Do we really need a pram from birth??

[ThreeWheelsGood]

We live in a first floor flat, and we were going to get the Uppababy Vista travel system which has a pram suitable from birth (also good for overnight sleeping) and then a parent-facing seat for when baby's older. I don't have any friends with kids but a few friends have suggested we need not have a pram from birth, especially as the pram/bassinet part will be heavy to carry upstairs from the front door whenever we get home. One friend said her mum just made do with a sling and got a buggy when her children were bigger. Now we're totally unsure what to do! Does anyone have any advice or experience of this?

I had prams with all mine and they were worth their weight in gold tbh. They slept in them during the day or if we went away, they encouraged me to walk miles, I'd put shopping underneath and whatever the weather they were warm and snug. I had a sling but rarely used it because I didn't feel like they were secure and once asleep in the pram I could do what I pleased rather than considering the baby attached to me. Mine didn't like the sling or carseat as they liked to lay flat in anycase.

Thank you so so much everyone for your replies! So much to think about!

Really good to hear from people who have the Vista. Good point about what if baby is really big or I have a EMCS, we'd want a pram of some kind for sure then.

I like the idea of going for long autumnal/winter walks with the pram to get fit, probably more pleasant than sling in the cold/rain.

I had a traditional pram off ebay. As I'm on the 3rd floor with no lift I used to leave the base at the bottom of the stairs locked with a bike lock. The carrycot got used for the first few months the same way most people use a Moses basket & was a godsend.

I live in the city and do a lot of walking (dog owner). Pram was brilliant for going to the market for our fruit and veg, protecting DS from both the summer heat, and the winter rain. Turned out Ds's gross motor development was slightly delayed so I got a good years use out of it (he didn't sit unaided till 8 months). He was facing me, and this I think helped his v. rapid speech development.

It wasn't dear in the first place off ebay and got passed onto my sister when I was done with it. I think it cost summat silly like £25 + the cost of a new mattress. I wouldn't however invest £500 in summat you might only use 6 months.

I then had a Graco Citi Sport when he was approx 1 year. Basically a lie flat buggy as it was still nice if he could have a proper nap when I met met friends for a coffee etc, and by this time we were using public transport more. I prefer this style to the Umbrella folds as the frames seem a bit stronger. I think it's criminal this buggy has been discontinued.

The petite star zia 4+ has a carrycot option (only an extra £29 on the cost of the pushchair) if you have a look at nurseryvalue.com. If I had another child living here with all these stairs, I think I'd take a good look at it as an option. The reworked section usually has some at very attractive prices, so if you got one and didn't like it, you wouldn't have thrown a fortune down the drain.

If you don't have a pram, where are you supposed to hide the gin?

Not read whole thread but - you don't need a pram, but if you don't have one you will need a pushchair suitable for newborns, i.e. one that goes flat or virtually flat. (This is what we had, and it meant we only had to shell out once as we could keep using it as he got bigger).

Some people will say you only need a sling, if you can manage like that then fine, but think about whether you would be OK carrying heavy shopping and a baby. We had a sling as well but definitely found there were times when the pushchair was better.

One consideration though as you are upstairs: if the baby goes to sleep in the pushchair, you wouldn't be able to get them up to your flat easily without waking them - or in a sling, you would have to keep wearing them until you were ready to wake them. So for a first-floor flat, I would definitely consider a pram or a pushchair with a carrycot thing, so that if they were asleep you would easily be able to carry them upstairs in that while they go on sleeping.

I also live in an upstairs flat in London with no downstairs hallway to leave a buggy in. I've had 2 kids and had to carry stuff upstairs every day. Even so, I'd definitely say get a pram.

I have a Beco Butterfly sling, which is like an Ergo. great now my DS is 6mth or so, but when tiny he didn't seem comfortable in it (they have to have their legs really wide apart).

I can't imagine not having had a pram for my two DCs, especially for the following reasons:
In bad weather it's lovely to just whack on the raincover - also in windy conditions it keeps them sheltered

when you're going out for the day its tiring to carry baby all that time, plus they don't get to stretch out flat at all

As someone else said, you can have the baby sleeping in the pram next to you while you sit and have a coffee, lunch etc.

Don't forget you have stuff to carry as well, and pushchairs are very useful for carrying shopping and the changing bag.

Finally when you get on the bus or tube, and are carrying on the front, sometimes you feel you are squashing babys legs when you sit down.

Good luck anyway!

I have used a sling solely with a baby and was fine. Would recommend a bugaboo bee. Light weight, super easy steering, great on buses and tubes.

We used sling prob 80% of time. Only used a buggy tbh as was there

We had a travel system, which included a pram/car seat/buggy. The pram worked well for me, as I would walk my older DD to school, DS would fall asleep in the pram, then I could just leave him in the pram and he'd sleep for a while, while I put my feet up while I did lots of housework.

I've got a Mutsy Evo and it was recommended on here for lying flat. most places sell it with the carrycot but you can buy the frame/ pushchair seat/cot separately.

i did get the carrycot but didn't use it that much as DS2 was already 2 months old. he had a go in the pushchair seat at 3mo and looked v comfy, especially with the nice cosytoes (bought separately). the pushchair seat foot rest folds up to make it more enclosed for smaller babies.

i used the carrycot in the house a bit, but he is big and had really grown out of it by 4.5 months. i think if I'd had it from newborn I'd have used the carrycot more and also if he'd been an autumn/winter baby.

i do use a sling or carrier a lot, but agree that buggy is handy for transporting stuff!

I too wouldn't use a sling all the time, need to carry other stuff and the one I'm not supposed to admit - can't really handle having the baby on me ALL the time. Use a mixture of both for different outings, current baby is a fan of both, previous two were similar in their approach. It's down to you really, your preferences and that of your baby (cos it will inevitably have preferences of its own that you can necessarily predict). There are loads and loads of options out there pushchair and sling wise, I'm sure you'll find something to suit you

Agree with Rockchick. Get a good sling. Stretchy wraps are great for newborns but then check out boba, beco, ergo etc. can you go to a sling library? Not bjorn! Sorry if you already know all this.

Like you I've wondered whether I needed a pushchair too. Decided we do. There will be days when I won't want to baby wear.

Have you considered the uppababy cruz? Smaller and lighter and suitable from birth.