Ok I know this is in the wrong place but...

[Boobz]

...can anyone come and tell me whether it's worth buying a new Bugaboo chameleon? I've tried searching on old threads so as not to repeat anyone, but all I get is a poster called Karma Chameleon instead (hello!), and I don't know where to post it, and as I am pregnant and am used to this board, I have posted it here.

So. I want to buy one. It's horribly expensive. Will I regret it or will I love it and think it's the best thing I will buy DC? Has anyone got one and thought "dammit, that was too much to pay and I wish I'd got an X instead?" If so, what was X?

More people that can talk me out of it the better - I break out into a cold sweat every time I think of the price.

Thanks.
A

xxx

I'd check them out on ebay. Most people I know who have one child thought bugaboos were fab for their first, though not great for in car storage if you live in a flat or somewhere you can't just leave it in the hall. After about a year they went all sensible and just bought themselves a maclaren as they are lighter and easier to manage once the baby gets a bit heavier (though no way to make the baby/new baby face you).

Buy a 2nd hand one?

Ive never had one myself as i couldn't part with that amount of money

I am horribly spoilt and could only ever bear to have a new one. Think I can do pretty much everything else second hand, but want a new pram. Not sure why. No flaming please - I am new and hormonal. And I want one.

I thought they went up to 4 years old or something?

x

A friend has one - she is on her 2nd child with it now and still loves it. She was quite at the cost, but it is just so well made, and fab. I am very .

That hasn't helped, has it?

I have no other recommendations, but for an anti-recommendation, don't buy mamas and papas. I did. I am not looking forward to having to use it for DC2 in a few months, as it is knackered already.

Ok good - ruled out mamas and papas, which I did also like the look of, so that's good. Narrowing it down.

Oh fark. I'm going to buy it, aren't I? Silly silly Boobz.

Have you looked at the Stokke? Have now lent mine to friend as her M&P didn't make it through to her second LO, and it's still going strong - good for country walks and city showing off, and LO can face you for as long as they still fit in (think we had a 6yo in it once when his Ma had had a bit too much to drink to drive home) . Also good if you've got a bad back, are taller than av or have had your stomach muscles slashed through in a crash CS

Yes, buy it . I have one and it's fab!

You do need to make sure you can fit it in the car, and be prepared for it to be a bit of a pain when travelling with the dismantling etc, but it really is worth it. I can now take mine apart one handed, but it needs practice. Took ours out last week, and managed quite a long walk in some terribly muddy woods - it really is an all terrain jobby!

Haven't tried any other buggies really (apart from a little Maclaren) but I cannot recommend it highly enough!

Sorry if I haven't been able to stop the cold sweat, but you only buy these things once... You'd be pissed off if you settled for something else and then regretted it. Also, just in case you're thinking of number 2 in the next couple of years I did hear you can get something called a buggypod which fixes onto the side of buggies. Presume it'll fit the Bugaboo too.

Good luck deciding!

Ok thanks everyone - have just swindled £250 out of my pa for Christmas to put towards it, so now it's a bargain, n'est pas?

OOOO soo excited now. My DH is buying a car with my year end bonus (obviously for both of us, but he's doing the picking and is getting excited) so I don't think he can complain if I pick the pram and get excited about that, now can he?

Joy. Am so happy.

Ooohhh lovely! What a great dad you have!

What colour are you going to go for?

Oh I don't know yet! Blue maybe...

I was on the brink of getting one and went for a Stokke - also dead expensive but really cool and adaptable!! Check 'em out, I think they will be the next big thing! On the Chamlelon front, everyone seems to love them...and they hold their value on eBay etc so that makes me think they must be good.

If you can afford it go for it...I justified it to myself with all the other free stuff we have been given??

If you can feel that you are putting "normal pram money" towards it, what with your Dad's contribution, then I'd go for it..

Mine was a gift... and a blessing. BUT only if
1 - you walk most places, or drive somewhere for the day, and then walk everywhere
2 - you can feel proud not embarrassed. Wasn't a problem in my day (3 years ago)..
3 - You know you're going to have relatively short/average sized children. DS has ended up taking after my dad's family, and was the size of an average 4 year old at 2, and we had to stop using it. and I believe the models might even be a tad shorter...?

