what would you think if you saw a new mum pushing an £800 silver cross pram?

[littlemisschatalot]

just wondering really....and this is in a northern village, not london...

I would think, what a lovely pram, and it must be a dream to push, and what lovely walks they must have, SC are great,

I would have had one if I had had the room, and the time to make the most of it. Dont for one second think it would have isolated anyone, some people spend that on a pair of shoes for gawds sake. A weekend away for a family of 4 can cost near enough that much, so an investment in a pram that can be used and loved, and passed down, or resold is not a waste.

All the people who ask "why not a sling"- how do you know this woman hasn't got a bad back or stitches all over her fanjo?

After dd was born, my GP hinted that dh was bound to leave me because of the way my lower parts had been messed up. I was still in pain a year later! So much for the practicalities of slings.

As for the expense- maybe she does a lot of walking. I can't believe the extravagance of all these people I see going around in cars! I mean, they must have cost, ooh I don't know, probably over 1000 pounds. 800 pounds for a pram instead would be an investment, and you could still afford a cheap buggy to double when you needed to take the lo on the bus.

I had the biggest pram of anyone I knew and a foldable buggy, but then neither dh or I could drive at the time and we spent more time out-of-doors than any other family I knew.

I had a silver cross, but it cost me nothing - it was my little brothers and Mum and Dad lent it to me, and cleaned it all up and put a new mattress in it. I really don't get this prams as status symbol or fashion accessory thing - if you were thinking that yours was, maybe it was this that isolated you?

i went into a shop in skegness last week to get dd3 a taggie as had forgotton to pack hers ad i didnt want her taking a pair of knickers around with her just so she could rub the tag. up on a stand, they had a gorgeous silvercross kensington pram. it was wow! and then it was double wow when i saw the price tag over £1000!

[faints]

I would think that she must have lots of money or rich gps around. There was one in school (not usually the haunt of the wealthy ) with a little girl in it - she used to wear dresses that looked like lampshades, as soon as she had hair it was full of little fluffy pink things, you never saw her without mountain of lace. She was the last of 4 DCs, all of which had been boys up till that point. Poor child look ridiculous. The pram seemed to fade into the background.

Might just add that that baby is now 4 and the grubbiest, most boisterous tomboy you ever could wish to see

lol orm

i have restored 3 prams (litterally polishing up chrome, replacing brake pads and harnesses) and dd3 kepts clmibing into them to try out for size. she could still lay don in one last summer at 2.5years old, and i did take it to the shops once to check it pushed ok lol.

i would love one for #4, but dont have room for one really.

I love them (do not have space though) but would think it was second hand as I can't believe anyone would be mad enough to buy one new, or perhaps it was a gift.

I had one and I adored it

They could sleep, flat out and didn't need waking to go out, just throw blankets on top or put sunshade up (which was the full length and width of the pram so no exposed bits to burn) They could sit up with room around them for toys/drink/food and weren't cramped even into toddlerhood. You could get all four of them in/on it by using the toddler seat and tray, I could get a full weeks shopping in/on it. The baby is not in direct line of car exhausts and you can interact in eye line. I adored mine (did I mention that lol)

We walked everywhere, to the local shops or the big asda, everyday, rarely bothered with the car

If I saw someone pushing one today, I'd think good choice!

I'd think 'how impractical!'
My MIL still has the one she had for dh, dd is 'expected' to use it when we visit - don't know where - they're miles from anywhere and it won't fit in the car .... and dd loves her sling! We may just do a ceremonial sit in it in the garden. Don't like to dissapoint her as she's been waiting 40 years to use it again!

OMG i would have bitten your MIl's arm off for that pram.

I would think, what a lovely old-fashioned, vintagey pram, if I'm honest. And I would have no idea what it cost. I think they look fabulously comfy, though if I gave it a moment's thought, I'd assume they had a big hallway and a Maclaren for putting in the care. I would have thought it might make a talking point, not isolate you. Unless you couldn't ever get in shops houses and cafes and just pressed your nose wistfully against the glass

i think they are nice but can be impractical for the bus and in narrow shopping aisles. the amount of dirty looks i get squeezing in narrow clothes racks with a small buggy is annoying. i can only presume that mothers are not entiltled to shop at Jane Norman or other trendy retail shops!

Isn't it funny that you are thought disgustingly rich and/or extravagant if you have a hard-wearing pram, but it is assumed as a matter of course that you're going to have a car.

This bears out a theory I have long been mulling over re spending:

if you spend 1000 pounds on object A which your friends also spend 1000 pounds on, you will be considered a sensible thrifty person

if you make do without object A, hence saving the 1000 pounds, but then spend 100 pounds on object B, which happens to be something you need, you will be considered shockingly extravagant

Herd mentality.

Nobody here though has thought 'disgustingly rich', have they? And I don't think anyone ever said anythign disparaging to the OP either.

They do hold their value pretty well, as they're pretty robust - my sister's is 40 years old, and mine's about 5 years old, and you'd be pushed to notice the difference. So if you buy one second hand and sell it a few years later, you're likely to prett y much get your money back. Very sensible, I'd say. I also reckon that most people with a coach built pram do have a small buggy for the car, town, etc. But lots of people have more than one pram/buggy.

I would think, 'Oh pretty!' That's it. I'm a bit more stupid inverted snob about Bugaboos.

I'd think oooh cute baby

that's it really

i might assume either she lives closer to the shops, or has a car with a bigger boot, than me

i think you mean 'oop north', fio.

Message withdrawn

Fio, I'll have you know we use bits of old mackintosh, not soft southern blankies.

i take it that you have never used a sling then, cory. at least one that wasn't a bjorn type thing.

people with serious back issue, including congenital ones (and fanjo issues) get on marvellously with slings.

Message withdrawn

oooh thinking about it- ds3 was in one of those huge things, just around the village and as a carrycot inddors

I got it in a state for £30 and dh and I spent months lovingly restring it ready for the baby as we were flat broke, and had no nurserery to dup for that nesting feeling