ARGH - need pram help!

[Scheherezadea]

It's my first child, and I have no idea about prams AT ALL!

I hate the plastic things they have in the shops, all seem so plasticy with shopping-trolley wheels. I love the vintage silver cross coachbuilt pram - is it worth getting one of these? And a buggy for when it needs to go in a pushchair?

We don't have stairs, and will get one that folds down & wheels pop off so it fits in car boot.

There's too much choice, I don't have a clue where to even start! What are the things to consider? I've had a look online but can't find much guidance. We need one for a baby, so it needs to lie flat. We could either buy one that converts into a pushchair, or buy another buggy for when baby is 2 years??! I'm not going to be climbing mountains, but we do live in the countryside in a tiny village, however I don't know if I'm going to be taking it for walks in the fields. I'll probably just get a bus to the nearest town, as we don't have any shops in our (tiny) village.

And then if I DID decide to go for a walk, we could just have one of those baby carry things, which would make more sense than pushing a pram across the fields!

Actually want to scream, this is a whole new unexpected world!!

I'm with you in this strange world!!!

I totally agree with the plasticy feel things but I think I have found my perfect pram www.silvercross.co.uk/prams-and-travel-systems/classic-sleepover/

Until Saturday I'd only seen them on line but went to a baby fair thing and having seen the real thing and am even more in love now!

It is fairly hefty but I'm working on the fact that during the week I wont have a car and on a weekend there'll be 2 of us to man handle it into the car.

Bugaboo bee is great - narrow so it is easy to get on buses and into cafes. Can carry baby flat or parent facing toddler or older toddler. And folds for car easily.

But if you are only just starting to look, best go to John Lewis or mother care and try some out. You'll learn much more than just looking at websites, and quickly get an idea of what you do/don't like.

Slings are great for country walks too.

noodle You're in the same boat as me - I like the Silver Cross Classic too - in fact aside from the vintage ones it's the only one I've liked so far! however I don't know if I'm just going for a soft second, because it's almost like the vintage ones. I've looked in mothercare, mamas and papas & john lewis and not liked a single one (aside from the classic).
And same - DP has the car during the week, so the only concern is whether it can go onto a bus, and easy enough to push around.

Will look at the bugaboo, thanks parietal :)

Trust me, this is your first baby, you'll go through about 3 prams/pushchairs by the time baby gets to two!! But the good thing is that you can keep them for the next one too!! :) I've just bought the new Phil and teds smart buggy, it's cheaper than a bugaboo, it's very well made as we had an e3 Phil and teds 3 wheeler and was amazing, and it's an Australian company that are into the outdoors lifestyle! The seat turns both ways facing you and away, you can get a carry cot for it and a maxi cosi car seat fits to it too. And at the end of the day, it's a stroller too!

A friend of mine has the Norton Classic which has a really nice vintage feel with big wheels ect but got the bonus of a more modern travel system style so suited her both ways.

Good luck!

have you looked at the bigger mamas and papas prams? i have loved mine and really need to pack it away after 8 years of almost continuous use.

the Silver Cross is big, I've been turned away from buses before because of it's size (doors too narrow). I have the linear chassis, better for round the shops as it's essentially 4 wheel drive! It is big in your boot, filled my Zafira but not totally. Is a lovely pram though. With DS1, we changed to a McLaren at 6 months as it was more suitable, but I would not have used it from birth even though it said ok. This time, I have bought DS2 a Loola Up which has the benefits of being like a pram, but folds smaller and is more like a buggy. Would have used it from birth if I'd bought it then. basically, you will wish you had bought something else, don't know anyone that gets it right first time, so don't spend gazillions of pounds!! try hard not to go for looks but think of what you want to do and buy something to suit that. easier said than done!

Actually its called the Ultimate, here's a link.

www.kleverkids.co.uk/ultimate%203%20in%201/

DPs dad has offered to buy us a pram, so I suppose we could get a sensible one, and then a vintage one aswell.

Just, there's so many! What is the difference between them all?! We're being given a car seat and I don't like the idea of pushing the baby around in a car seat so it doesn't matter if it comes with the travel thing.

I like this one, if we can get it cheaper anywhere; Bebecar

I am on my 4dc and am getting the silvercross sleepover. Its a lovely size and well cushioned. The baby can sleep in it without having to be moved. I am not even getting a mosses basket this time as I will use the carry cot on the wooden stand.

