Please help with these pushchair requirements...

[saoirse86]

My SIL's are having a boy due early April and have asked for advice about pushchairs.

The needs are:
Parent facing (till at least 6 months)
Smallish one hand fold for going on the bus (they do have one car which I'm pretty sure is a Renault Scenic and has a good sized boot)
Able to cope with slightly muddy fields (not particularly rough terrain)
Suitable from birth

The wants are:
Car seat compatible (they might have our britax shr for a while, but might get a 0-4 seat, or might buy a new stage 0 one, not sure yet)
Carrycot rather than just a lie flat seat or seat with a soft carrycot
Light
Suitable until the child no longer needs a pushchair
If there is a car seat compatible that's lie flat for long journeys that would be good too

I think that's about it. They're not sure about budget as it kind of depends on what's right for them but it seems like £250 is probably max. And they're happy to have second hand if they can find a well looked after or nearly new one.

Thanks in advance for your advice that I can pretend is all my advice pass on to them!

The Vigour 3 is 33x62x87cm folded.

the b-smart is 62cm wide

i sold my vigour to someone who got it in the boot of a very small car if that helps

or free carseat

am great at bargains me!

ooh i kind of want one now myself.
if they got one from that last link i sent, the pushchair is £260, plus it comes with a free car seat. and there is a soft carrycot you can buy for it as well, which would make it more snug for a newborn

Have they tried out your Oyster recently? You need to find out what they do/don't like about the ones we've got to getter a good idea. Then we need to take them shopping for pushchairs. There's a huge shop past the Lickeys somewhere.

That's where we got our B-Dual from. We could go there too Saoirse. Some people on here haven't liked the B-Smart. Apparently Britax ruined a perfectly good pushchair.

I don't know how 'get a better' turned into getter. Saves space I suppose.

They had our b dual and thought it was way too big. A friend has the B-Smart and it seems big to me, big unfolded, big folded. She doesn't drive and hates taking it on buses.

They liked my oyster when they had DD a few times about 5 months ago.

It looks like having parent facing = not one hand fold.

How does a BJCMini or BJCClassic fold with the hard carrycot on and no fabric? Does the carrycot have to be removed?

thisisyesterday we got our b dual from Baby Baby, they were lovely and they were the best price at the time. Will have a look on their site.

The B-Agile or Baby Jogger City Mini would fulfil your criteria as has been suggested. Both are fab pushchairs. Both take carrycots or can be used without a carrycot from birth (but that gives you parent facing). Both take car seats too and have a one handed fold, although the B-Agile is really a two handed unfold.

Off thread a bit, but why does it look like Kiddicare are calling the City Mini a "sidewalk"? Or is that a different model? And what's a City Mini Metro?

Is the B-Agile ok off road Tiggy?

The B-Agile is good across our gravel. I could push DD fine in it. It's by the front door ready for a good run out ASAP.

The Metro and Sidewalk are both made by Baby Jogger exclusively for Kiddicare. The Metro s the old discontinued model that used inferior quality fabrics to the City Mini. I have asked the question re what is the difference between the 2011 City Mini and Sidewalk ie does it have sit upright straps, PE board etc. We believe it takes a compact carrycot but I also know someone else couldn't get them to fit. So I have asked about that as well. The colours are the most striking difference and I believe the Kiddicare price is higher.

They're just rebranded ones. I assume you'd have to take the carrycot off to fold them, but they can't take a tiny baby out of the pushchair, fold and store the pushchair, then sit or stand holding onto the baby on a bus. It's far too dangerous! As you know, I wouldn't do it yet unless I was really really desperate.

I know, but I don't know that they have the same safety concerns we do and they might do it anyway!

So what's on the list...
City Mini
City Classic?
B-Agile
B-Mobile?
Oyster?

What about those Maxi cosi ones, noa, elea, something else, what was that cheap one on ebay...?

Anything else?

Once you remove the fabric, you also lee the pull handle. I washed my fabric a couple of months ago and you have to lift the attaching prongs to fold ie manually be the handle - so it's not a one handed fold.

Lee = loose

Arrghh 3rd time lucky - lose!

Jané Rider!!!

The Noa's from 6 months. I don't think the Elea's parent facing is it? I think the others are pretty rubbish.

There's the Baby Jogger Elite too...
The Noa won't work and I wouldn't wish the Senzz on anyone - it's suitable from birth but outward facing. It's definitely an urban pushchair.

We have a concorde neo travel system. The carrycot can also be used as a car seat but with the travel system you also get a car seat which is compatible with the chasis.

Once using the buggy seat it can go front and rear facing but only folds flat if the seat is in the rear facing position.

I have used it on buses but never collapsed it down as found it far easier to manage with it up rather than put it down, carry a baby whilst the bus moves off at breakneck speed :).

I hadn't thought about that Tiggy but that makes sense about the Mini/Classic.

Hmm, what would you suggest if we tried to change some of their requirements, like not one hand fold, but still relatively easy, or increase the budget?

Sorry shenanigans missed your post. That's good that it folds flat rear facing. It annoys me that my Oyster's RF fold is huge.
Is it very expensive though? And how is it off road?

Off to bed now but I'll be back, with more questions no doubt, tomorrow!

If you increase the budget then the Strawberry springs to mind. But that's a substantial increase.
If you say a two handed fold, then the choice is much wider....but if she does travel a lot on the bus then it needs to be practical.