Pram advice for first time mum

[Fr0ntrunner]

Hi everyone,

I'm sure this has been posted countless times before but I'm after some advice on buying my first Pram? I've read countless articles on prams, done a load of quizzes and there are 3 places within a 25 mile radius of me that sell them, I went to one a few weeks back and although helpful, everything there was way out of budget. I've been to the second (and closest one) today and the woman seemed more interested in sitting on her phone rather than assisting me and my husband & the other is the furthest away and I used their online chat facility to ask for advice before I made the trek and was told to just look at their website and they can send me a quote for whatever model but I don't know where to start? I drive a small car currently but getting bigger once baby is here/a couple months old, I live in a suburban area surrounded by mountains, rivers, walking trails & fields and am only 20 mins from the beach and tend to go on walks with the dogs in all sorts of areas. Ideally would like to keep it below £1000 if it comes as a full travel system? Can anyone point me in the right direction and offer some advice from real life?

I had a lovely collection of 3 prams for all sorts of occasions. All bought on Ebay for a fraction of the cost of new.

Go for an Out n About 360. They're suitable from birth but I preferred having the carrycot you can get for it when DS2 was absolutely tiny.

I agree with Merrow. I had an ONA Sport (because I run), but they're both fab buggies that last for years. The Mountain Buggy Terrain is nice but much heavier

I don't have one of these but I've heard they're good for all terrains and the beach. Also compatible with a car seat.

outnabout.com/products/outnabout-nipper-v5-all-terrain-pushchair-free-rain-cover-and-removable-basket?variant=45648127426874

I might be using an old name - I mean the nipper. It will handle all the terrain that you describe while still being nimble enough for going round shops. And you can use it as a running buggy when the baby is old enough if that's of interest.

My fave out of 2 children and several prams has got to be the

Uppababy Vista for a travel system - great on and off road. Good basket, easy to clean, spacious seat, nice to push, easy to collapse. Not small so check boot space!

and my Mamas & Papas Armadillo for a buggy. Lightweight, easy to fold, compact fold, nice to push, bar handle for one handed pushing/dog walking
Not the best at upright seat but none of the buggies have a great upright seating position.

Buy second hand so you can sell on if you don't get on with it

Out n about is definitely the best for anything off road. I also love the huge basket and parent facing of the Vista for town. If you get secondhand you can afford both! Keep one in the car boot if you've got no room inside.

We do daily rural dog walks so wanted an all terrain pram. We bought an Uppababy Vista, though it was more than your budget especially with the car seat separate.

I do like it, but it is large, and it's not as "all terrain" as I hoped. It struggles with thick mud and wet sand, to the point it's unusable off road in winter.

We also now have:

1. a cabin sized travel stroller which we bought for holiday but use all the time as it's far smaller to put in the boot and much easier to navigate shops/cafes. We bought the Silver Cross Jet as it was the cheapest cabin size stroller at the time, but I wish we got the Babyzen Yoyo as the basket on the Jet is tiny.

2. a running buggy (Cybex Avi) which is brilliant on bumpy terrain, mud and sand, but far too big to use around town.

99% of the time I use a carrier on dog walks (Ergobaby Omni 360) as it's far easier to have hands free for dog leads and not have to deal with pushing a pram through mud.

With the benefit of hindsight, I definitely wouldn't buy the Uppababy (or any pram claiming to be all terrain). I'd buy a Babyzen Yoyo with the newborn bassinet accessory for using anywhere with pavements, and the Omni 360 carrier for dog walks and off road.

Agree that the vista isn't all terrain. The out n about is though, and great in town/on buses etc. Not parent facing and a smallish basket are its only faults.

We have the mountain buggy swift. It’s been really good for woodland off road walks, even though it’s the smaller version than the terrain. We have also used in snow.
We bought as when Ds was born we had a tiny car and the mountain urban or terrain would have folded too heavy or big. It was £500 for pram, plus carrycot that converts to parent facing seat.

But I think the nipper is cheaper and lighter in uk (we couldn’t buy where we live)

I've been happy with uppavaby Cruz it's good on bumpy terrain but quite big so you need a decent size car boot

Thank you everyone, I'm going to take a proper look into the nipper now, I've also come across the Ickle Bubba jogger - has anyone got any experience with this one or has compared the 2?