Yes it is big but has a lovely suspension and feels very sturdy. I totally fell in love with this pram the first time I saw it, after having cheap plastic crap for the last 3 times, I am prepared to pay a little extra for a quality pram. Also I am aware of what I need from a pram this time round.

I live in a rural area and don't use buses so this is not issue, my town is 10 minute walk from house, so I needed a pram that was able to store shopping bags and still easy to push. The sleepover has a large basket on the bottom so I can do my shopping and walk home with out loading the handles.

I have got the Silver Cross Classic Sleepover with the classic chassis,and I adore it.It's been used by my 3 year old, and my 13 month old is still using it now. Both children slept with it in Moses basket mode for 6 months and then went straight into a cot. Truly brilliant as it meant we never had to worry about sleeping if we were away for the weekend. I also used a pram seat on top for my older child. We used to live in a very urban area and I often used to take it on the bus, if it got very busy then I used to just get off and walk the rest of the way! Generally though, I walk everywhere so it suits my life style. We also have a fold up for the train,but generally the pram is the constant for popping around.
I'm also lucky enough to have a Silver Cross Kensington, which I adore beyond anything {grin} It is fairly hefty and lives in the shed (my husband does not share the love!!) It does the job of the CLassic SLeepover,just on a larger, and even more comfy style. my daughter slept in this until she was 2. Also it fits in the boot of an estate car with the wheels off. I tend to use this most days and walk everywhere with it. Also, the pram seat was fantastic on this, and even now my older child quite often sits at the bottom of it for a lift!

I still can't get over the fact that some people pay £700 plus for one! :( We're opting for the Baby Jogger City Mini and will get the carry cot to attach for the first few months. It's only £200 for the pushchair, £135 for the carry cot (prices I've found online) and the best bonus is that it will fit in the boot of my tiny Fiat 500 :) The reviews are pretty good too.

Another vote for the Silver Cross Classic Sleepover. I had an Emmaljunga last time around and having thought my family complete disposed of it. To me the Silver Cross seems better because
1 It's a lot cheaper
2 You have the option to attach the matching car seat
3 It comes with it's own rocking stand
4 Less bits as the carrycot component then converts to be the pushchair
By 6months we got a bottom of the range stroller for buses / trains and aeroplanes as they are really compact rather than a compromise and not the end of the World if they get damaged in transit.
My main caveat is that I do walk nearly everywhere and so a decent wire shopping basket nearly as vital to me as the comfort of the baby.

I have a vintage silver cross hard bodied number. Dh walks ds3 5 miles most mornings and every night. I walk most days too. ds 3 is 5 months and quite big but he is so cosy and comfy in his big pram. Weather we've had recently he's still cosy n comfy. We have a quinny(borrowed) for the car but no way would it stand the distance trusty big one does. He'll still be sleeping in the big one for a long time yet but has been out of the quinny carrycot for a few weeks. Yet I love the quinny for it's versatility. And now I need a maclaren for hols. Answer prob is that you need a few for different reasons so borrow or pick them up cheaply if you can. I'd love to hear what you decide!!!

Just a dissenting voice here, but you don't 'need' one. A pram or a stroller might be more convenient to some, less to others. But there's no 'absolutely, totally essential' about it.

I had my daughter abroad and never bought one as a) I didn't want to ship something that large and b) in my immediate vicinity a pram wasn't that useful. So I never bought one, and just continued. Thought about it once or twice but couldn't be arsed basically, plus my daughter prefers to be carried.

Piece of jersey did us well in first 6 months, then non stretchy wraps. And yes, I do shop and carry stuff, yes I do walk and use public transport lots and yes I do like nice clothes and don't look like a hippy and don't hang about with sling people.

Oh, and I'm 6 months pregnant and can still carry her for naps, it's fine.

And I don't plan to buy one for this baby unless it becomes ridiculous, then I might get a lightweight stroller for the younger one at 6-12 months.

It's just a thought, I know most, if not 99.9999 pct of parents find them invaluable and use them a lot, but just wanted to say there are alternatives if you find the whole buying a pram thing enervating.

i couldn't make my mind up so borrowed one with a carrycot for the newborn stage then bought parent facing buggy when he was a few months old with a big comfy seat. I had a tall & big ish baby and didn't want the seat really low down so i could push him up to tables and use it as a high chair in cafes and restaurants, then tip it back for his sleep. a few months later we bought a lightweight stroller for a holiday and to keep in the boot of the car for short trips out. i may have had more kids but we now have 4 prams/buggies and have sold at least 4. i also have 3 slings/carriers!

