How long did you use your newborn travel system/pushchair for?

[EssexGirlLottie]

Hi everyone. I'm currently 30+4 pg and am having a dilemma about travel systems/pushchairs (not to mention a battle with my DH!).

We can't decide whether some of the fashionable pushchairs, like Uppa baby vista, bugaboo bee are worth the money.

How long roughly did you use your pushchair that you bought for a newborn? Is it a case of using something they can lie flat in for 6 months to a year and then you end up buying a more lightweight stroller?

Help! (And thanks!)

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Hello,

We've noticed this thread is quite old now, and some of the product recommendations are a little out of date. We've spent weeks speaking to parents and testing buggies and travel systems. Here's our round up of the best pushchairs newborns, including lightweight pushchairs and double buggies.

Hope that helps!

MNHQ

Bugaboo chameleon used car seat til 12mo and travel system aspect very useful. I bought a baby jogger city mini at 6mo to go on holiday and it got loads of use but still used bugaboo in carry cot mode til 6mo and as a pushchair til ooh about 2yo. Possibly longer. Ds1 was a big lad so bjcm started to be best fit and bugaboo too small.

Now back in carry cot mode for ds2. It's a good pram but I can't wait til he can sit upright in it and look about more :)

Until she walked by herself. (Bee)

Bugaboo bee is great. Travel system, cocoon, yet lasts from newborn to toddler. Folds in one piece for in car or on plane

Still using mine. have a bugaboo cameleon and 2 DDs. Also have a city nipper 360 double. But now either sling DD2 or DD1 walks more than using the double. I've a 16 mo age gap. Never really felt the need for a lightweight stroller BUT I don't use public transport much with the DDs. If I did I would have undoubtedly got a more lightweight buggy although no one I know who has a Bee did. Would thoroughly recommend the bugaboo.

We bought the Quinny buzz, still using it at 15 months and would do it for longer except we have another on the way!

DD is 2y4m and still using my icandy apple, it's big and heavy to lift in and out of the car but pushes so much better than the stroller we bought, DD prefers it as I think it's comfier and she still has plenty of room in the seat. It's also great to take for days out as the basket is huge and gets loaded up with the whole family's stuff.

I'd say a lot of it is down to space issues. We have an iCandy Cherry which we got when DC1 was born and a BJCM which we got second hand when she was 5mths. The Cherry was used exclusively for the first 5 months with DD either in the carrycot or the car seat; until she was a year, we used the pushchair bit of the Cherry unless we were away and from about a year the BJCM lived in the car and the Cherry in the hallway so one was used when I walked into the village and the other if I had driven somewhere. DC2 was born when DD was 5mths. As he had reflux, we used the BJCM a lot more as we'd put it into the lie not quite flat position which was much more comfortable for him than the completely flat pram. Once he was able to sit, I've used the Cherry 80% of the time. He is now 2 & I see us using it for at least another year. So, yes, it cost us £500ish but has been used at least 1000 times so works out at less than £50p per use for a easy to push, comfortable pushchair. Obviously the BJCM is better value for money as it only cost us £70 but it isn't as easy to push, the seat isn't as supportive (although I think this has been changed in newer models) although the fold mechanism is amazing.
Not only is the Cherry going to last us another year, but the carrycot bit is currently being used by a friend and we hope to pass the lot onto DB & SIL in the not to distant future.

Still use the Bugaboo Chameleon with DD 20 months. Borrow PILs McClaren for holidays. Will use the Bugaboo with buggy board for DC2.

Goes for a million years.

We bought the John Lewis own brand system and it was really good, def. worth it. There was a car seat with it. Only thing is it's a bit heavy, but that's kind of inevitable, given the type of buggy it is, I think. It was great in the snow when the Maclarens wouldn't move at all. Also had great rain cover and useful big basket. He slept in it even in the house when he was newborn, in fact.

We have the smaller Maclaren now and use that mostly just because (he's 2) he's heavier to push about. Also have the bigger Maclaren with suspension, forget the name, but left it in Italy (long story) and I REALLY miss it. I'd recommend the bigger Maclaren w/suspension as a follow on - it goes flat all the way so he can nap in it and it is a joy pushing it about, it feels so easy and light.

We're still using it, DS1 is 3, DS2 is 13 months. DS2 rides in it, DS1 is on a buggy board. We're been using a side-by-side for a bit, but the single has been used constantly until DS1 was 24 months, and sporadically while DS2 was small, and now we're back to using it a lot again. We have a Teutonia Cosmo. We have a Chicco Liteway which is fine, but lives in the cellar until we're travelling and can't take the bigger one.

Thanks everyone so far. I think what this almost tells me is that everyone has their own thoughts and views, and what's right for one person, isn't necessarily right for someone else! In a way, I think DH and I are over-thinking it and we're trying to plan when we really have no clue how we're going to use it etc.

Anything - wasn't meaning to be disparaging about the fashion thing! Actually, I'm interested to hear more about the Vista. I love it and we v nearly bought it but DH (and I ) are a bit worried it's too heavy. Do u put it in/take it out of a car boot often? Is it really heavy?

I bought the most ridiculously expensive travel system for my first. I used it for less than 3 months. I much preferred the small lightweight strollers and slings, but then I lived in London and Paris,so they were far more practical.

