Help! Where can I find a really good baby shop near London?

[WildSeahorses]

Am 20 weeks pregnant and keen to get things sorted out for when the baby arrives. We live in the middle of London and so far have been to John Lewis and Mamas & Papas on Regent Street, but neither seems to have a really good range of baby things (esp prams). I'm finding it really hard to choose a pram - can anyone recommend anywhere that has a really comprehensive range? BTW we have a car, so can get to out-of-town places easily.

Thanks!

PS I think that I will mainly be going to places within walking distance during the week, but will take the baby out in the car on weekends - do you think it will be better to get a really sturdy pram for everyday use and then a smaller one to pop in the car? I am the first of my friends to have a baby so I don't really have anyone who can recommend any types of pram to me... all suggestions gratefully received!

I found this shop to be really great www.a3babybarn.co.uk/ when looking for double buggies recently. Very good range of buggies to push around & investigate plus car seats & all the main other bits.

Very helpful staff. Might be a bit of a trek out for you to Esher though.

From memory, lots of baby shops on the NOrthcote Road in Clapham, depending on where you are in central London.

The Mamas & Papas shop in Staines, way out on the SW edge of London (M4 west to M25, then a couple of junctions south) is very large & has a reasonable range to try out.

The John Lewis in Kingston is pretty good or the Daniels stores in Acton or Windsor (windsor nicer for a day out).

Best thing is to go & look at some & see what you think. I remember being restricted on the length of the chassis when we lived in central London - the pram had to fit into the lift!

Thanks! Will get chauffeur DH to drive us out to have a look this weekend...

I was going to recommend the A3 Baby Barn as well.

TBH if you are going to still be living in the centre of London I'd get a sling for everyday use and focus your pram/buggy-buying on something to put in the car easily. But that's just me.

don;t bother with M&P as (duh) they only sell their own brand

how big is your car? I'd avoid buying two prams unless you really have to. I had a thumping great 3-wheeler with a proper carrycot (similar to this) and it still fitted in my teeny weeny Saxo.
Dream to push, fits a lot of shopping underneath, baby can lie properly flat and you can obv swap the carrycot for a normal seat when they are bigger.
Also better than you might think on the bus etc as if they demand you fold it you can pop off the carrycot and fold the frame without waking the baby.

sloughis easily accessible from london, and has a mothercare world- quite a selection of buggies here! and Daniel Dept Store is just down the road in Windsor (10mins away) both are fabby. i have read on many forums that ppl tend to go for a bugaboo 'bee' for walking and buses etc and then a maclaren quest for later on. don't buy two just yet- buy the 'one' and see how it goes.. good luck x