Do I really need a pram?

[P0llyP0cketR0cket]

So, I'm preggo with #1. I live in the middle of nowhere and lead a very countrysidey life. I'm wondering if I really need to spend loads on a pram. On a day to day basis, I'll be walking the dogs (through grass & mud, so baby will be in a sling.) I might go to the village, but not many pavements, so sling again I suppose or maybe a buggy? I go food shopping once a week, but can I do that with a buggy too? I'll obviously buy a good car seat, but do I really need a pram too? Am I being naive thinking I don't need a pram? Anyone else cope without? Thanks!

Phill and teds or mountain buggy- workhorse of the country buggy!

I love our wrap sling and Ergo carrier but I rarely use it when I'm on my own unless I'm just going for a walk. - it's a pain to have to carry shopping, and more importantly when baby is too small for a high chair, it's awkward to stop for a coffee or food, and going to the loo is a bit of a pain too. Think I'll ise the carrier more when DD can sit up although I guess that still doesn't solve the loo issue...

I don't have a pram, but had a lie-flat buggy for both of mine. As others have said, they're great for hanging shopping off too! Slings are good too, but I don't think I'd manage with just a sling.

So many replies and so much help, thanks!!

I've never even heard of a sling library, so I'll look that up. Good idea about the lie flat buggy.

Bubbles, I will be buying everything that's pretty if I don't have a plan of action. Heard about the beautiful iCandy things, but I could buy some Jimmy Choos for that price

ukslinglibraries.wordpress.com

i have used buggy for DS2 twice in 4mo. i use a sling. only pain is not having anywhere to plonk him when out and about.
i'd also advise you to get a decent sling, and decent ones aren't all that cheap.

I have a nice smart expensive pram that my 5 month old has been in precisely 3 times. I carry him in a sling, he's nearly 9kg, we have a moby wrap which was lovely when he was little and an ergo. The thing I struggle with is carrying all the stuff, I have resorted to putting extra nappies and wipes in my pockets, I breastfeed so no need for bottles and formula but I'm not sure I could manage if I needed to take a ton of stuff put with me.

It might be worthwhile getting a fold up umbrella type buggy for days out to the zoo or shopping centers when your baby gets a bit bigger.

I couldn't have managed without mine (we have a Quinny Buzz and had the carrycot when he was tiny, the pushchair from 6 months and the car seat could attach to it), still couldn't. DS was sicky so would have covered me in our sling. There's always somewhere to put stuff, shopping etc with a buggy. I really liked putting ds down occasionally!!- if you go for a coffee whilst your baby's asleep for instance. I also don't drive- most of my friends who managed with just a sling did so weren't actually carrying their babies for as long as i was pushing mine IYSWIM.

I have a connecta and before that a stretchy.

However I bought a travel system and was glad I did as sometimes you want a safe place to put baby without holding them (eg eating out when they're too little for a high chair).
I also put my back out at one point so couldn't carry.

My dd can sit up now, I was given an umbrella fold stroller which is so light that I use it often for shopping (good basket in the base).

Though if I had to puck again I might have bought a cheap/2nd hand "from birth" light stroller and a car seat kept in the car. If you have the carrier and use it, a lightweight stroller is a cheap/easy to store back up. Mothercare do one for under £50 that fully reclines with a footmuff.

It's difficult to know beforehand I think. I fully intended to use a sling but as it happened, I don't really like them - I feel very big and almost pregnant again with a baby on the front and if I am in a coffee shop or something I like sitting down unencumbered!

We borrowed a friend's Mothercare Xtreme and it will go over anything, fairly cheap as prams go as well. Potentially a good option for walking if you don't get on with a sling.

I carried my DS everywhere in my Connecta from 4-5 months as he started having a meltdown every time he was in his buggy, would t sleep in it. He sleeps like a dream when carried. I do have him back in the buggy but short trips are fab with the carrier, also I live in a historic town with little shops and some little awkward pavements so carrying helps. I'm probably going to sell the (beautiful, sob) Silver Cross Wayfarer and get a lightweight buggy instead.

