which pushchair for new born and toddlers on London buses ? Stokke Xplory, Icandy Strawberry or BJC Elite single

[Hpbp]

hello Ladies,
I face a dilemna and surely other mums can help me sort it out. I have a 3 1/2 year old son and am expecting a second baby for July 2012. I will have to use the Tube or train or bus to get my oldest son to school in Sept 12, only stairs, no escalator, no lift, I am in London.

I would like to purchase a pushchair that is comfy enough for a new born and can be used later on when he/she becomes a toddler. Also I'd like this pushchair to allow the second baby to nap while we are out and about with the first one.

I have looked at 3 types :

• Stokke Xplory: I am not sure how easy it is to use on stiff staircases (I am not very tall, 1m60 and average weight 53kg) and I also read that the baby's head bounces everywhere in the carrycot because there is no suspension but hard plastic wheels. And it is expensive. I am almost sure that it can go on a bus from the front door. But I love the height of the seating : no legs, no dog lickings, no ash from cigarette flicks, less fumes
• Baby Jogger City ELITE single: it is very comfy, can lie flat even without the carrycot, very easy to fold but it is very wide, 68cm, I am not sure that it would fit in a bus from the front door and people just kill you with their eyes when you get in with a pushchair, not to mention that this one is BIG. Half the price of the Stokke but less high, obviously.
• iCandy Strawberry with carrycot and seat: more conventional, pricewise half way between Stokke and Baby Jogger, comfy for a new born and a toddler, quite low, would certainly fit on a bus - 60cm wide. I could not find anywhere customers review. I have tried it at John Lewis.

I have used a McLaren Triumph for my 1st baby from 10 months but did not find it very comfy to nap.

Any one can come up with ideas ?

Thank you very mush for your inputs.

Jane

I would completely scrap the plan of the Xplory and Elite. The two I would suggest off the top of my head are the soon to be released Baby Jogger City Mini GT and the Joolz Day. They're completely different pushchairs though! :) The GT is more compact than the Elite and has small air tyres so can be bumped up and down stairs, but also folds in the same way if you ever wanted to hold the baby and carry the pushchair upstairs instead. The Day is very high and has big air wheels without being too wide. It's a lovely pushchair to push and the quality is fantastic.

I have a Stokke and am similar size to you and would not recommend it. I think suspension is fine and you can get it on the bus from front, although can get a bit jostly if there is another buggy in the buggy space. And the height is great, but I would never take it on the train or tube because of the steps. Even if someone offers to help you, its not the easiest buggy to carry. And it is bloomin heavy, and i live in flat so tend to keep it in car.

I am due with dc2 and tempted to ditch it, but since i invested in carrycot may keep it until the baby can sit up and use the pram bit. But am kinda concerned about how i'll use it with my 2 yr old, am hoping she'll be scooter proficient by time baby arrives but progress so far not great!

Honestly, your dilemma is a tough one.
Are you saying you have a choice of bus or tube or train, or do you have to use a combination of these? If you can take the bus, I am guessing you won't encounter stairs?

I personally can't imagine bumping any of your choices down lots of stairs. I honestly can't imagine bumping a pushchair with carrycot down stairs either. Although I am not a sling fan, I would seriously be contemplating one in your situation to get you through the first six months if you need to use stairs.

If the stairs are a feature then I think I would be looking in stages at two pushchairs. One for the baby stage and one for the toddler stage. If the stairs aren't a feature, then it's all less of an issue and easier to choose.

Can you tell us more please?

good morning all,
many thanks for your replies, this will help to think through, for sure.
I totally agree with all of you. So I will start web shopping.
HypatiaTheProcrastinator: the Joolz Day looks fantastic, tall, easy to fold and very light, I will go to a retailer and try it out. Have you had any issue with the tyres ? do they need to be pumped often ? for JD and City Mini GT, I need to see how comfy they are, because the Elite seat looks very very comfy.
Tiggywunkle: thank you for the sling advice, I will keep that in mind for the school run, it is an excellent idea and I feel too more comfortable with having baby against me to go up and down the stairs than in a carrycot, not strapped... I thought about buy a carrycot for the first 6 months or so and use the McLaren after, but the McLaren is not an option for napping. So it really means buying 2 new pieces of equipment... I am not too keen on that, price wise and space wise...
Stokey: I can either use one of the 3 transports, either bus, or train or Tube, I don't need to use a combination of the 3, thanks God :) but like you I live in a flat and there is no room for me to leave the Stokke open in the entrance. My single neighbor would go mad and I would understand her. Thanks for sharing your experience with the Stokke. I have eliminated it from my options now. If you want to get rid of it, I am sure you can resell it on Guntree or Preloved for at least 60% of its original price, I would have considered buying a second hand one if it had been been an option. Regarding the scooter for your 2 year old, don't worry, my son started very slowly at 22 months and one day when he was about 28months, he saw his dad on an adult scooter, since then, they scoot together and he is actually mastering it better than his dad, taking more risks, going faster, jumping out.... but make sure your daughter is always not too far from you, I have used a hand lead. Good luck.
Many thanks again, I will let you know how it goes.

Just to say that I know you've been advised against it already, but I have the Baby Jogger City Elite. I absolutely love it, but it does not fit on all buses! I live in London, and try to walk most places (no car in daytime), but occasionally do hop on the bus. 8 times out of 10 it fits but in some buses the seats are too low so your wheels don't find underneath them as you walk through the aisle, or the pole by the disabled place is sticking out too far. And trust me some bus drivers are very unfriendly when you ask to get on at the back doors!!

