What made you choose your pram

[SheSaidHeSaid]

Possibly a little premature, as I'm only 11+4, but just curious to know how you all chose (or will choose) the pram you get.

I'm not looking to buy this second but I don't even know where I'd start when I do start looking. This is my first baby and it just seems there are so many options out there and so many brands so it's a bit of a daunting task.

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Hello,

We've noticed this thread is quite old now, and some of the product recommendations are a little out of date. We've spent weeks speaking to parents and testing prams and pushchairs, here's our round up of the best pushchairs on the market right now and what to look out for when buying one.

Hope that helps!

MNHQ

We're getting the mamas and papas ocarro, I instantly wanted it and after playing around collapsing it, changing from rear facing to forward facing etc was adamant it's the one I want.

We bought the baby elegance cupla, because it folds really easily, fits in the boot no problem, its very sturdy but doesn't feel heavy to push, decent basket, the carry cot came with a 12 hour sleep mattress(a lot of Pram mattresses are only suitable for a couple of hours) and it is set up for a second seat if we ever need it. It's an Irish brand, it wasn't anywhere near as expensive as some of the bigger brands and looks very similar to the icandy. Regarding the car seat you don't have to purchase them with your pram. We wanted a swivel seat, so we bought the joie spin 360, suitable from birth, ds is 17 months, 98th centile and still happily rear facing in his. I'd highly recommend it

Oh and it had big wheels, air pumped tyres on the back, and rubber in the front, no nasty noisy plastic! Big wheels were a big must for dh!

I absolutely loved my Uppababy Vista - massive shopping basket, sturdy and good for country walks as well as in town, comes with everything you need, and is dead light to push.
Have recommended it to others who also love theirs too!

My main factors when choosing were that I didn't want to spend a fortune (cough iCandy cough Bugaboo), and I wanted something light and compact. We didn't have a car, so I went everywhere on foot or on public transport, which meant an enormous pram would have been a nightmare. A friend recommended a Micralite Fastfold, and it was fantastic. I used the carry cot attachment from birth, then sold it when my baby was old enough to sit up in the pushchair. Used adaptors when we needed to lug around a car seat on the pushchair wheels (eg when visiting people with a car). Then had years using just the Micralite as a buggy, including getting the buggy board and handlebar attachments to transport two children. Did use a Phil & Teds for a while, just after my second child was born (narrow age gap) but was such a relief to get back to the light, nippy, easy to use Micralite later on.

The micralite looks great fiend, design-wise (and weight wise) I think it's a winner.

I've got three buggies:
-A Quinny buzz. We got this mainly because our friend was selling it! It's great over rough ground and we do loads of walking.
-cheap fold away job. Got it on sale. Folds away easily.

• Phil and Teds- Got it when dd was born (19 month age gap)mainly because it has a small 'foot print' and is good on public transport. I love this buggy! It's still going strong 2 years later and we only paid £80 for it on e bay.

I think we've been very lucky considering we did minimal research!

Congratulations on your pregnancy

My main criteria were:
Can collapse/fold it easily one handed.
Related to above- fold up/down as one unit i.e. No removal of seat unit before folding down.
Fits in car boot without removal of wheels.
Easily manoeuvrable - mine has a very small turning circle and I can do it one handed.
It's 4.5yrs old now, on its 2nd occupant and still going strong. (Icandy strawberry)

You need to think about what you'll mostly be using it for. I live close to our high street and walk there and around the town most days. If we go out elsewhere, I usually drive. Apart from the local park there's not much 'off roading' and I never need to take it on the bus.

My criteria would therefore be different from someone who gets public transport more often, and/or is going to be going down muddy country lanes a lot (e.g. pneumatic tyres for this).

We have went for the Silver Cross Wayfarer Chelsea. I really liked it the first time I saw it, and despite looking at hundreds about 15 other prams, it was the one that stood out to me. It is easy and light to maneuver, but feels strong and sturdy. The wheels/chassis are not too big, so it fits into our car boot comfortably. I feel Silver Cross is such a traditional and trusted brand too, and our pram just looks nice, although I know that is not the most important thing. We have also went for the Maxi Cosy Pebble car seat, which you can buy the adapters for the Wayfarer, so all worked out nicely.

We bought the system from Silvercross Wayfarer as this was only one of two I looked at which had sufficient handle height for me. Really glad went this as I had a really traumatic birth and so moving about afterwards was made a hell of a lot easier for this. Also collapses easily, feels very sturdy, easy to manoeuvre up and down off of pavements etc and the car seat transfer is a godsend with sleeping babies. The chassis has been used to death and still looks new, the car seat was brilliantly designed and we are still using the buggy part which DD has only just showed signs of outgrowing....
The basket is roomy, so you can fit all the clobber you need to leave the house with, scooters, shopping bits whatever...
If I had a criticism it would be that the carrycot part didn't last anywhere near as long as we were advised. DD outgrew it in 3 months so it is immaculate but had very little use.
Best of luck to you OP.

We has a Silver Cross Wayfarer in Damson for our son. It was so light and easy to get up and down which was why I chose it. Also fabulous height adjustable handle. I went and tried out lots of different ones in the shop to see which ione I liked the most. I used the carry cot for ages as it was the only way DS would go to sleep! Also had the corresponding car seat which was great to get on and off the chassis.

I knew I wanted a silver cross. We had a look on the Mothercare website, and agreed that we both liked the pioneer best. We went to the store to look at them, and agreed that was the one we liked best. So that was that (we liked the pioneer because we preferred the big wheels, and the basket was bigger. We didn't like the wayfarer because of the wheels, and we didn't like the surf because of the tiny basket).
And a balmoral was definitely not in or price range. I'll keep dreaming about it.

I was saving for a silver cross Chelsea pram. Went into a charity shop and found a brand new pram all still boxed and wrapped including a brand new car seat. Got it all for 45 pound and fell in love with the colour (sort of a mint green). Best bargain I ever got

Keeping an eye on this thread as have no idea what to get and a quick search has left me .

I kind of wish there weren't so many options: prams, travel systems, car seat adapters, with prices to match. I'm not good at making decisions at the best of times!

Regarding the Nuna rebl, I exchanged mine with no problems. I phoned them, told them I had an old one, they arranged to swap it. I would have though that the ones on sale now are the newer version.

I bought my pram yesterday (I'm 19+5) and after much debating I went for the Joie Chrome 3-in-1 travel system that was on offer in mothercare for just £250 (usually £440!)

When I did some testing in JL and mothercare the only two I liked were the chrome and the Bugaboos but they were V expensive. I'm happy with my choice and so glad I ordered yesterday as the offer seems to be over today (lucky!) With the money I saved I can accessorise with a sheepskin inner and a nice pastel blanket :)

The first thing I did was check out which reviews and make a shortlist and then went to a local Pram shop to see them in person. In the end I bought the Uppababy Visa because it was high up off the ground and had an extendable handle (me and DH are tall), the shopping basket is huge and it has big sturdy wheels. It can also face forward or back when you move to the seat rather than the carrycot.