How often do you fold a pram???

[OperaPanda]

Hi there,
Silly question but we're expecting our first kid and starting to look into prams.

I've always thought we needed something that folds with one hand, for ease and efficiency. If possible with carrycot still on it, so I was thinking of getting sthg like the Peg Perego book pop up. But a London friend told me she actually never folds her pram except for car journeys.

We don't have a car and will use mostly buses and trains. We live in Greater London and will occasionally go into central London so will use the tube. We might take the eurostar or other train a couple of times a year. I can see folding would be useful on train (but then you have time to fold with two hands if needed I guess) but the rest of the time would the quick fold be of no use? Should I be looking at other features as a priority?

We're also wondering how key the carrycot is. I liked the Uppababy Cruz if folding with two hands is ok. Technically it is suitable from birth but baby might look lost and needs to be strapped... So was thinking of buying carrycot too. At the same time, a lot of people seem to say their baby outgrows the carrycot well before 6months, same thing w Bugaboo Bee. So is it worth it?

It's hard to know before your life changes what you will need, so would really love opinion from mums who have a similar lifestyle (no car, not social animal but still planning on going out to coffee shops and trips to nearby towns by train occasionally)

Thanks a lot!

Good advice upthread about the importance of folding or not - I think the main things are whether you have space to keep the pram unfolded in your house, and whether you will use a car very frequently.

We had the Cruz and rarely needed to fold it. Outings were mostly on foot or on the bus - only a couple of times had to wait for another as no room unless I folded it. Destinations mostly to cafes where there was plenty of room to keep it up or playgroup etc with a buggy park. The narrow wheel base of the Cruz did help a lot with getting in and out of places. We now mostly use a lightweight maclaren which is allegedly one-handed fold, but tbh I've not mastered grappling with a change bag, wriggly toddler and folding a pushchair all at the same time!

What time of year is your baby due? DD was a January baby and I'm glad we had the carrycot - much easier to lay her into a pram suit in it, and felt generally more cosy and protected from the elements. For a summer baby I'd probably think twice.

Assuming you have room in your hallway to wheel in the pram and not fold? Just something else to consider, I was forever folding because we didn't have a big enough hall!

If you walk a lot and can park the buggy in your house you won't need to fold it very often. I barely folded mine. Despite taking up space it was easier to leave it up in the house. It could dry off and I could unpack and tidy it up.

7 months in and I hardly ever fold it, by choice we walk almost everywhere and park the prom in the hall. We have silver cross pioneer which has carry cot, push chair and does interchange with a car seat on as well - love it particularly the basket that can hold close to a week's food shop! Outside london but have been in as I visited my office and non commuter time train was fine as was the bus. Have just recently invested in a Chico minimo too but primarily as we're going away and wanted something very lightweight for holiday!

With the Cruz, it does only fold with the seat facing forward but it takes 5 seconds to switch the seat from parent facing to forward facing and that's really easy.

So it adds an extra step to folding up the buggy but probably not that much hassle if you're not doing it a lot.

It's much easier to leave your buggy unfolded anyway as it's always full of toys and spare clothes and random pebbles they've picked up etc.

I have a car.
But yes I would use a carrycot just so much more cosy for a new born than a seat my LO used the carrycot until 6 months. It was used for daytime naps and very occasional overnight with the correct mattress.

Folding the pram I've used the bus once but didn't fold the pram. I do use trains and don't fold the pram.

Things to look for is a good storage basket under your pram / buggy esp as you don't have a car.

Are you on maternity leave OP?

Can you go get the transport you'd be thinking of getting during the day, a trip into wherever at 10am, say, and another in the afternoon.

Look at the transport with a critical eye - is there room for the pram unfolded? Are there seats nearby where you could sit and see the baby? How many? Can you safely park the unfolded pram (yes it will have brakes but on a rainy day and slippy floor might it slide, if so could you be sitting close enough to grab it)? If baby started crying would it be easy to get baby out and hold them - one of the reasons I suggested a sling as well as foldable pram is that sling is hands free so you can still hold on, depends on how wild the bus drivers are I guess!

And - crucially - how many people are there on the bus and how frequent are they if it's full and you think oh I'll have to wait for another.

It really depends a bit on the buses, I think the ones round here are generally a lot older and more jerky than London buses.

Thanks!
FizzyFeet, our LO is due in November so yes its first six months will be in colder weather. I agree the carrycot might be a cosier option.
Batteriesallgone I won't be on maternity leave until late October but have very rarely seen issues on buses around here for prams. Especially outside rush hours it should be fine.

You're right, the main point is hallway folding. We could let it unfolded but it would become the main feature of our hallway and we would have to walk around it. I like to see RelaxMax is quite relaxed about the folding, DH seems to think the same. I was also worried all the faffing if we do it once or twice a day would end up breaking some parts earlier.

I'll still have another look at the Strawberry, Ocarro and Peg Perego book that can fold either way but I feel a bit more chilled if we can find a good second hand Cruz or Wayfarer.
Thanks!

Baby jogger city min. I had the twin and it was a brilliant buggy - got rid of my donkey for it. One handed food, big seats, big sunshade and I'm sure you can get a bassinet now.

Thanks, will look at that one.

Also thanks for advice re: sling. I'm definitely planning on getting one. But I've always had back pains and they're not getting any better with pregnancy so would need a good pram solution for most outings I imagine.

Oh yes I'd always take a pram on an outing. Carrying baby plus stuff the whole time is too heavy! And there's no need to have them in the sling all the time. It's just a handy thing to have with you if baby is screaming, the damn bus is full so you have to fold and you just want to get the fuck home.