Pram for London Life

[ElleMcElle]

Hello! I'm pregnant for the first time and would really appreciate any recommendations for prams that work well for London life - getting on and off buses, getting down steps at a tube station, negotiating busy streets etc.

I'd like something sturdy, but these massive beasts you see everywhere just don't seem practical for life in a city when we rarely use a car. I imagine I probably need something that I can collapse with one hand while holding screaming baby in the other arm?! Any help would be great as there are so many options out there and I don't want to spend loads on the wrong thing!

----------------------

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We've noticed this thread is quite old now, and some of the product recommendations are a little out of date.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 buggies and travel systems. Here's our round up of the best pushchairs newborns, including lightweight pushchairs and double buggies.

Hope that helps!

MNHQ

Dear god. And toto = yoyo

Bugaboo bee is great for London, squeezes in small spaces on buses, not too hard to carry up steps if you need to. I used it from birth. It's the only buggy I've needed in 6 yrs with two kids so although expensive it's been a good investment. We've also taken on planes etc.

I'm in London, get the bus loads, the tube occasionally, and had a Bugaboo Cameloeon. The big back wheels were amazing on stairs. It sometimes got stuck on buses but so long as you go in the middle door (drivers are usually happy for you to do that) It was great! Walked for miles with it. So light and easy to steer. Now that littlest is 3 I'm using a baby jogger city mini which is excellent. Easy one hand fold. You can get a carrycot for it so you can use from birth.

Lots of people love the bugaboo bee but I don't like how low down it is. I had an Oyster, which I really liked - good solid carrycot which lasted my tall baby until 6 months, and then a reversible seat (though only ever used it parent facing as we liked to chat and make faces!). Basket not the biggest though. I never folded it on the bus though - buses are so frequent that I'd just wait for the next one if there were already two pushchairs on. In any case, unless you have a really tiny pushchair like a yoyo, they take up loads of space when folded anyway.

Also used a sling a lot, esp when going up to town - moby stretchy wrap for the first few months, then a Tula from about 4 months to 2 years. The only drawback with slings is then you have nowhere to park the baby other than on your own body, which can get rather warm and tricky when you need the loo! My son would only sleep in a sling or a moving pram (heaven forbid I should stop for a coffee!) for months and months...so at least I got plenty of exercise.

Thanks again for all the suggestions - very helpful!

@cakeandteajustforme - Dog walks are a whole other question! We don't have the kind of dog who goes for a 'nice quiet walk' - more the kind of dog who manages to find mud even in the middle of summer, flings herself around and takes great pleasure in rolling in all things foul-smelling. I'm planning to use a sling as much as possible, but was thinking of getting a cheap second hand pushchair specifically for dog walks, as a) the requirements of that sort of pushchair will be very different to our main pushchair and b) it is likely to end up fairly wrecked fairly quickly. Any tips on what to look for in a more 'off road' style pushchair? I really don't want to spend too much on the dog walking one!

A secondhand Out n About Nipper would be a good dog walking pushchair - they are very sturdy.