Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Prams...oh my God I'm soooo confused! Please help

48 replies

xxhunnyxx · 19/01/2009 13:27

I've been looking at prams for a while now and keep coming back to the Silver Cross 3D. I like it cos it looks quite cosy and makes me want to put my baby in it. So I had pretty much decided that it's the pram for me.
The reviews for it seem to be quite good too. However, the reviews on the car seat aren't so great so now I'm just totally confused!
Anybody got any advise for me?
I'm open to any suggestions but I'm not so keen on the really modern prams, as nice and trendy as they are I just don't think they look comfortable and cosy for my LO.
Another idea I had was to get the Silver Cross pram and then just get the Maxi Cosi car seat but as this is my first I'm not sure how much of an inconvenience it would be to not be able to clip the seat on to the pram.
Help please )

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Pinkbump3 · 19/01/2009 19:12

Mutsy is made by babystyle. I havent owned one i know a few girls who do and they seem to be very happ with them. The carrycot part is a lovely big roomy one.

daisy5 · 19/01/2009 19:36

Yes, you need one that you can push relatively easily in parks and on gravel paths, also in winter. Someone I knew had a Stokke and it was not at all versatile.

highrise · 19/01/2009 20:13

I know how you feel we have just started having a look and are completely bamboozled! So far like the Jane Slalom pro, but I understand the car seat is a read fiddle.

Anyone any views on this pram?

Thanks.

IwishIwasmoreorganised · 19/01/2009 20:21

Highrise, I don't know about that particular one but when we bought our loola and creatis (car seat) 3 years ago for ds1, everyone was telling us that the seat is a real fiddle.

TBH, I think you get used to whatever you've got very quickly and don't know any different! If you like everything else about it, it has a good safety rating and fits your car then I wouldn't worry!

nappyaddict · 19/01/2009 21:27

If you decide to go for the mutsy get the mutsy 4 rider (sometimes called the light rider) it had the swivel wheels at the front. The weight is distributed much better than the urban rider. The urban rider gets quite difficult to push in rear facing mode once the child hits about 12-18 months imo. I got the urban rider chassis originally and then bought a second hand light rider chassis after a lady in a baby shop told me it was better.

elmoandella · 19/01/2009 22:20

you need to go try out things in shop. go to several pram shops as they dont all do every make.

you sound like your after something with a carrycot for when lo is a complete infant.

pick one that uses a maxi cosi car seat (there are loads quinny,icandy,bugaboo) as these car seats fits almost all cars. but you will have to try this out anyway. i've never struggled with the maxi cosi in the huge variety of cars i've used mine in. the silver cross one struggled with some seat belts. and had to be installed and baby put in afterwards which is a pita.

and the maxi cosi is very easy to sell on.

pick something with a carrycot and seperate seat unit as usually the pushchair is much more compact once you get to the pushchair stage and finish with carrycot. i know they claim you have more pieces taking up space in your house. but at the end of the day you can just sell the carrycot.

the quinny buzz and icandy are good examples of this whereby you can pick up a great package deal in sales. then make a decent price sellin on the car seat and carrycot when you dont need them.

the great big pram types where the pram carrycot converts to the pushchair (i.e silver cross and babystyle) do look tempting. but in reality they are huge and really awkward and when you do decide you've had enough and need something lighter you wont be able to sell it for love nor money.

if you go to products section there is a pushchair chat.

go to shops try out a few. come back to pushchair chat and someone in there will have had what your looking for and give you an honest opinion on it's good and bad points. and you can decide for youself if its right for you.

mumof2andabit · 19/01/2009 23:39

Had a bebecar vector with ds and loved it. It came with a car seat could face towards or away from you and lie fully flat. I would have lived in that pram if I could.

With dd as ds was nearly 2 we had a double mamu and as he started to walk everywhere she got a single Mamu. Very reliable never had a problem with it as it was a lot cheaper than a maclaren.

Now was ds2 on the way I'm looking at a phil&teds as it seems to be the only double I can push in a straight line whilst holding ds's hand.

My advice is get the buggy you will love first time round then you can succumb to practicality after you've had the joy of pushing 'your' buggy round.

tengreenbottles · 20/01/2009 12:14

I would definately second what someone said about buying second hand ,some people go through prams like a dose of salts ,so you could get one in excellent condition for a fraction of the new price , i bought a lovely mamas and papas mpx with the seat unit and proper carrycot in a really rare colourway and in fab condition for £50.

mamadiva · 20/01/2009 12:40

Well I have to say I have tried the 3D and hated it!

was very heavy to push and the rear facing bit doesn't last very long! My friend's (tiny) DD grew out of it at about 9 weeks and like I say she was small.

Buy a car seat to fit our car not your pram, it's not good for LO to be stuck in them it's bad for their spines.

If I could go back I'd get a nice 3 wheeler for walking and a Maclaren type for shopping trips and holidays.

