which is cheaper/ has a carrycot included in the price ... except now my mum has said she'd go halves on a Bugaboo Bee- so swanky pram for similar price as what we'd be paying for M&P one ourselves... even tho we're not paying full whack for it DH think's it's a silly amount of money to pay ?? It's so stupid because how do we know which one is 'better' or better fits our lifestyle until you've bought it and pushed it around for 6 months, blah.

OP We were given a Mamas and Papas MPX travel system which was about 6 yrs old and been through 3 kids. It was in great nick though and we thought it was awesome until our DS was born. He is 6 months and I have already gone to a forward facing pushchair because I wanted to throw the stupid thing out the window every time I used it. It didn't fold down with any of the seats so we had a car seat, a carrycot and then a big pushchair seat sitting on our living room floor plus a massive base (the base did fold) living in our hallway. It took 4 or 5 trips to get the f*ing thing in and out of the house with bubs and if there was any shopping that made it 6 trips.

If I could do it over I would have insisted in week 3 that we go look at new (or even used) prams and would have known what I wanted. My friends have done this and got a nice Sola off ebay when their DS was 2 months.

brillopads my neighbour had a big bulky pram but because they had a long narrow flight of stairs got a Bugaboo Bee instead and absolutely loved it. It's easy to get around and easy to store. However you're totally right about not knowing what you want until bubba shows up.

Hmmm, don't know why there is all that weird Bolding...

I feel exactly the same way!

Money's a bit tight so we've been really sensible and got a great Mamas and Papas travel system for £50 off Ebay, which is doing the job nicely. Can't help but feel like the poor relation in my group of mums and babies though as everyone has those super-cool and cute prams.

It doesn't matter in the slightest, I know, but I can't help it. And then I remind myself just how much money I've saved and start to feel better. :)

Hi- I felt just the same when I first had my ds (now 6) we just got a stroller as money was tight but I wanted to be able to see him, also he got too big to carry really quickly.

I saved up every bit selling bits on the net and saved £300, then saw a family nearby were having a second and moving abroad- they were selling their Bugaboo frog, with all the furry thing, raincover, etc for £350. I bought it and it has been used so much, every day for the last 4 years for both boys. It has been fantastic it just works so well as a pushchair and a pram. I'm really not someone who wants the lastest stuff brand names or whatever, i buy clothes from the charity shop for myself and the children. When dp saw it in the cupboard folded he was like 'good luck with that then' but has been a convert.

I don't drive though and we do lots of walking. It goes along really well, children like it, would recommend it. It is depressing pushing a buggy / pram you don't like. There are some funky new buggies you can get quite cheap or if you look on Ebay the frog buggies come up cheap-ish (for the wear it has had I don't think around £300 is bad)

I have pram phobia. I dislike the things. Never bought one. Don't intend to.

Oh yes I remember pram envy, the best way to get round it is decide what pram it is your after and then look for a seconds somewhere (ebay and stuff).
There are plenty of sites now that do top quality seconds. I know that you never feel that re-assured if its a second, but these companies really put effort into making them as new. (its a bit like buying a display model).
If i were you, and getting pram envy I would look for a 'reworked' version of whatever it was. Same product, same condition, half the price :)
You can't go wrong.
I belong to this facebook page for a company call nursery value they do reworked seconds and keep everyone updated on what stock they have/they're getting in. Its well worth a look if your a fan of bargins. :)

Ditch the nice pushchair. Get a really really trendy nice super cool baby bag instead!!!!!

blueberry ugh don't get me started on baby bags. When I first looked at them I was like "why are they all so expensive" -

I mean £55 for this ?
www.mamasandpapas.com/product-satchel-bag-cover-grass/216711101/type-i/

just because it's the same colour as the fabric of yr buggy?? It's not even aesthetically pleasing

but then I saw these Samsonite ones:
www.mothercare.com/Samsonite-Blossom-Day-Care-Bag/dp/B003SEA7JO?ie=UTF8&ref=sr_1_22&nodeId=42764041&sr=1-22&qid=1301951690

www.mothercare.com/Samsonite-Blossom-Day-Care-Bag/dp/B003SE2TJ0?ie=UTF8&ref=sr_1_18&nodeId=42764041&sr=1-18&qid=1301951742

and I wavered; BUT I'm sure DH wouldn't appreciate having to carry it, I'm hoping to BF so insulated pockets for bottles aren't really gonna be that vital, and you can chuck a changing mat into any old bag...?

I hate shopping, especially when they trick you into thinking you NEED stuff which is actually just 'stuff'

Brillo nice x-posts up there! We have a bugaboo bee. My Ds wouldn't care if it was coated in bloody platinum, he still wouldn't go in it!

The boots parenting club freebie changing bag is perfectly serviceable!