London mums - which pram did you choose?

[HelloRose]

Not just London, but any mum living in a city or busy town. Which pram did you choose?

I'm currently looking at Bugaboo Fox or Bee. I like both but wondering if the Fox will be a pain navigating busy streets / shops / tubes etc.

Not wedded to this brand and open to suggestions of other prams if you have recommendations

We're in London and have gone for the Bugaboo Fox. I love the look and reliability of the brand, and have seen lots of mums with the Chameleon so I don't think the Fox will pose a problem.
Apparently they (bugaboo's) have good resale value too.

I’ve got the bee. Thank live up a couple flights of stairs so I like being able to easily detach the carry cot to bring up the stairs. I’m lucky I can leave frame downstairs or pop down and get it. I really like it... it easy to manover and our baby sleeps super well in it. I would just try them all at John Lewis or similar (think oxford st one has most of the range) and see which you feel more drawn to.

Not sure why that turned to thank live??? I meant to say I live**

The bugaboo fox looks exactly like the Mamas and Papas Occarro which I have and is probably a fraction of the price? Might be worth looking at. Although I love it, it is really heavy when folded up with the pushchair seat on and you need two hands to unfold it so might not be great for city living!

We had the Silvercross Wayfarer (travel system so including pram), was excellent for all aspects of London life, park trips, tubes and buses and fitted easily into the car. Also had a big storage bit at the bottom which I could never have lived without. Really good buy and despite fair bit of use us still in fab condition I am sad we will never use it again really-such a lot of money these things for the limited use they actually get!

I used a Stokke Xplory travel system and will be digging it out again in a few months.
Narrow wheel base so easy to navigate, fairly light up and down stairs and a fairly high up seat/bassinet which I thought helped DS see more. And also kept him away from chundering bus exhausts when we were waiting at traffic crossings.
I really loved using it and it was our perfect London pram. Only con would be a fairly small bag as opposed to a basket but I used hooks on the handle as well if I ever needed more storage.

Baby Zen YoYo is a good city pram then pushchair. It folds up a lot smaller than the Bee too. We also had a Mountain Buggy for when we wanted to get out into the countryside :)

I have the Uppababy Cruz and I really like it. I use it on London buses etc.
Only slight design flaw is that when you use the bassinet you can't use the pram basket properly. It's fine when you have the rumble seat on it.
I had a summer baby so really liked the in built sun shade and ventilation.
I wanted something relatively small but not as small/flimsy as the babyzen yo-yo etc. Overall I'm happy with my choice.

Oh and I made a baby appointment at John LEwis on Oxford Street and used the time to have the salesperson show us a wide range. It's quite an efficient way to do things.

Bugaboo Bee

Bugaboo Bee

I have the bee 5 and it's fab. Squeezes in on the bus and tube in to places other buggies couldn't. I live on the first floor and I can carry the buggy up the stairs with DS 16mo in it and shopping too and I'm not strong! Was great when he was newborn and in the carry cot as I could take that up and then go back for the base and he was all safe and snug. It also folds down really easily and quickly and I've been able to do it one handed before.

I guess the only negative is the price and maybe it's not the best cross country buggy. We use it in the park though and it survived across a field too though.

The Fox came out after DS was born and I would have definitely given that a good look at too though as that's supposed to be a good hybrid.

The Cameleons are good but they're pretty big and heavy.

You can get three maclarans on the bus.

If you are regularly going to be using buses (ie on almost daily) then really don't get a pram. Get a buggy like a Maclaren. Seriously. The prams do usually fit on buses but take up a lot of space and usually don't fold down that easy. Remember you must be prepared to fold down your buggy/pram if needed. Any design that can't be folded without removing the seat is a complete no no for buses. The Bugaboo Bee is just about OK for buses but most of the other prams aren't.

I kind of second what @bookmum08 is saying. Like I say I have the bee and it fits 3 on the bus but I've used my ergo baby sling a lot too which has been great and obviously takes up no space at all! I still have DS in it now at 15mo.

Baby jogger city mini. It folds with one hand so you can take the baby out and hold it with one arm or pop in the sling and then lift the pushchair up by the handle in the seat and it folds in half and you carry it like a briefcase with your other hand. I was forever folding my pushchair on buses so you need something that folds in one piece and preferably with only one hand. We also had a maclaren for a while which was ok too but not as easy to fold as the BJCM.

