Pram shopping tips

[SLP88]

I am going pram shopping this weekend and wondering if anyone has any tips?

I was going to look for a travel system - pram, carrycot, buggie and car seat all in one but would I be better with a separate car seat that stays in the car on an isofix base

Any brands I should avoid or any recommended?
Thanks
S❤️

Measure your boot to make sure it fits in! Ha

My friend had to take the wheels off hers every time she put it in the boot

I had one where I could take the car seat in and out the car and got the isofix base as I drive everywhere and wanted a quick and easy click and go

Have a think about where you live, your life / day to day things your going to be doing with the baby - I live in the city so didn't need big wheels etc

I went for the mamas and papas urbo :-)

Agree with PP, decide what you want from your pram before you go, for me I go out in the car a lot, so wasn't worried about carrying it etc, though wanted and easy fold and I tested it out in my boot to make sure it fitted. I had also chosen my car seat already so wanted to make sure it was compatible with that.
Also, how long etc are you planning to use it, my SIL went for a pretty/fashionable one (at a crazy price!) and my nephew grew out of it really quickly and she was really pissed off!
I have a Mamas and Papa Armadillo Flip XT, which 2 years on I still absolutely love, but it suits my needs. I'm also planning to use the same one when baby no.2 arrives in April.

Plenty of space underneath for shopping

Get a second hand one

Have a good go at pushing it around, folding it up and putting it back yourself, seeing how easily things attach, etc. We went to look on Saturday and some of the (very expensive) prams were much more complex and bulky to operate. In the end, the one we had researched online suited us, but we spent a good 15 mins pushing it around the store and testing it out, both of us (my partner is 6ft 4 so wanted to check both could push comfortable), I made sure I could fold it and unfold easily myself, we tried out the attachments for the carrycot and car seat, we tried it with varying weights of fake baby inside, etc.

We are going for the Baby Jogger City Mini GT.

Have a think about how you'll mostly be using it - and yes defo measure car boot, doorways, storage spaces etc.

Go and have a look at the options in the shop to see what they have. Feel free to talk to the sales assistant about how you plan to use it. See what they suggest, push things around, they might even have a weighted doll you can use to test buggies, try folding and unfolding and clicking the different attachments on and off on various models. Don't agree to anything yet.

Then go home and make a list of all the criteria you've decided are important, load up a nursery site and sort the prams by price. Go through until you find the first, cheapest thing which fulfils your criteria and write down the name and price, (remember to add car seat, base, adapters, raincover etc etc cost if extra) then keep looking until you find one which is twice the price of the cheapest, or the highest you're willing to pay - there's your range of models. Then you have a longlist to research.

Don't rule out second hand. You can get some great bargains.

I recommend you choose the buggy first and look at car seat second because it narrows down your choice. A tip about car seats - for compatible ones, Maxi Cosi, Cybex, Joie, Recaro, Kiddy, Nuna and Besafe all use the same adaptors so are cross compatible. Graco, Mothercare, Cosatto, Silver Cross, Hauck and Britax can only be used with their own brand prams.

Thanks ladies

I will definitely be measuring my boot and giving the prams I like a good push around

Some shops will let you try it in your boot, we did this at an independent shop. We really wanted a Bugaboo but it only fit in the boot with the wheels off, which wasn't ideal, but luckily we got to try it first.
Try putting it up and down lots. Make sure the handle goes high enough/low enough for everyone that will be using it on a regular basis. And make sure you consider what you will use it for - city commuting requires a very different pram to doing lots of country/woodland walks etc.

Try them out in store then shop around online!
I found better prices online rather than in stores!
Defo try them in the boot if possible! And isofix bases are brilliant too!

My advice is don't buy British. Our baby car seats, prams, buggies, etc (and mattresses) are stuffed with flame retardant chemicals which are toxic, babies particularly vulnerable. These chemicals easily wear off of fabric and fillings and are absorbed through the skin. The history of flame retardants is grim: the chemical industry releases them on to the market claiming they're safe. Then, after someone else spends a lot of time and money properly researching them, they're discovered to be toxic and banned. Flame retardants have been strongly linked with cancer, autism, thyroid disruption and much more. The chemical industry admits they get into babies' blood and mothers' breast milk but insists they're not harmful.

One kind of flame retardant - organophosphates - were banned in the UK for agricultural use, e.g. in sheep dips - but the UK furniture industry is still using them in prams, buggies, mattresses, etc.

The reason for these flame retardants is that the UK has the toughest furniture flammability laws in the world. Which wouldn't be quite so bad if they worked - but the government itself proved they don't four years ago. Which means our children are absorbing flame retardants on a massive scale, both from their bedding and means of transport, for no reason other than profits for the chemical industry. If you can, buy from anywhere else in the EU (except Ireland which has the same furniture laws as us).

Hi @jennymor123 do you know which brands are safer when you where doing your research? I would have no idea which are British and which aren't!

LittleDove, you could have a look at the ADAC ratings here:

It is in German but the rating you are looking for is "Schadstoffe" - that means harmful materials.

They will have rated the German versions of the car seats but manufacturers will have one model for the whole of Europe as it is easier for them.

It's quite easy to tell where a brand is based though, just google them and see where their headquarters is based.

