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Pregnancy

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Original poster

pram question for newborns

22 replies

seasister · 20/10/2010 16:54

Hi all

I'm a first time mum and really obtuse about prams! I want to get a pram with a carry cot because I have to go up a flight of stairs and imagine it will be easier to leave the pram base in the car and then take the carry cot up the stairs.

Everyone says Mclaren, which means nothing to me.

Any good suggestions? If a Mclaren, which one?

Advice welcome. Thanks very much

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kiwidreamer · 20/10/2010 17:08

We had the same scenario when DS was born, we had a Bugaboo Chameleon and left the chasiss in the boot of the car and lugged the carry cot up several flights of stairs... quickly figured out that a front pack / sling was much easier to cope with!!!

japhrimel · 20/10/2010 17:56

Go to a big store and have a look at a few options to get an idea of what's available would be my advice.

And/or read a few articles online on how to choose.

Maclaren pushchairs are usually lightweight umbrella folding pushchairs. They are great for travelling, public transport, etc as they fold up into one relatively small unit and are light-weight. However, they don't offer much options, especially for newborns when you want options like lie-flat, parent-facing, etc.

I've got a Quinny Buzz which is a travel system with a carrycot that goes on the chassis. However, I wouldn't want to be regularly carrying the carrycot upstairs with a baby in it - it's just not designed to do that safely.

I can still envisage us getting a Maclaren for holidays/travelling when LO is 6 months old or so. But the Buzz seemed like the best option for us at first and for general use and dog-walks (we've got the 3 wheeler with pneumatic tyres).

margherita76 · 20/10/2010 20:11

they mean a maclaren xl techno as it is suitable from birth

www.maclarentechnoxlr.co.uk

I have this as I live up stairs. Thing is - you would need the carry cot for when the baby is really little and the carry cot has to be bought separately. So it ends up being not much cheaper than the more snazzy travel systems (which are heavier and bulkier)

But it is light and lots of people say they end up getting mclarens after a few months no matter what they had to begin with as the mclaren is so light.

Getting a pram is one of those things that you can't do properly until you have already done it once! Hope that helps!

3plusbumpinthenight · 20/10/2010 20:39

I would definitely go and try a few out in one of the bigger stores.
I've noticed that some of the claims of 'lightweight' or 'single-handed fold' can be quite mis-leading (either that or I'm weedy and have poor motor skills ) Good to have a look and feel of them yourself

I'm also not sure whether some of the carrycots (despite the name) are designed to be used to carry baby safely except on the pram chassis - worth checking out....

If you have a pram in mind, you can google '[pram name] instructions' and for most makes you can view a pdf doc of the full instructions. This will give you accurate dimensions / weights / safety instructions for the individual prams you are considering.....

LadyBaiter · 20/10/2010 21:21

Bugaboo Chameleon. Best Pram Ever. No need to consider others...

MoonUnitAlpha · 20/10/2010 21:28

Is there somewhere you can leave the pram at the bottom of the stairs?

I live on the second floor and have a Mothercare Xcursion. It lies flat for newborns and is a forward and rear facing buggy. It also folds in one piece which was important to be - some prams you have to remove the carrycot/seat to fold the base. It also comes with a carseat that fits on the base - I leave the whole thing locked up at the bottom of the stairwell, but you could leave the base in the car and carry the car seat up, or conceivably the carrycot/seat.

bessie26 · 20/10/2010 21:34

go to a shop & speak to the assistants... We wanted a travel system which would fit the IsoFix thingies in our cars, and this narrowed our choice down to 2 (Quinny Buzz & Bugaboo) which made making a decision much easier!

We got the Quinny in the end, am really pleased with it & the carrycot is great, but as japhrimel says, it's not designed to be carried upstairs with the baby in. Can't you just leave the entire pram in the car? and carry the baby up the stairs in your arms?

We later got a cheapy umbrella pushchair to take on holiday with us. The assistant told us then that you could get some suitable for newborns (i.e. laying flat) so again, worth asking about.

kelly2525 · 20/10/2010 21:41

No advice, but i got my pram/travel system from mothercare today, put the bloody thing up, put the wheels on, all good, but can i get the bloody thing to collapse? Can i hell!!! The instructions are crap, just diagrams without words, gonna have to go back tomorrow and ask them to show me how to do it on the display model, and feel like a bit of a tit for doing so

EatSleepLove · 20/10/2010 22:47

I have bought the Baby Jogger City Mini with carrycot attachment - you can use it as a proper pram for the first 6 months and then covert it to a pushchair which folds flat. The carrycot bit is easy to take on and off the frame and is easy to carry. The base is amazing for its collapsing mechanism, which could be done one handed without a problem.

I definitely recommend trying it out.