We had a BJCM for DC1 and DC2. The one hand fold was great for quick folding on public transport and we also lived on the second floor with no lift so easier to carry, that was the big selling point. It was fine on the bus, but it actually has quite a wide wheel base at the back and a long frame so it doesn’t go down all bus aisles (had to board at the back) and it would jut out of the disabled area when parked there, getting in other people’s way!

The BJCM GT has a folding handlebar so that would be resolved, but costs a lot more than th BJCM and still has the wide wheel base. I still think it was a really good buggy, very well made, and I think the GT is still a really good price compared to other pushchairs, but it’s not as compact as something like the Bee - the Bee first came out after the BJCM (IIRC!) and I remember staring longingly We got a lightweight Maclaren after a little while (wasn’t suitable from birth but perfect for days out and school runs with toddler).

The Bee is much more compact and you can have parent facing, but on the other hand doesn’t fold as easily. It also costs much more than the BJCM or a Maclaren - but much cheaper than the Fox!

It really depends on what your day to day looks like. For us, we don’t venture centrally that often, locally we mainly walk or get the Overgound and occasionally a bus but off peak and it’s fairly quiet. We’re relatively sold on getting the Bee 5 (pg with DC3, other DCs are older and firmly in walking territory), it’s light and compact but we’re unlikely to have to fold it often (live in a house now so no carting upstairs, and travel as mentioned), but if we do have to fold it does fold in one (albeit not one handed). We do have an Ergobaby which we would use on occasion - walks we don’t feel the need to have a buggy for, or if we need to travel somewhere a bit more awkward and don’t fancy using the buggy (not sure if/when that will happen but we’re prepared at least!). Bee 5 seemed like the best mix of functions and compromise. As much as I liked the BJCM and do recommend it, I want something that can be more compact without being completely lightweight (like the Babyzen).

I don't quite agree with what bookmum says. You can get a Bee on a bus no problem and loads of other makes of pushchairs fit too. Buggies like the Maclaren where you can't have parent facing aren't suitable for young babies.

IME, most traveling with a baby on buses is done at off peak times so you can generally fit a pushchair into the disabled space, and just wait for the next one if it's needed by a wheelchair user, so folding hasn't really come into it for me in that context.

Guess what we have buses in other cities too in the North! Not sure why you have titled this London mums?

I had a Bee first time round - it did fit on the bus easily but felt flimsy and the basket was tiny and hard to access, so doing shopping wasn't that easy.

This time I have an Uppabany Vista which is sturdier and has a better-sized basket - but is a nightmare on buses (sometimes you can't even push it down the aisle because the wheels are too big). I end up using a sling a lot if I know I'm going to have to take public transport.

I think in retrospect I'd get something like the Uppabany Cruz - well-constructed, good space in the basket, but smaller wheels so you can fit it onto the bus.

I have a Fox and love it but I wouldn't take it on a bus in case I needed to fold as I can't do that and hold DD - I do have a sling though so maybe we could manage.

I also have a stroller (Silver Cross Pop) which I haven't used yet but have bought for occasions where the Fox just might not be practical.

It's been expensive buying two buggies but has been the best solution for me. The Fox is used daily so I have my money's worth out of it and the stroller will come into it's own for holiday and doing the nursery drop off when I'm back at work. It may be an option worth considering if you can't find a pram that ticks all boxes. I chose the Pop as our second buggy as it seemed more sturdy but there are other options.

Bugaboo bee

I wouldn't recommend the mamas and papas occario if you're taking public transport. It's very bulky and heavy. It's great for parks etc however

Rainatnight many of the suggested prams do fit on buses - I agree - however they do take up quite a lot of the space and often stick out on to the aisle and as the parent usually stays with the pram they are quite frankly getting in peoples way. If the OP doesn't want to be tutted at, moaned at, get into a argument with others, shoved by people because she is blocking the aisle etc then I seriously recommend a smaller buggy for buses. I don't say this in a mean way but I use London buses almost daily so I see what it is like (prams seem to have got waaay bigger since my 10 year old was a baby).
(This is for my experience on London buses. It may be different in other places)

I really recommend the bugaboo bee 5.