Prams - would you have bought something different?

[SunSparkle]

Hi

First time mum here. I’ve heard a lot of people say they bought huge travel systems with car seats, carrycots and big seats spending £££ to then switch to a lighter stroller type within 6-12 months.

If you were buying a pram again to last from newborn, what would you buy now? Would you go with a lie flat stroller with no travel system?

Tell me what you think before I go and buy something.

I would get a baby jogger city mini. Sturdy, easy to fold, and folds fairly flat. The only issue is that it doesn't really do parent facing. Although I think there may be a soft bassinet for very young babies.

I had a huge system first time. By the time No2 came along, I had a lie flat stroller which I used upright for the three year old (baby in sling) or flat for the baby (big one walking).

X post @LemonBreeland, mine was a BJCM!

I absolutely would buy a travel system if I had another baby. It was so useful being able to lift the car seat onto the wheels for short journeys/shopping, the pram was needed for newborn anyway and the push chair part of it was much more comfortable than a stroller type buggy. I kept mine for dd2 so better value for money. I didn’t buy an alternative stroller until they were 1 and then used both depending on what I was doing.

I got a Tutti Bambini Riviera and would happily have the same again!

Cost less than £300 for the whole travel system from Boots (also got my points). Lovely comfortable pram for walking with a newborn, easily changed to pushchair (front and parent facing) when DC got bigger. Nice strong newborn car seat. It wasn't so expensive that I didn't dare use it (it's been dragged over all sorts of terrain) but still felt sturdy for the price.

A good size for my small car too (a c3) never had an issue getting it in the boot.

We also had the baby jogger city mini. Great from birth and now 5 year old still fits in it (not that he uses it any more).

I think what works for you is really variable. Those lightweight buggies are great if you’re only on pavements but not much use on bumpier ground. We have a lightweight buggy for trips away or going into town and a travel system that has nice big wheels so does well in the park or along more muddy/gravelly paths and also lies completely flat for naps.

I don’t really like having a younger baby forward facing so wouldn’t use a forward facing only buggy as an every day pram until more into toddler age. Some babies love forward facing though so again you have to work out what works for you and your baby.

One thing I would advise is if you’re buying a travel system make sure it’s one where the pushchair seat lies completely flat for naps. It’s much more comfy for them and safer too for smaller babies. Our first pram didn’t and so technically I shouldn’t have used the pushchair seat until after 6 months but sometimes taking the carrycot isn’t very practical.

As pp said, it really depends on your circumstances.

Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have bothered with the big pram. My ILs got it when a friend of theirs was getting rid of it and I could see it being really useful up their way - a lot of uneven paths but more accessible houses - but living in a flat in a city it was just heavy nonsense. I ended up just using carriers, mei tai particularly, and didn't even get a pushchair til my youngest was a toddler who didn't want to walk or be carried.

This worked for me because neither I or my spouse drive, we do a lot of walking and using public transport, and with my first lived in a flat and then in a house with a narrow front entrance which made the pram really annoying. It was just easier not to use one and I liked them being right there (even if once I looked around for a child who was sleeping on me and now I'm now allowed to forget that...).

What I did would be less practical if you use a car a lot, need to carry a significant amount, or need a bit more personal space at times (if buying carriers, one that can switch easily between different people is something I'd view as a priority).

I bought a maci cosi adorra. Honestly, I used it for about 18 months nearly every day. It fit brilliantly into my car, I could easily lift it (I am 5 foot tall), and it had a huge basket so I had great days out with it.

I am now pregnant with DD2. Dd1 is only 22 months. If I had a crystal ball at the time I would have bought a single into a double buggy, like the second hand city select I have just bought, but that's it. I loved my maxi cosi.

It depends on your child and your lifestyle but I don’t think there is a perfect pram. In an ideal world I would have liked off road, not too heavy, big basket, bassinet, parenting facing until 1 and big enough for a tall toddler.