Oh and if you do decide you want a beautiful iCandy, I'm selling my barely used one at a brilliant price

I barely use my pram. Sling is so much easier for shops and non-pavement walks. I can't be bothered folding the pram into the car and always seem to get wet/muddy from the wheels so only ever use it if I'm walking purely on pavement from the house and might need to put stuff in it (which is rarely). Luckily I bought a cheap pram! I do find if I do a lot of walking on consecutive days then my neck can feel a bit strained but that's probably because my carrier isn't adjusted correctly. My baby is 6 months and 19lbs. I will get a lightweight buggy though.

You could get a travel system instead - car seat that clips into a wheeled frame to make your pram and swivels to a buggy when there older ?

A car seat on travel system chassis-wheels is not meant to be used in lieu of a pram. A baby shouldn't be in a car seat for more than a couple of hours.

I second going to a sling library, I didn't know about these till DD was 3 months old. Probably still would have got my manduca carrier I already had as I love it. So easy to use!
I also have a travel system I love. Different situations call for different modes of transport. Dog walks and (rare) trips to supermarkets prefer sling. Out most of the day - pushchair. DDwent through a phase of hating pushchair when she was too small for seat but got bored in carry cot. So sling had to be used more often till she got bigger. DD was premature so was too small for carrier till about 2 months old. Had I known about sling library's then I may have been able to hire something to bridge th gap though.
You can planas much as you like, but until baby is here you won't really know. Most of it can wait till then anyway.

bike is correct - no more than 2 hours in car seat for newborns especially. They need to lay flat in order for lungs to expand properly and spine to develop. It's not advertised though.

We have both and live in London. I rarely used the buggy when on mat leave. I much preferred the sling (I had a hana wrap at first and then moved on to an ergo 360. The ergo is so comfortable. I don't feel her weight at all in it. She hated the newborn insert though, so if we had started with the ergo we would probably not be sling fans!

The pram has had its uses - walks in the summer heat (July baby), taking her to the doctors (wouldn't have wanted to try to get a wriggly upset baby in a sling after her jabs) and round the shops (trying stuff on and carrying bags are both hard with a sling).

I know lots of people who never got a pram or buggy. If you get the right sling you will be fine! Dd1 never went in a buggy until age 3 when I had SPD with dd2. And I can still sling her now if needed in a woven wrap or her preschool half buckle mei tai

Getting a baby into a sling after jabs is the best thing for them - instant calm due to snuggles.
I do internet shopping mainly.
Dd2 16 months has only occasionally been in a buggy now

What Bubbles said. Slings are amazing! We walk everywhere, DS is 6 months old now and has never - not even once - been in a pram or a buggy! We use a woven wrap as that's what works for us, a sling library will help you find what works for you :) will the right style of carrier you can easily carry 4 year olds so don't worry about baby getting too heavy :) DS is 17lb 12 currently and feels absolutely weightless in our wraps!

Example: Carried him on my back for a walk round a lake with extended family the other weekend, he was up there for two and a half hours, slept for most of it and I barely felt him!

Euro yep I found my style of carrier changed at 3 months based on dd's preferences.
And YY to shopping etc.

Might be worth researching and trying out some prams So if you do change your mind you can get one quickly without trawling the shops/internet. I feel much safer walking the dog with dd in her pram, the carrier I have is great but I have a big bouncy dog who's easily spooked and I don't feel comfortable with her in it at the moment. Picking up dog poo is a tricky job with a hefty baby strapped to you too.
Like someone else said a pram is really helpful when eating out in the early days when they can't sit in a high chair and they're asleep most of the time. You don't have to spend a fortune on one, lots are sold barely used on eBay.

For 10 weeks after childbirth if I dropped anything with tiny dd in a wrap, I couldn't retrieve it. Stomach/core was too weak.