Help me choose a pushchair please!

[hostelgirl74]

Here is my criteria:

1)Suitable from birth (but preferably will last a lot longer!)
2)Easy to get on buses/trains (I have no car)
3)Easy to walk around with (I live up a big hill)
4)Comes in nice bright colours (dont want black or grey)
5)Can be face to face (mum facing baby/child)

Unless I can get a particularly good deal, I will probably buy one 2nd hand on ebay.
So far I am thinking: Micralite Toro, Bugaboo Bee, Stokke Explory.. Does anyone have any comments/better suggestions? The thing that is putting me off the micralite a little is that after the initial 6 months, it doesn't look like it will then be able to be mum facing baby position which I really want. It is my first baby but I am keen to get it right! Please - tell me about your mistakes/good choices! I am only 4 months, so have a fair bit of time to choose.

Out of your list i'd go for the Bee Plus...I've had one and loved it...Even though the seat base is black, the hoods aren't...Plus it's pretty easy to buy custom seat liners and hoods to jazz things up...Plenty of those go for sale on eBay...Very easy to push even when full of shopping, i live in a hilly area...Folds in one piece with seat in either direction if you needed to on a bus...My parents have used it on the bus a few times, and to make it a little smaller you can always put the handle on the shortest setting.

What's your budget?

I would choose the Bee Plus but do look at the iCandy range because IMHO they are gorgeous.

The Bee and Stokke are no good for a lot of walking as the wheels and suspension systems are rubbish for bumpy ground, cobbles or grass.

In all honesty there is no perfect pushchair so I would suggest getting a sturdier pushchair fior walking and a smaller pushchair for public transport.

If you are buying from Ebay try and find something in your area and see it before you buy it because pushchairs can be expensive and you don't want to throw money away on something that has no guarantee or warranty.

Huack Eagle is a reversible pushchair and is a compactish fold.
Nurse By HJane Hello pushchair is also good but not great for public transport.
Babystyle Oyster is compact.
Bebecar Ip-Op is a compact pushchair that is great for walking.
Maxi Cosi Loola Up

I have a babystyle oyster and I actually love it, although I know many people don't like it. You'll need a carrycot from birth, but the seat unit reclines really far back, sits high up too when they're older and can face either way.

You can get height adapters to raise the carrycot up if you want.

The chassis folds pretty small and you can take the wheels off to make it smaller. It's great that it folds with the seat attached unlike something like a cameleon.

It's also not as expensive as a bee and nowhere near the price of a stokke!

Thanks. I was going to mention the Oyster as well! That is also one I am considering. What about a M&P Luna as well? Have seen those on ebay.As for budget, don't mind spending up to about £230 2nd hand.

Oh and I forgot to say - love the icandy but isn't that just suitable from 6 months?

bugaboo bee!

We've ordered an iCandy Peach hostelgirl and you can get a seperate carrycot so it's suitable from birth.

I wouldn't go for a Luna as M&P build quality and service are known to be awful! You can afford better so I'd get better IYSWIM!

For £230 you'll struggle to get a Bee Plus or an icandy, and it'll be near impossible to get a stokke. As you're going to need this for a few years you don't want one that's almost done in! I'd suggest either the Oyster or Bee. Probably the Bee if you'll be using public transport a lot as it's lighter and more compact. I'm pretty sure you don't need a separate carrycot for the Bee so less stuff cluttering up your house too!

good god DO NOT GET A LUNA!!!!

I just thought, what about a bugaboo frog or gecko. They're seriously similar to the current cameleon but cheaper. And you can get different covers like with the Bee.

I'd still say the Bee's best for you though TBH.

I have a M&P Sola. It's a good pushchair but agree with the service of M&P being absolute crap. If anything was to go wrong with it, your child would probably be graduating from university by the time they picked up the phone to you/did anything about fixing it.

Depending on your ability to store pushchairs, I'd get some kind of all-terrain buggy (whatever was a good price second hand), and buy an umbrella folding buggy for public transport - a Maclaran type, but one that allows a baby to lie flat. You can't normally get this type second hand - they're not so robust, and people tend to use them until they collapse.

Quinny Buzz - very flexible. Can buy carrycot as an extra but not really necessary. Has a 0 to 18 month seat which can face in our out, then an 18 month plus seat (lighter!). You can also fit a carseat to the chassis. Basically it's a chassis with lots of seat options!

I'm currently using one for DD2 who is 4 months. It's better than the M&P Pliko that we had for DD1.

love the look of the quinny buzz but i read reviws on here saying it wasnt very good for public transport and that is what put me off!

The iCandy carrycot was really good - lasted for 3 months for dd for sleeping in at night instead of moses basket but as a pram it lasted much longer. I think I moved dd into the seat at 5months rather than 6 but she was fine. You can put the maxi cosi carseat on it too.

I loved it. The seat broke on mine but I think I put dd in it when she was too big (but poorly) so now it just lies flat.

I did take in on a bus a couple of times and it was fine.

I used to have a Quinny Buzz and thought it was rubbish. It's wheel base is huge so bad for doorways, small aisles in shops, buses, in the boot, everything really! I had to have the parcel shelf off my old car to have the buzz frame in, even without the wheels.

The buzz is 60cm wide, oyster is 56cm wide, bee is only 53cm wide. It doesn't sound much difference but when you're on a bus and there's already a pushchair or wheelchair on there and there's loads of people, you really won't wont all those extra cm's!

iCandy has dreadful after sales service I saw one woman just leave the pram in the shop and tell them to shove it since they weren't able to fix it again.

I love Icandy, We find it a great investment, the store was very helpful and gave a great experience. No problems at all with Icandy and pram is everything we wanted/needed. The different options throughout the ranges just puts Icandy at the top of the list for us. Wish you all the best with finding your pram, as it can be a stressful but happy time :)

Actually, that's true about the public transport.

I live in York and all buses are buggy friendly so I don't have to collapse it to get on.

The downside of the Buzz is that the seat is separate to the chassis, so to collapse it you have to take the seat off and then fold the frame thus leaving you with two pushchair parts to deal with.

The Norton Pure is coming out soon that looks really nice, my friend works for Norton and she said they're fab. Lots of colours and feature and stuff! x