We got a whole travel system, although it was a mothercare own (😢) so not expensive (

I think I would buy a travel system again for the first 6 months but I would make sure it fit in my car easily! We got a Cosatto Giggle travel system and it was too big for the boot! The bassinet part of the pram was great for DD up to 6 months - she used to take naps in it in the daytime. We switched to a cheaper buggy which can lie-flat when she was 6 months old. It's much lighter and easier to put in the car but I don't think it would be a good fit for a newborn.

I don't have a car, so was in the irritating position of needing to buy a car seat I knew I'd hardly ever use. I was also... wary, I guess, of spending lots of money on some madly complex thing and then hating it. And then lockdown happened and it was the one purchase I still hadn't made so I had to be a bit last minute!

What I ended up doing was getting a Joie Juva car seat + pushchair (which I suppose are technically a 'travel system', but a rather less bells-and-whistles one than most) for £100, to be going on with. I was then able to work out what I did and didn't like about it through use, and find out what mattered to me. My logic was that the car seat would have cost me £40 anyway so I only needed to get £60 worth of use out of the pushchair. And actually, I do think there's something to be said for that approach - it's hard to know what's going to matter to you personally when you haven't experienced it.

What I've now bought (5 months in) is a Mountain Buggy Terrain, because I realised that being able to get around footpaths etc, and have the option of going for a run, was important to me. Plus having lots of places to stash stuff in it. But I do still use the other one for some things and I have to say that while I like the Mountain Buggy, I don't like it 10x as much as the other one!

Another on for baby jogger mini city, wished I had from birth and bought an insert for it. Love how you can fold flat so easily

If I could go back back in time, knowing what I know about my baby (e.g. she wouldn't lie flat) I would not get a travel system. I would buy something from birth all the way through like a Silver Cross Horizon and I would only ever buy second hand.

You don't know what kind of baby you'll get until they arrive. Some babies are quite happy to lie in a bassinet for the full 6 months - I've seen them with my own eyes so I know they exist! An awful lot of babies, however, hate prams and prefer to be held in a sling for the first few months.

We ditched the travel system at 8 months and bought a 0-4 year car seat with isofix base, a cheap folding pushchair which stays in the boot of the car, and I still carry my 14 month old in a sling everyday to walk the dog (Connecta).

I'm still pleased with my choice. We have a cosatto wow which I found half price as the pattern was being discontinued so it wasn't too expensive. It's a travel system which I found handy when DS was new. He's a big baby and outgrew the carry cot quickly but he would have done that with any pram. He's 9 months now and we also have a cosatto woosh stroller. DH doesn't drive so whenever he does anything with DS he uses his big pram. I'm more likely to use the stroller because it doesn't take up much room in the boot.

I have a bugaboo Fox which I'm still using 22 months later, I would say it depends on your lifestyle - I've taken it on a bus once and a train a couple of times and it was a bit of a hassle but I mostly drive or walk and I have a lot of boot space in the car.

My lifestyle and needs are:

• don't drive but do need pram to go on buses, long pavement walks and fit in the cars of people who pick me up for trips out e.g. grandparents
• I have 15 or so steps up to my front door so I either need to be able to collapse it and carry buggy and baby, or it have robust suspension and big wheels so I can pull it backwards up the steps (without giving baby an injury)
• the local parks have lots of woodland so needs to cope with paths made up of dirt, sticks and stones

Because we don't drive, I doubt we will have a infant car seat - will get a fixed 0-4 years one for grandparents car.

Looking at maybe the Baby Jogger City Mini or GT from what some people are recommending on here, or maybe a Mountain Buggy. I loved the idea of a YoYo because it's so small but it just won't cope with stones and sticks with it's tiny wheels I don't think.

