Is there a pushchair out there for me- thought the BJCM was it but now not so sure...

[Smerlin]

Ok having read through loads of old threads on this board, I'm convinced that MNetters will be able to help me with this one!

Basically I did my research a couple of months ago, thought I had decided on BJCM, looked at it in the shop and thought, "that's decided then, I'll come back and take another look to make sure nearer the time."

Which is what I did yesterday and now I don't feel as excited about the BJCM as before. This time we tried it with the carrycot on and the carrycot seemed very narrow and not very cosy inside and very plain outside. The main seat is ok but not very sleek in terms of styling compared to some of the other brands- lots of flaps and toggles everywhere and difficult to access basket.

Am I mad to be swayed by styling - the iCandys and Surf Elevation looked so much more sleek and less fiddly.

My requirements are:

• very light as I'm not very strong and will be lifting it in and out of the car a lot
• compact fold as car fairly small (A1)
• easy access shopping basket
• can cope with London streets, parks and snow- for sand or serious off road terrain we would use the sling
• narrow and very manoeuvrable

MIL is generously paying so price isn't the biggest consideration anymore. Looked at Bee and seemed way too low to the ground for us and Vista seemed so big and heavy. Peach Jogger seemed nice but again heavy.

Is the Bee a definite no? With your criteria that would be my first choice.

The BJCM is great but not rear facing and IME specially in a big city, you will want that for a while. There are a lot of loons that will want to stick their faces into the buggy and you might want to avoid that!

How about the chameleon? It folds in two pieces but it is fairly compact. Depends how often you will be folding?

Haha, the baby jogger carrycots have been likened on here to cheap sports holdalls. I think they are perfectly comfortable for babies but the look of them is not the most attractive imho.

I'm in two minds as to whether it would would actually put me off... whilst considering that I realise that in some ways it actually did.. for dc3 I chose a britax b agile over the bjcm because I preferred the bigger rear wheels with suspension (citi minis hack me off by having no rear suspension tbh, even the gt version) and the britax takes their full size carrycot. I now have the b motion (air tyre, better suspension, adjustable handlebar version of the agile) and it's my do everything pushchair. The only issue is the seat doesn't go fully upright so I added a velcro strap to bring the backrest up a couple of cm.

As had been said above, if you're already waivering take a moment now to consider whether you will want parent facing beyond the carrycot stage. I walk everywhere and found myself wanting it a great deal with dc2 and 3 but when I drove most places with dc1 it was more important that the pushchair fitted easily in the car and was light and easy to use.

It strikes me that you have narrow on your list yet the city mini difinitively is not narrow at 62cm. In terms of compact with that dimension you could add almost any other pushchair to your list of possibilities and 90% would be narrower than the city mini. The vista being one of a select few that's even wider.

This is becoming a bit of an essay - sorry - icandys are lovely to push but heavy to lift (except maybe the cherry. Even with a city mini I suspect your parcel shelf would have to be sacrificed, are you happy to do that?

Hmm maybe it being 3 wheeler gave me the perception it was narrower then because of if being so narrow at the front.

Haven't looked at Britax so will look at those

DH and I are fairly tall so the seat in the Bee just seems like it will involve too much bending over even though the handlebar is high enough.

Isn't the Chameleon quite big too?

Also you're right- maybe parent facing past 6 months would be good to have as an option in case I need it.

You might be fine, I always think i'm going to be fine with turning them forward facing until it happens.

It's the rear wheels that protrude on the bjcm, stability I assume, the rest of the pushchair is pretty slim it's true. Did you look at the gt one too?

The bee is kind of "the" small yet full featured pram, if you are tall I can see how it might feel a bit awkward with the bending. I don't know how much suspension you will need but the uppababy cruz might be worth a look, apparently the ride is hard but it is genuinely narrow with a much higher seat than the bee. The only other narrow parent facing prams I can think of are the SC Wayfarer and the Babystyle Oyster. The Maxi Cosi New Loola has a really good fold for small cars but I haven't had enough of a look to make any proper judgements on the rest of of it.

Have you been to a good independent shop with a lot of demo models or somewhere big like kiddicare that has a broad range and seen a lot of prams next to eachother? Sometimes it's overwhelming but sometimes it focuses you on what features you actually want and what you really want to prioritise.

I love my BJCM until I look at it properly at which point I hate it. As you say, its so un-stylish. However, the ease of it totally outweighs that and you will always be able to exchange smug looks with other BJCM owners that you, too, have overlooked style for ease & practicality which, when its pouring with rain and you've got a baby screaming and desperate for a feed is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much more important. And then you'll also feel smug when people with their bugaboos etc with built in coffee cup holders look at you in bafflement when you just pick up the "fold" bit and the pushchair immediately flips in half and you can carry it one handed (obviously take the baby out before doing this!). It really is a winner. But I can see why, especially if this is pfb, that you want a sleek, shiny one too.

If MIL is paying, can she buy you a sleek shiny bugaboo or iCandy and you then pick up a BJCM as your second pram? You can then use one as your walking pram and one as your car/holiday pram?

For London I would say the bee. The bjcm is very long especially when reclined or with carrycot and doesn't fit on a bus easily ( ie wont fit behind pole on bus, which both bee and cameleon do)

In fact we have use cameleon every day fr 3 years in central London fine. Except we have no car so don't fold often. Hence the bee suggestion as this would probably get annoying.

I do think you would be hard pressed to find anything much better than a BJCM - I assume you have looked at the Versa?? The Bee and Cherry are two other good options. I did add two more pushchairs on the list but I suspect you are wanting to buy fairly soon?

I'll go and have another look at the Bee but OH really wasn't keen on the height either.

Think the SC Wayfarer and the Cruz will go on the list as both seem light and narrow although will have to see what the fold is like. The iCandy strawberry says its very light but doesn't seem to be very popular on here??

The thing is if I go for the BJCM, I would feel like I was choosing it only for the one-handed fold- that surely can't be the most important factor?!

Oh and I'm 23 weeks Tiggywunkle so time to get something on order still I hope!!!

The Strawberry is lovely - I would rather have a Strawberry than a Wayfarer or Cruz any day. Its got a lovely big seat, is light to push, has a fab fold and feels great. The downsides are the fold is large, and the basket sinks down the more you put into it. But definitely have a look at it.

The BJCM is just practical. Its got a huge seat, its easy to push, easy to manoeuvere (buy the 4 wheeler if you want to put a carrycot or car seat on), the hood is massive and protects well. The recline is easy to do. The basket is a great size. There's a mesh pocket in the rear of the seat. It just does the job really well.