What weight is realistic for flat dweller?

[Inkpaperstars]

Hope someone can advise because due to covid is unlikely will see the inside of a shop before due date so have no real sense of how hard it is to lift these things! I am definitely on the cautious side with lifting due to some joint issues.

We live in a flat which has about 10 steps to door of building then over 30 steps up to the flat. I am not really banking on being able to carry any pushchair all the way up on a regular basis. It may be possible to leave part or all of it in the hall so just do the first ten steps, or if not I will have to leave it in the boot of our car which is usually parked nearby and just carry baby in, maybe in carrycot.

I have looked at the usual lightweight suggestions like the yo-yo and the bee 6, which I like but also have reservations about. We do sometimes want to use off road. But if I go any heavier than 6-7 kg, is it really realistic to get the thing upstairs or lifted into boot of car?

I am also confused about whether the weight that is relevant is the one that includes carrycot or seat, or just chassis, and when they detach...

Just very confused.

Icklebubba prams are very light and more like a "real" pram than a yoyo

You may find that you aren't allowed to leave things in the hall for fire safety reasons. If you put it in the boot then that's not too heavy imo and a bee would work well

Thanks Jane for some reason I haven’t really come across Icklebubba while browsing online so I will take a look.

We had a Bee5 in central London so had to carry it up multiple tube stairs. It was fine although obviously not ideal to have to do it. Love the actual buggy though.

We also lived in a flat - stairs to our flat but not to the front door. You have to consider how wide the staircase is, what other items you’ll end up shoving under your buggy (food shops) etc.
Buggies are awkward shapes to carry too so although 6kg may not feel heavy, when you’re carrying an awkward shaped buggy with a baby, it’s tough.

We just kept ours in the boot of our car.

Thanks @SubParbanMum, I think you’re so right when you consider the logistics of having anything else to carry apart from the pram!

Sorry to be really clueless here but with putting it in the boot...I am trying to work out exactly how I will do it. I am thinking when baby is in carrycot I will be able to detach carrycot bit while baby is still in it and put in on the floor for a moment while I get chassis into the boot, then take baby and carrycot inside? Then once using the seat bit...I will have to take baby out and somehow hold them with one arm while folding buggy and getting it into boot with the other?

God, it doesn’t sound easy! Hope I get on with slings .

Oh god, probably will get roasted @Inkpaperstars but I would try my best to get buggy in the boot and keep baby with me but that was hard as we only had on street parking SO in reality I put baby in the flat by himself in the bouncer or cot or safe place and sorted the buggy out. Literally 2 mins max. I was always so paranoid I would lock myself out the flat with him inside though.

Persist with the sling. I wore my ds 90% of the time until he was about 6 months. It was just easier! I had the ergo baby 360 omni and have since lent it to a friend who also loves it.

Perhaps a sling would be better for your off-roading? Obviously it depends how off-road your off-road is, but our off-road pushchair was an absolute beast of a thing and I wouldn’t have wanted to haul it up the stairs on a regular basis. We had a light umbrella fold job for a holiday and that was good - a lot easier to get up and down flights of stairs. But it wouldn’t have worked well off-road at all.

Even with the off-roader I often chose to use the sling for dog walks - meant we had more choice over routes as stiles or bridges over ditches weren’t a problem. It took me a few goes to find the right sling (sling library was invaluable) but it was worth it.

I put my child in the car seat or loose in the car when I'm fiddling in the boot. They love exploring

Put baby in car seat then put pram in boot, job done.

In reverse - Assemble pram then take baby out of car seat and put into pram.

You haven’t left them, can see and hear them and they’re safe.

Anything over 10kg is going to be too heavy, even if you bump it up the stairs

If it comes into two pieces, then the carry cot and chassis can both be a bit heavier. I would get a sling though, they are great indoors and outdoors

We had a Bugaboo cameleon 3 in a similar situation and it was perfect. When DD was very young I would take it up in two parts. When she got older I used to bump her up and down the steps. The cameleon was just under 10kg, wouldn't go any heavier.

For small trips I would always use the sling.

Yeah I think you will need a properly lightweight one for lugging it up stairs. You'll just get fed up otherwise.

Also for off roading consider trying to carry something up (baby in the other arm) while it's covered in mud and bumping off your legs. Sounds like a bit of a nightmare, so I'd go for something you can leave in the boot.

Look for a local sling library/consultant :) They exist and many are doing remote sesisons at the moment so actually wouldn't even need to be that physically close by.

Some other options for pushchairs which are robust but not too bad to fit in boots/hallways:

Britax B-Agile
Cybex Talos S
Mountain Buggy

I have the B-Agile and it's perfect for bunging in the car but wouldn't want to lug it up stairs.

I carry it up about 7 steps at nursery and that's doable but a bit of an arse. And my child can walk so I'm not doing it one handed.

This was a few years ago but I lived up 8 steps when I had my kids. I used a sling a lot but as they got bigger I became obsessed with finding the right pushchair. I ended up mainly using a bugaboo chameleon as bumping it up and down on the big back wheels was better than carrying a lighter pushchair and once I had it up or down it was so much nicer to push, much more room in the basket than my smaller options, more comfortable for the DC, warmer/ cooler as needed due to excellent accessories on the bugaboo and basically I just loved it.

In your case I'd have a carseat that clips onto a small easy folding chassis. Baby in carseat in flat, carry them to the car, and either clip in and go or get the chassis and fix the carseat to it.

Alternatively if you get a carseat that stays in the car, get an Armadillo City from Mamas and Papas. It's not expensive, folds tiny and easily, the seat is lie flat so no need for a carrycot and it has a large hood for naps.

Oh it does depend if you anticipate using a car a lot. I rarely used a car so that was why I needed a big ship of a pushchair to carry stuff around on my days out. I did buses/ tubes/ picnics/ long walks/ shopping all on foot with that bugaboo. If you’re going to be in and out of the car then car seat adapters and one piece fold are essential.

Thank you so much everyone for all the advice and suggestions, it’s really helpful.

@SubParbanMum I totally get it!

I think with most carrycots, you're not really supposed to carry the baby in them, particularly not up stairs. It might be OK in the cocoon type ones, like the Phil & Ted's one. But the solid frame type things are quite unwieldy and they don't have any straps so the baby would be rolling around inside and it wouldn't be very secure.

Yes, I was wondering about that Bertie, think maybe I would be cautious and put baby in one arm and carrycot the other.

Yes for sure in my carry cots it says not to carry the child in it

In that case it might be best to go for something with a lighter soft type carrycot, like this kind of thing.

Or something that lies flat and patent faces from birth so you don't really need the carrycot. I think it will be annoying to carry one if the bigger hard shell ones. Especially if you have shopping as well (though I suppose you could put the shopping in the carrycot!)

us.philandteds.com/products/cocoon-baby-carrycot

Thank you so much for the tips, good idea about the softer carrycot.