I live on a 3rd floor flat with no lift :(. Our current arrangement is that we leave the wheels folded in the entrance downstairs and I carry baby down in the carrycot. I have been debating selling my elite and getting the city mini gt so is that bit more compact, but oh I will miss those wheels.

I haven't had my Joolz Day long, but the tyres are bigger and thicker than the ones on my Gecko which has never had a puncture and I only pumped the tyres when I bought it last May and not since. I don't expect to have any issues with the Joolz tyres at all. The seat is very comfy and gives very good posture to the child. I haven't got or used the carrycot so I can't comment on that.

Hello.
A lot of food for thoughts, thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to read and write back.
dldl: I thought about these issues when I first saw the BJ City Elite. Although I live in London, I need to take either the Tube or the bus to get into Central London, I can't really walk so I guess I will have to take the Elite out of my option. Thanks a lot for the warning about bus drivers. I have been told that they are not obliged by law to open the back door for a single pushchair. I met a mum this morning when dropping my son and she is absolutely delighted by the City Mini and offered to let me try it. I will certainly do so. What are the differences between the City mini and City Mini GT ?
HypatiaTheProcrastinator: I will definitively give a try to the Joolz Day tomorrow.
The hunt continues....

Does this help re the differences between the BJCM and BJCMGT? The GT is a bit of an Elite / BJCM hybrid putting some of the best features of the BJCE onto a slightly taller and deeper BJCM seat.

Tiggywunkle, it does actually help a lot, I really like the BJCE and was put off only by its width, if the BJCMGT has the features of the Elite in smaller version, it is definitively a very good selling point in my opinion. Thanks a lot.

Thank you to all who have shared their opinions on the 2 threads.
I am down now to 2 options : Baby Jogger City Mini GT or Uppa Baby Vista. IMO, the only drawback of the BJCMGT is the seat height and that is the 1st reason I might go for the UppaBabay Vista, the 2nd being the huge basket (biggest I have seen so far compared to the Mini Xari, Joolz Day, Stokke), the 3rd being a reasonnable price of £599 that includes carrycot, carseat adaptors and rain/sun covers. Widths for both are similar : 62cm for BJ and 63.5cm for UB. Will give it a little bit more thoughts a a few weeks, if I can ! So exciting... :)

When you say seat height, what exactly do you mean - the actual seat is too small or high, or is the hood too low or high?

You do get a lot for your money with the Vista and the carrycot is beautiful. Have you priced up a GT with carrycot, adaptors and covers?

The advantages of the Vista are that the child can parent face and you can also add on a rumble seat if you ever need to. The two pushchairs are completely different styles as well - completely different. Try and see them if you can.

By seat height, I mean the height of the seat from floor level. For example, on the Stokke you can adjust the position of the seat on the chassis, I am not talking about flatness, 3 or 4 positions from vertical to lie flat, no, I refer to the actual height of the seat. On the contrary the Bugaboo is very low and cannot be adjusted. The UppaBaby Vista is higher from the ground than the BJ CM GT.

The GT comes at £329: chassis and seat, soft carrycot about £85, car seat adaptors £30 but I don't know for the rain/sun covers, prices are from John Lewis. And only parent facing if the carrycot is used (not more than the first 4/6 months I guess...). Will be available as you said at the end of this month or beginning of April 2012.

I know, I know, the 2 pushchairs are so different, that is why I don't know what to do. I tried both of them, liked both, so very confused. I want to give it some more thoughts and not tempt fate so I will wait a bit before I decide to put in an order. Hopefully the stock is already ready and delivery will not take too long. The more I think about it, the more the Vista comes first. I am just thinking that I can always swap to the BJ CM GT later on when baby 2 is older if I start with the Vista.

will keep you posted
enjoy the clear weather today

Aha. Thanks. That makes sense now :)

Raincovers are about £20 for the City Mini - I have just asked if the GT has different ones.

I got a nice pushchair for the baby, carrycot stage and then got a City Mini later on - not to replace the bigger pushchair although many people do. I think you get to the point where LO wants to be hopping in and out of the pushchair, and you dont necessarily need parent facing. The Vista should hold its value well for resale - keep the boxes of whatever you buy!

Whichever, dont assume the stock will be ready to go. The new BJCMs are selling fast. Get friendly with your retailer and ask them for honest updates. You may be able to walk in (or phone up and buy one) but they may suggest ordering X weeks in advance.

Just out of interest why is a maclaren right out for napping - mine napped from birth fine in a techno xt and I dont drive so they were in it a lot. I prefer them flat in that to a car seat type seat as well - and any with a carrycot are right out for stairs.

And an XT goes on happily until they are 4 unlike some of the others.

Agree that the Stokke is useless on buses - have seen people with them in the buses round here and it just gets in old ladies way and you cant fit that and another buggy in the space so everyone gets narked.

Good point about keeping the boxes.... I would have never thought about that ! I am a freek re tidiness, I would have binned them straight away !
I dont reaaly mind buying a second hand pushchair as long as it has been well looked after but unfortunate that th GT is a new version.... Will try to source a 2011 Vista on gumtree or preloved or MN, no rush, only 20 weeks today....
Enjoy the beautiful sunshine

And forgot to say that my DH is willing to see them overthe week end, will ask the retailer about honest leadtime for both.... Thanks a lot for reminding me
I have the McLaren Triumph but my 1st DS didnot want to nap in it, it is not as comfy as the XT or XLR i guess so I will treat myself with a very comfy pushchair.... I was lucky enough to have lots of big expensive baby stuff lended to me for the first one so can afford to buy this time ! :)