Oops forgot the link. You might need to look at previous years if the car seat you're looking for isn't listed.

www.adac.de/infotestrat/tests/kindersicherung/kindersitz-test/default.aspx

Sorry, I slightly mislead everyone. The UK flammability laws mean that anyone supplying from within the UK must comply - that would include non-British firms who have supply bases here. However, the flammability laws apply only to suppliers, not consumers. This means you as a consumer can buy from anywhere outside the UK. Where prams, buggies, etc are concerned this can be easily done via the internet. So, for example, a German pram maker can send you a pram to the UK and that is perfectly legal. Legally, you can't later sell it on or give it away since that makes you a supplier but in practice who's going to know?

You can always check with an EU company's website but there are limited flammability rules for prams, buggies (and mattresses) in the rest of the EU and they can be met without using flame retardants. Many countries such as Germany and Sweden are opposed to flame retardants anyway. So you are probably okay buying anywhere outside the UK; however, you could always send them an email asking about FRs.

-all contents fits in car (seat and frame in boot etc) you can ask to try it out!

-large basket is convenient

-easy assembly

I have the silvercross pioneer Brompton, it's currently on an offer when all bought together- you get the carrycot, frame with seat(can't think of what it's called🙈), car seat, drinks holder and the changing bag, raincover and bottle bag. I do love it, and if it's within your budget then it is a really good pushchair, feels great on all terrains, convenient etc.

Oh you also get the car seat adapters..

Pervious posters are right though, it doesn't have to be expensive.

Our daughter is 8 months old and I've moved her into a joie car seat that stays in the car, she was getting very heavy with the carrier. So it's not necessity that you get the matching car seat etc but I found it quite handy whilst she was little to just unbelt and click onto the frame.. they don't have to be the same brand also, just ensuring you have the correct adapters.

It's also not necessity to get the matching bag etc and all the extra accessories, these can be found cheaper if not buying the branded one!

Weigh up your likely usage (long walks, off road, shopping centres, car/ bus etc), try folding with two hands/ one hand. See if the shop will let you take it outside and up and down a few stairs/ kerbs. Look at all the bits (not just the tiny baby seat/ carrycot). Decide if you could get the frame, wheels, and seat in the car with shopping or not.

For my first I got the one I thought looked cool (Quinny Moodd), it also pushed well in the shop and the carrycot was roomy. Unfortunately I had a section and could not lift any part of it into the car myself for the first month. It was very cumbersome. The three-wheel frame also made it difficult to get up kerbs and there was very little storage under it. Then, when my son was big enough for the chair part he looked very uncomfortable like he was going to fall forwards.

This is all personal preference of course (and I still think they look nice and push well).

I moved on to a Bugaboo Bee which was better in every way, much more practical although he was sitting up by then. For holidays we had a traditional stroller with recline for naps.

Car seats are good when they are tiny but I found they are awkward to carry with a heavier baby. They soon grow out of them so you're back to square one.

This time I think we'll go for a twisting car seat and a separate pram.

Yes, doorways too! Good point. I sometimes struggled to get the Moodd through shop doors.

@sophiec123, Daisy2990

Just in case you missed the posts above on flame retardants in prams, buggies, car seats - please do read them. While how a pram looks and folds, etc, is important what is surely of greater concern is the fact that UK-supplied prams etc contain toxic chemicals that are getting into your child's body and potentially causing all sorts of health problems.

I didn't/don't know anything about the flammability if I'm honest, it's not something that anybody has ever addressed etc.. surely they wouldn't be allowed/legal?

Ask if you can add some weight when you trial pushing in the shop - some are so much harder to manipulate when they have a toddlers weight in the seat.

Don’t spend a huge amount on a pram as you won’t use it for as long as you think.

We got a travel system that converts into a pushchair but are looking for a much smaller pushchair that collapses as the pram takes up a lot of space. It’s relatively small compared to other prams, too.

DD is only 5 months but is bored of lying down and sticks her feet out the top when we’re out and about. The car seat we got as part of the travel system is getting too small for her as well.

Remember babies under 6 weeks shouldn't be a car seat more than 30 minutes (whether in the car or on a pram) and after that not more than 2 hours.

@sophiec123

In fact, pretty much the rest of the world has addressed it. The EU won't have flame retardants in furniture/prams, etc. The US likewise and California has just banned ALL flame retardants (regardless of wether or not they've been judged to be toxic) from children's products like mattresses.

Legality is a tricky issue. The pattern is that the flame retardant industry releases new chemicals it claims are safe. Much later, and at great cost, someone else proves they're toxic and they're banned. Where the UK's concerned, we have two problems: that our furniture is full of current flame retardants that will almost certainly be proven to be toxic, and we also have tons on now-banned chemicals still in our older furniture. Just like asbestos only no one is doing anything about it.

There is a massive amount of literature on the problems with flame retardants. But the UK public is being kept in the dark, mainly because of the enormous profits to the chemical industry that are at stake.

If you have a big boot I can’t recommwnd the uppababy vista travel system enough. Not cheap, but huge basket for shopping, comfortable, can be extended if your family grows and manoeuvres well in shops and tougher terrain. Enjoy your shopping trip - I loved buying the pushchair, made it a seen real.