It's funny how quickly fashions change. The vista is very much the pram de nos jours but when I had DD1 two years ago, you couldn't walk down our high street without a bugaboo cameleon crash. At the time I liked the uppababy but the old carry cot was a bit narrow which I didn't like. I don't think in weight it's that different than a cameleon and I throw that in and out of the car all the time

I have the ICandy cherry and then also got a Maclaren Quest. Still using the Cherry now, with DS at 2yrs3mths, but not exclusively. As some of the other replies have said, it depends what you're doing as to which I choose. It's so much more pleasant to push the Cherry as it has bigger wheels and so requires less effort. Also definitely nicer ride for DS and I do choose it when we're walking to town and/or when I know our outing will coincide with his nap time as its more comfy for him. The other advantage of the big buggies is they can parent-face which is nice when they're toddler as you can have a conversation during your walk, rather than having to keep stopping to go round the front of the stroller and ask them to repeat what they said, as it disappeared into the wind the first time round!
I always use the Maclaren for going on the train (we commute to nursery together) and of course it's smaller to go in the boot so gets used when we go out in the car. I'm really impressed with Maclarens compared to cheaper lightweight strollers that I've borrowed occasionally, you do get what you pay for I think. But I'm glad still to have my big buggy too.
When you think about the cost of a big travel system pram/pushchair you do really have to average it out across a couple of years, they are good value really. Especially as you can either resell or use for a second DC. I must have walked hundreds if not thousands of miles with mine!
Good luck and have fun choosing!

First baby had the Graco Cleo, awful thing! The wheels kept breaking and by a year we were on the 3rd new set.

So we bought a maclaren techno xt which was great.

Second baby 3 years later bought the icandy peach and still using it after a year. I like the fact baby can be forward facing in a supermarket (they seem to like that and I often nip in or a small shop so don't need a trolley).

It depends on the way you'll use it. The maclaren has tiny wheels which are hopeless on uneven ground or beaches, whereas the icandy wheels are more off-roader style.

The height is also a factor, I like the way icandy is far from the ground. Adjustable handlebars... Yep, not ready to sell it on eBay just yet!

Was thinking about pushchairs today (as you do) and realised that the only two friends I know who haven't bought a second pushchair both have bees. Everyone else has got a car buggy.

I've been through a mountain buggy swift, maclaren techno, baby jogger city mini, and bugaboo cameleon.

Loved my mountain buggy and really regret selling it (decided I wanted a parent facing buggy for DD2). Have just ordered a baby jogger city GT to replace our knackered city mini.

My least favourite of all of these buggies was the cameleon. Hated the 2 part fold and the wobbly handle.

Still using my bugaboo chameleon and DD is now 3.2yo. She is a lazy thing and won't walk. Strangely she refused the pushchair for a few months when she was 2. Then she discovered walking is hard work and just refused to walk.

I'm due my second in sept so there wasn't a hurry to get her off the pushchair. I assume those with closer age gaps would have.

I also have a maclaren quest which I store in the car. But the bugaboo is much better for country walks. We also use it for the nursery run as it is usually store in the garage.

OP no worries - I'd hate to anyone to think is followed the crowd with my Vista!

I honestly love it (DD is my second so I knew exactly what I wanted out of a pram). It is heavy though, not to push, but to lift. Not impossibly so, but if you were having a section or lived up a flight of stairs I would think twice. And it's big with the carrycot.

I'd buy it again though. Unlike the previous poster, all my friends who bought bugaboos are now switching to strollers. Horses for courses I think.

OP - have a really good think about how you'll use your pram. Will you be walking every day or going out in the car? Do you have a dog to walk across muddy fields? Do you need a big basket? Do you use public transport a lot? (That said I use my Vista on buses all the time and have never had a problem)

We've had a Bugaboo Chameleon since DS1's birth. He's now 3 1/2 and still in it almost every day. We bought a Maclaren Volo on sale when he was 10 months to take on a 3 week trip to the US and I still use it occasionally (although it's starting to fall apart). My son will get booted on to the buggy board in a few weeks when DD1 arrives, so hopefully we'll get 6 years use out of it. If I was starting again, I'd probably get the Bee though as we moved from the UK countryside to NYC, and the Bee is much more city-friendly (plus takes up less space).

I should have added that you should consider whether you'll be having a second child, as it's considerably cheaper to start off with an 'expandable' push chair, rather than buying a double in 18 months' time.

I have a Bugaboo Bee and still use it for DS aged 2.4 years.

I started with a light maclaren thinking I'd been clever, but DS hated to be forward facing and I hated pushing it, gave me back ache. Eventually bought a bugaboo cameleon which I've used daily ever since. DS still travels and naps in it at 2.5 and when he's not in it DD goes in there. Best investment ever, and so smooth to push. I love my cam. I'd say get something really good and versatile if you can and sell it once you've finished with it.

We got a McClaren Ryder. It's suitable from birth and is doing it's 3rd child in 8 years and still going strong (though one side of one of the hood hinges has just broken).

I don't drive so it's done miles and been on ever kind of public transport. Been abroad several times, up mountains and across beaches. Though bought a while ago it cost £69 new to include foot muffs and rain cover.