New mum to be and brain is fried with info - what buggy is best? pls help!

[Newmumtobe2014]

Hello,

I will become a mum in March next year and we have started thinking about which Travel System to get. I had my heart set on the Quinny Zap Xtra however the sale assistant said there would be problems with storage, its quite flimsy, not suitable with carry cot - so we looked at the Oyster travel system which appeared bigger than we had wanted but the info she was given us was so overwhelming I came away not knowing what to do for the best. I have read reviews on both today and they both have issues.

We are looking for something compact, easy to use and close down etc but sturdy!

What experience does everyone have with buggy's? Does anyone have any suggestions at all?

Grateful for your help :-)

As you have the time to play with the oyster gem would be my first idea. It's pretty much everything you describe, the seat is imo better than the oyster, the only downside is the small basket. I had a preproduction test one though, there may have been improvements to storage.

Most systems with carrycots are of a certain size. You could look at the bugaboo bee, no carrycot but certainly fine for a newborn, that's the only other genuinely compact full featured pram. The iCandy raspberry may be out by then but I don't know when it is expected really.

There is the odd umbrella fold stroller that takes a proper carrycot, like the cybex callisto, I had one of those a couple of years ago and liked it loads as a pram but less as a pushchair.

Are those the types of thing you are looking for? From what you have said compact is your priority and given the oyster is among the most compact available it makes for a fairly small list of possibilities. If lightweight without being tiny would do then you could add in more options - the icandy cherry, graco evo etc.

The new Joie chrome looks very compact, it's only available in mothercare at the moment. I tried a demo model of a zapp xtra and I found it flimsy to push. Ok for nipping round shops perhaps but I'd hate it for longer walks. The oyster looks quite bulky. I have a graco symbio which is way too big for being practical in my car. The carrycot on it was lovely though.
You need to think about your lifestyle and also how much you will need to put the pram in the car, where you will keep it in the house and if you absolutely need it to be compatible with a car seat. I found that feature very handy indeed as where I park my car is too far from the front door to comfortably carry the car seat with baby in it, especially after six months or so. However, my big pram is not so good for public transport, I have to use a smaller stroller instead on buses.

I have a chrome... oops, totally forgot about that!

It is quite compact, 57cm wide, nice short wheelbase. Folds with the seat on both ways which is fab, carrycot or lie flat seat. Sturdy enough. Huge basket. The only thing it isn't is light. It feels like it would be but i have weighed it on more than one occasion and it's definitely 11kg. I also have a britax b motion and that feels very much heavier even though I very much doubt it is much heavier if at all.

I heard on Friday that the Oyster Gem is getting a bigger basket although, as Parties and I both know, you could get more than you thought in the preproduction basket, so having a larger basket will be fab! Its also going to have a storage lock too. I think I would send you off to look at a Gem too. They are due in shops this month. Don't compare it to the Zapp - the Gem is so much sturdier and better! There's more options and I love the small parent facing seat.

Have a look too at the Graco Evo - its maybe bigger than you want, but its very light and does a good job of everything. A very good pushchair TBH. I like the iCandy Cherry too. Although I think the Raspberry will be awesome, I think the dates are too close for comfort for your due date.

Hiya, thank you for your responses. We have had a look at each of them and also found the Brittax Affinity which also seems good, luckily we have quite some time before baby is due so can continue to look but its such a minefield lol and getting it right is important as don't want to regret my decision after a few months. We need to go into one of the shops and try all of them out and hopefully we can decide!

Thank you for your help :-)