I also liked the vintage Silver Cross prams (my Mum/Aunts all had them when I was a child for my younger siblings/cousins). However, in the end we decided that cost had to be a factor and it was just too impractical and too huge.

I also liked the Silver Cross Classic Sleepover, until I actually went and looked at one. I just don't like seat units that convert to carrycots. Prior to that I preferred it hugely compared to the Mamas and Papas Ultima, which we were also looking at. In the end we went for the Ultima and although baby isn't born yet, I love, love, love it and can't wait to use it!

We also do a lot of walking but are moving to the outskirts of a city in the summer and wonder about how practical it is to have a huge pram on public transport, so will probably buy a Baby Jogger City Mini for when we want a smaller pushchair when baby is a bit older, although this can be used from birth.

BJCM with carrycot here. Fits into little boot well, offloads surprisingly well and folding/taking the wheels off is ever so easy.

Can you borrow one and then buy once baby is here? They prefer slings for the first 3 months anyway. That way you will know much better what you want and need.

We bought one before baby came and I bought another at 3 months because my needs were totally different to what I anticipated! Silly but common I think.

We've just bought the Maclaren Techno XLR, even though I'm only 22 weeks and we have nowhere to store it because we found a way to get £200 off (voucher plus a hell of a lot of Boots points!). It's nice but - and I think we're possibly alone in this as every review I read said how easy it is - it is absolutely not intuitive. The instructions refer to pivots and joints etc but there are no diagrams to show where they are referring to, and, for instance, to put the carrycot on the buggy you are told to put the legs 'down' - well, it took about 20 minutes of swearing before we realised that what they would call 'down' we would call 'up'...that said, it looks lovely and comfy and hopefully baby will like it and appreciate us giving up most of our sitting room to it for the next 4 months!!

We were given a selection of buggies and prams including a fairly old fashioned (though not coach built) pram. That was used twice before we gave it away because it was too heavy. Modern buggies are so light and manouverable that the old fashioned prams make no sense.

We now use an iCandy Cherry with a carrycot, which has the benefits of a pram (DD can lie down in it) but it small and easy to use. On the rare occassions we use the car we just take the wheels and not the carry cot and DD's car seat clips onto them.

When DD is older we'll remove the carry cot and fit the buggy seat instead.

For walking across country we use a Beco Gemini sling.

If you're looking for one to put in the boot of a car and go on public transport, I wouldn't go for a big Silver Cross one!

Someone recommended the Quinny Zapp to me for ease of folding and small size, it can be used from birth too.

We've gone for the Mothercare Xtreme as the wheels look really sturdy (like bike wheels) and I'll be walking around our village a lot. It got good reviews on MN too. Plus it was only £185 with car seat.

silvercross sleepovers look fab and are lovely for little babies, but they are heavy they are big and in reality once your child is a few months old i would think you would be sick of its size/weight and swap to a smaller stroller type.

Just a thought have you seen the graco fusio that is a real tidy package that's the one I'm going for. It's a first for me as I used to hate gracos but this looks good in price practicality and pocket.

My vintage SX is sitting opposite me in the lounge, waiting for the baby to make an appearance! Its the same as <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=is01.thegumtree.com/image/big/56855985.jpg&imgrefurl=www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/racing-green-kensington-silvercross-pram-vintage/77883036&usg=__tZWTOpzHYujeGPxU7I5ZkRPRRPk=&h=268&w=358&sz=34&hl=en&start=15&zoom=1&tbnid=8-cTJP38xyfbGM:&tbnh=161&tbnw=232&ei=X_LbTaPxDIexhAfqhaCqDw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgreen%2Bvintage%2Bsilver%2Bcross%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3Drow%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D662%26tbm%3Disch0%2C456&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=502&sqi=2&page=2&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:15&tx=113&ty=124&biw=1366&bih=662" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this

I love them, but I would say that if you are planning to get the bus alot then you may want to rethink as they are way too big for that. If you will be walking alot (our main town is 2 miles away so easily do-able) then get one, and go for second hand on ebay as there are some fantastic bargains to be had. Then spend the rest on a decent lie flat buggy type for when you do want to use the bus.