Loopymumsy · 21/10/2010 06:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

nymphadora · 21/10/2010 08:38

We have a mountain buggy & it's fab

Kew08 · 21/10/2010 09:38

My NCT teacher said - 'doesn't matter what you but at first, you always end up with a Maclaren'. How right she was - 7 of the 8 mothers now have one. Like you, I had stairs to contend with so just left the buggy at the bottom. You can use the carry cot to get the baby up the stairs. The car seat can get really heavy and will only get heavier as the baby grows. John Lewis and Mothercare do a great buggy service so go try all the options out - check the weight, ease of collapsing, ease of steering, ask if it folds in one (important if you are getting on a plane - we had to go see family). Good luck

LooL00 · 21/10/2010 10:32

So how do you deal with a carry cot and putting the pram base in the car when it's chucking it down with rain? you really need someting where the raincover goes on the carrycot. I've just had dc3 and still no maclaren. We have an M and P pliko pramette and a phil and teds.

Teapot13 · 21/10/2010 10:50

I found the choices completely overwhelming. It's so much money and you don't know what you need.

We went on Gumtree and bought a new Silver Cross for £160 (not including car seat). It was a great buy but more importantly it took away the feeling of being overwhelmed. So definitely check out Gumtree, e-bay, etc. (although probably not for the car seat part).

vmcd28 · 21/10/2010 13:20

Hmm, like others have said, a carrycot will NOT solve this problem. I'm not sure why you cant just carry the baby upstairs in the car seat that (s)he is already in?

I would NOT carry a carrycot with a baby in it, esp not up flights of stairs. What if you trip or drop the carrycot?

Also, carrycots dont last long- the baby gets too big for them very quickly. I have never used or seen the need for a carrycot at all. Theyre not cheap (unless you get a package deal) and just dont last long.

Final point, carrycots are not exactly lightweight (neither are car seats, btw) so carrying something thats quite heavy and awkward with a baby in it is just not practical.

I'd go for a travel system that has a buggy/pushchair which can lie flat, and also comes with a car seat which can be clipped on to it. We've ordered this , which incidentally is apparently the safest car seat on the market...

Original poster

seasister · 21/10/2010 13:35

Sorry I've miscommunicated - I meant a car seat, not carry cot. Eek.

Thanks all. I feel really rubbish now. I should know all this, but it's just one more thing on the list...and honestly I find the pram searching really quite dull and have left it up to DP...

OP posts:

vmcd28 · 21/10/2010 13:46

No problem. But honestly, go to a shop with the Jane Slalom pram/car seat (the one I added a link for as per my post above. It's a thing of beauty. The changing bag that comes with it is also genius. SERIOUSLY.

You MUST go to a pram shop to look at the options - they look so much different/flimsier/tougher/heavier etc than you can see online.
THEN, come home and search for it cheaper on the internet.

DinosaurRumpus · 21/10/2010 14:48

Still worth checking out the same sort of info on the car-seats!
Some of them are really heavy and your little one won't stay little for long!

Original poster

seasister · 21/10/2010 15:54

The Jane Slalom looks lovely, but a bit pricey. For some reason my DP seems to have it in his end we should end up with a Mclaren. Who knew that he'd have such opinions?!

OP posts:

vmcd28 · 21/10/2010 17:40

seasister, it IS pricey BUT half the price of iCandys, Bugaboos etc etc.
Anyway, having had a DS already, we spent £300 on a travel system for him. Used the car seat part but ended up HATING the pram/buggy part. It was quite heavy, didnt fold up very small, felt heavy to push, bulky etc etc etc. I didnt even like the changing bag as it was a rucksack, so the changing mat and nappies alwaysended up squashed at one end, because of the drawstring bag top.
As soon as DS was big enough (about 4 months) we bought a £35 Mothercare buggy and used that from then on.

So the moral is, even if it's a bit pricey, if you will use it for 3 years (or more in some cases), it is WELL worth the money. They spend SO much time in them that you have to be happy with what you're using. The last one we had was a big fat waste of money!

Dee78 · 23/10/2010 15:55

You need to think about how you will use it before you can pick the right pram. I walk a lot with our pram as I don't use the car in the week so I wanted one that faced me in a buggy and lay flat for the baby to sleep in in the day. We got the Silver cross linear freeway and I love it. But it is huge and heavy and if you haven't got a big boot you won't get it in, and our car seat doesn't attach to it. Other friends who mainly use the car had different needs from their prams and chose smaller lighter ones with car seats that attached to the chassy.

Definitely go and try it in a shop as some look good but are really difficult to steer or fold down.

Librashavinganotherbiscuit · 23/10/2010 15:58

" Thing is - you would need the carry cot for when the baby is really little and the carry cot has to be bought separately."

No you don't. DS had Maclaren XLR from birth and was snuggly in the main part without a carrycot. It's only the newest version that has a carrycot attachment. (I would say the car seat attachment is worth getting however)

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