'Part from all that, one of the best things ever I got for DS let alone me. love having him facing me when small, love having a proper pram, love feeling he was as protected as possible, loved being able to negotiate impossible pavements/kerbs without a second thought. Also, is in fab condition and will get a thorough working out again next year too I hope........

Enjoy :-)

J

PS Word of warning on colours. Avoid citrus colours, they fade like heck very quickly (well out here they do anyway, maybe we have more sun).

Thanks Jackaroo. Where did you get your name from? We call our dog (Jackson) Jackaroo sometimes!

Anyway, after being convinced by most of you to go fot it last night, I then showed the video of it on the website to DH and he said "how much does it cost?"... so I whispered the amount and he looked at me and said "can you really justify spending that much money? I thought you were going to get a Maclaren for less than half that price?".

Crest fallen. I know he's right and so I burst into pregnant filled tears at my guilt of being so spoilt and spending money unnecessarily, but all that came out in between blubs "but I want that one", proper Little Britain style. Ugh.

And then once the waterworks started I couldn't stop them. And he was like "of FGS, you can have one if you care that much about it but stop crying!" which of course made me cry more. We made up before we went to sleep as the tears became comedic after a while, and this morning he was all sorry and said that I had caught him at a bad time, he was tried and so on. I said I had won my birthing pool (worth £150 quid) and with the money from my dad, it would hardly feel expensive at all. He agreed.

But I'm still not sure now. The joy has gone out of it.

Being pregnant is ridiculous. I am not normally so girl-like - I hate it. Bah.

i bought a bugaboo cam for dd4. but that was before i moved house and it just felt too big in my new place (old palce had massive hallways so plently of room to store). i sold it last week, and bought a gecko second hand for less than half the price i sold the cam for. i much prefer the gecko as its just more compact and simple in terms of design, and smaller in my hallway lol.

Oh that drives me mad; I often suggest yummy places to eat, things to buy, to DH and by the time he's argued over the price/whatever, ok usually the price, it always feels as if the conversation has sucked the joy out of the idea. I'm not the only woman who has to deal with this I know :-(

Leave it a couple of weeks and see how you feel, but if I were you, I'd go and immerse again at John Lewis or similar, YOu'll find a way :-)

PS I have not anonymity left anyway so I can tell you Boobz that my DS is Jack, and we now live in Oz. Not that interesting really...except that I've come to realise that I called him Jack because I love Jack Russells so much. That must be a terrible thing for me to admit, he'll be scarred if I ever tell him.......

I have a bugaboo cam (my lovely mil bought me it) and I love it, it's definitely the one thing that has been worth the money, still use it every day and DD is now 2.1, loads of room left in it (she is quite a shortie). It's really comfy for her a joy to push, and despite the daily battering it gets, it's not broken at all. BUT - don't buy it if you drive everywhere. You will go crackers constantly dismantling it and taking it in and out of the car. It is very bulky and does not fold down easily, and it is in 2 parts. I walk everywhere (live in London and it's quicker and more pleasant to walk, even if it's a few miles) and I have a maclaren in the boot of the car for when I really need to drive....

Go for it! If you use it every day for 3 years, it works out at less than a pound a day

Am starting to thin a Bugaboo bee is better for us - DH says I won't ever take the chameleon off road because I won't want to get it dirty (and he's right) so what's the point in getting the all terrain one?

Such a minefield. I spy everyone's pram everywhere I go now... definitely know I don't want a Graco as I saw one in Sainsbury's and didn't like the look of it at all... and I know the Maclaren is the sensible option, but they're cheapish no? I can just buy one of those when DC gets to 3 or something?

I have a denim one, really really love it.

it's nly the wheels that get dirty, and they are easily cleaned. You could remove the basket bag. I take mine in the woods, beach, everywhere, and it's fine.

Comparatively cheap I meant - 285 vs 700 once you've got all the bits and pieces!

Thanks for all your help on this guys - I think I am just going to go for it and get the chameleon. Which was probably always going to happen... ugh.