What I will say of my Mountain Buggy Terrain is, the thing is quite large. It can definitely cope with a woodland path, and I would think that I could pull it backwards up some steps (haven't tried). It's fairly heavy in and of itself, but pushes so easily that you don't really notice. It turns really well, but I do have to manoeuvre carefully to get it through the hallway because it's quite wide. It collapses quite easily (you basically twist and pull a bar near the footplate) although I don't know that I'd want to do it while also wrangling the baby - particularly if I also had loads of stuff in the basket underneath. I'd be able to get it onto a bus quite easily but I'm not sure how popular I'd be with the other passengers having done so.

Don't know about the other models, though!

I've had two children far enough apart they both had different prams. With my first I had the Bébéconfort (now Maxi Cosi) Loola Up and this was absolutely brilliant - the only fault I could find with it was that it was heavy when folded up, and a bit wider than it felt so sometimes you'd clip doorways, shop shelves etc with the wheel but never had an issue fitting it in buses, car boots etc. I loved the way the seat went both ways, loved the reversible seat cover, loved that you could wash the seat cover in the machine and it dried in a day! It laid flat without a carrycot which was important to me - used the main seat right from newborn.

I prioritised some of the same things again for DC2 - parent facing option, proper lie flat seat (many these days are what they call an "ergonomic seat" which just tilts backwards leaving them in a sitting position, which is no good from newborn), highish seat, but I went for bigger wheels. Looked at and almost bought Joie Chrome DLX / Cybex Balios S (note, not the new 2 in 1 version but the original Balios S) but found a really good deal on a second hand Mutsy Evo and went for that.

Verdict - it's OK, but the harness is absolutely rubbish, really hard to adjust, much too big, I've got it the shortest it can go and DS2 is only just fitting in it as 2, and it's still loose on him. OTOH the seat is shallow so he was constantly sliding down in it and being suspended on the crotch strap, and the backrest is really short - his head is poking out the top and he's only 2. I wouldn't buy it again. I think I'd go for another Maxi Cosi! I liked the Stella and Adorra although there are probably newer ones now.

I did get an umbrella stroller for both of my boys but it was only ever an extra stroller, for days where we wanted to fit loads of things in the car or when I knew I'd be taking buses which are often busy, that kind of thing. I used the proper from birth pram right up until the end of not using one at all.

I would recommend you look at the Maxi Cosi Stella, Adorra, and Joie Chrome (whichever version they are on now).

I'd defo get an infant car seat, Maxi Cosi Cabriofix or Joie Gemm, so it can go on the buggy (both use Maxi Cosi adapters) unless it's only one grandparent's car and you can leave the car seat in there. Otherwise you're stuffed if you take a bus one way and get a lift the other :)

I bought a BJCM GT and wish I hadn’t. It does have its good points, but I found it far far too big for the bus. It’s wide and long. It’s also quite bulky even folded. I wish I had purchased a Yo-yo.

I had a mamas and papas travel system with a very sturdy carry cot that DD used to sleep in overnight. However my car seat was a Jane transporter 2 which only worked with a Jane chassis (and was also effectively a carrycot) so it lived in the car permanently. It turns out the travel system didn't fit in my tiny boot. Of course lockdown meant we didn't go anywhere anyway ....
I've just bought a BJCM second hand from facebay and it's amazing. It's great on the road and fits so easily in my car with a one hand fold. I wish the handle was adjustable though.
I really wanted a cosatto whoosh XL but as it was a second pram it was more than I wanted to pay ...

I bought the iCandy Range Rover and a carrycot car seat- regretted both unfortunately! The iCandy weighs about 13kg I think and just the chassis took up my entire boot (polo). Carrycot car seat wasn't really ever taken out the car so we switched to a cybex 360 car seat and changed pram to the yoyo 2 with newborn attachment

I had a lie flat stroller but mostly used it between age one and two. I used baby carriers for the first year. Car seat was a birth to 18kg one, no capsule.

100 % baby jogger city mini GT.
My only regret is that I didn't get it from the off
Best purchase I ever made
Absolutely love that pushchair. Quite sad she's too old for it now
I made a thread on here about what I need it for and I'm actually so grateful for those people who suggested it