Will I really need a stroller/pram at first?

[aikigypsy]

I'm pregnant with my first, due in November, and I'm trying to get organized, but want to keep gear to a minimum as we'll probably be moving across the Atlantic a couple of months after the baby arrives. I am pretty much planning on carrying the baby everywhere in the early weeks, but my mother says that I MUST get a stroller/pram type thing.

By the way, when the baby is born I'll be living in a house half a mile up a dirt road, and about 8 miles from the nearest set of sidewalks, so the stroller (if I had one) would be strictly for trips into town. We do plan on getting a car seat, though. So do I really need to buy something before the birth, or can it wait?

I'd think that if you're a reasonably solid carry-things sort of person (e.g. not a 98 pound weakling), you should be ok with a sling for the first few months.

And that gives you more options for prams, anyway, as lots of them are no use for the first three months anyway.

I think as long as you have a good comfortable sling, not a baby bjorn type, then you can do without a pram or stroller, particularly in the early months. I don't think my dd went in one until she was 4 months old.

I'd recommend a wilkinet, or a wrap or a mei tai.

Several salient points:

• Have you a really good sling ie not a Bjorn type?
• If yes, if you have a c-section you may not be able to carry the baby for any distance or length of time.
• Even if you don't have a c-section, remember a pram carries not only the baby but also the change bag and the shopping - how would you feel with the baby strapped to your front, the change bag in one hand and the groceries in the other?

You can always get a cheap or secondhand pram / pushchair from Ebay or the free ads in the paper - but this might be easier to do before the birth rather than after...

Or get something like a Maclaren Techno that you can use for a newborn, sling in the boot for trips to town, folds small to ship, and you'll use as a stroller till they're 3 once you get somewhere paved.

i would invest in a pram if it's for a few months. Slings can be heavy and not really ideal to be walking around the shops with all your shopping as well.
Get a second hand one then sell it on afterwards.

for you, i would suggest a maclaren techno.

suitable from birtyh to three years+, lies flat-ish, minimal amount of room taken up

I did a vaginal birth, without epidural, and my back was badly knackered from it (the muscles in my back were tight for weeks). Couldn't wear any sort of sling or the Baby Bjorn for more than an hour, so couldn't have coped without a pram of some sort. Suppose you could wait and see how you are just after the birth.

Good point about the C-section, I hadn't thought of that. Of course I hope not to have one, but if it's necessary I will. I guess I'll keep an eye out for used pram -- I've got probably four and a half months to go, anyway.

oh dear. I'm hoping to get away without a pram when dc2 arrives in Sept. ds will be 2.4 and has his stroller or his reins/backpack, was planning to carry dc2 around in Ergo with newborn insert at first. We don't own a newborn-type pushchair any more (the one we used to have for ds gave up the ghost last winter). Realistic?

How about the kind where you buy the chassis/carry cot/car seat/seat unit separately. You could get a carry cot and use this instead of a moses basket, or just use the car seat on the wheels. like this (very expensive but just for the idea!)

Thanks, lapin, the Hammacher Schlemmer thing looks interesting.

I'm in Cambridge and I swear half of the strollers I see here are Bugaboos. It's frightening, really. I do not want to spend that kind of money, but $200 or so for a stroller, car seat, etc. seems reasonable. Of course I'd rather spend less, but do want something reliable.

Worth a bash, berolina, so long as you don't have to get on any buses (baby strapped to front, shopping bags, folded pushchair, toddler needs picking up, bus driver wants money...)
Make sure you know where you can source one quickly if it starts to break down...

That's Boston-Cambridge, in the US, that is.

Yow! That's even more expensive than the bugaboos! I didn't think it was possible!

I was going to say, I could have sworn Cambridge was a hotbed of Maclarens like everywhere else in the UK...

Get a Techno, really - tis much better for them to lie flat than be squished up in a carseat.
No clue re US carseats though - my staple recommendation is the Maxi-Cosi and they're hard to get hold of in the States.

Thanks MrsB. I do actually have to use buses, but here in Berlin there's enough room in them not to have to fold pushchairs (there are even little folding seats by the pushchair spaces) and I've got a travelcard Thought if I do have to have a CS I'll send dh out quickly for any old second-hand one (lots of second-hand baby shops here), or borrow one from friends who now only really use their Ergo.

I got a Maclaren Techno too, the Classic comes with free rain cover and cosy-toes. DD was in it from day 1 as it lies flat, and has a liner and head-support thing that make it cosier than a regular pushchair. It also folds up a great deal smaller than a pram to go in a car, and is narrow enough to take on buses and get through narrow shop doors etc.
Highly recommended!

slings are great (i used a wilkinet) except when it's raining. get a maclaren and a sling.

Agree. I was just saying to dp last night 'if I had known when pg 1st time, what I know now, I'd have bypassed that bloody travel system, gone straight to the maclaren Techno XT and then used a sling AND xt when ds2 arrived while DS1 was only 16m'.
The XT has suspension so would probably be good for your dirt road.

Beg or borrow. A pram/stroler is pretty handy not just for baby but also the nappy bag and shopping.
There were times I had boy in a sling and a backpack in the stroller.
So far we have had 1 pram borrowed, 2 strollers, one hand me down,one 2nd hand and 1 bike trailer 2nd hand. The trailer doubles as a very good off road stroller.