The Jane slalom is lovely and is apparently one of the lightest 3 wheelers and you get the carrycot to go with it, maybe you could find one on Ebay as well as a smaller pushchair and you'd save a fortune!

elmoandella · 20/01/2009 12:46

slalom is excellent choice. and comes with the car seat which lies flat now which is a great thing. as you dont have to worry about their spine as you just lower back when you put it on the chassis.

laweaselmys · 20/01/2009 13:22

the 3D is okay until 6 months IMO, it is nice to have that pram position. But once you put it into pushchair mode it's so heavy there's no point to it. They seem to get a bit rickety after a while as well.

Definately go into a shop and push things around. DP and I spent about an hour in mothercare fiddling and not buying anything and the staff were really helpful it gives you a better idea of what looks good when you read the stats and what feels good when you push it around. (And how easy things actually are to put up and down!)

I recommend buying something second hand for the first 6 months (unless money really is no object) that you can take on walks etc, and then looking for a new practical pushchair that is light and easy to fold for the rest of your DC's pushing days, or when you are going somewhere it would be impractical to take a pram.

Pinkmarshmallow · 20/01/2009 15:44

Have ordered the icandy but can't comment on its practicality yet... still waiting for baby to arrive!

One piece of advice though.... stay away from 3-wheelers.... they look cool and were all the craze a couple of yrs ago but are highly unsafe. I pushed my niece and nephew around in one and several times it nearly tipped over. Especially going up and down kerbs is difficult. I was being careful and not doing anything foolish to cause it to tip over, and this wasn't on rough terrain, merely a flat enough road.

xxhunnyxx · 20/01/2009 19:42

My friend who's got 2 LO's is coming to Mothercare with me this weekend. Thought it would be good to get the opinion of someone who uses a pushchair as she might spot good and bad points easier than me.

It's confusing me so much I'm considering just strapping baby to my chest instead of buying a pram lol.

Also, a friend has offered me her pram and at first I wasn't so keen as she's already used it for her 2 children so thought it might be gettin a bit knackered by now but not sure whether I'd be best accepting it and using that at first and then just getting a stroller after a few months

OP posts:
Pinkbump3 · 20/01/2009 20:23

pinkmarshmallow i found this with my sisters urban detour 3 wheeler when my nephew was 4mth old her pram tipped right over on the road and the little fellow was only saved by the raincover holding footmuff and breaking his fall. my friend who has the phil and teds says she finds this when its a windy day.

elmoandella · 20/01/2009 20:29

mothercare is not bad. but tbh their selection is very poor and they are way overpriced.

is there any pram places other than mothercare near you. the best ones are the big "centre" type ones or kiddicare type whereby it's a giant warehouse with everthing on display.

xxhunnyxx · 20/01/2009 20:30

Not that I know of, there's small independant shops but I don't know of any big places near me.
I'm in Manchester, anybody know of anywhere?

OP posts:
elmoandella · 20/01/2009 20:32

wait till i ask chat. there's bound to be

elmoandella · 20/01/2009 20:37

lesters

yell

there's loads on yell in manchester area. that lesters one do anazing prices. i've wanted to order online from them. but never had the guts as soooo cheap. only just found out they have a brick and mortar shop in manchester when looking this up for you.

xxhunnyxx · 20/01/2009 20:48

My friend said that Lesters is actually only a small shop.
I'm going to go there sometime anyway cos they are very cheap.

OP posts:
lydiathetattooedlady · 20/01/2009 20:54

im not sure if im right or not but im sure there was one near the manchester evening news offices on a big junction?? im sure i saw it when visiting the in-laws but i may be wrong!
im struggling on what pushchair to buy-had a 3d first time round and hated it so much a brought a first wheels one after about 13 weeks and loved it!

xxhunnyxx · 20/01/2009 20:59

There used to be one on the junction opposite the MEN arena but it's recently closed down
There's a huge place in Clevelys but it's quite far for me to go to just look at prams.

OP posts:
elmoandella · 20/01/2009 21:00

well go try out in the bigger places. that one in blackpool looks massive. but there will be on nearer you. and dont worry about getting it on time. i felt pressurised by all staff to order with 8 weeks notice, bla bla bla. but truth is you can get them online within a couple of days.

so take your time. shop around. and enjoy playing with them.

look out for practical things like pockets, and viewing windows, and basket access. and try and actually get the one you prefer and stick it in boot of your car. i've had several prams whereby i've thought "that'll go in my car no problem" , only to find it a real struggle or takes up all the boot.

beware of prams/pushchair which require to be split in 2 to fold. this is a real pita when you have a baby to deal with at the same time.

and get your friends child in prams. you will be amazed at how small some are. they can have huge bulky frames. but a seat unit that wont last much past 2 yr.

the ones with acarrycot insert are fab. you can go for a walk. and bring pram indoors and simply remove carrycot to take into living room/kitchen without having the whole system and wheels in the house taking up space and dirtying your floors.

nappyaddict · 21/01/2009 00:01

With 3 wheelers the trick is not to gently push them down the kerb like you would with a stoller you just sort of bounce it down without thinking about it.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread