Pushchairs - comments on my shortlist please?

[stellar]

I need to buy a pushchair for my 7m baby - up until now we've been slinging everywhere.

I've been looking at a few different pushchairs and my shortlist is Cosatto Riga, Chicco Winter London and Maclaren Quest or Techno.

I really like the idea of the Riga with baby facing me and the big shopping basket but is it going to last me when he's a big toddler?

Otherwise what about the Chicco and Maclaren pushchairs?

thanks

Stella xx

the maclaren techno wins hands down for me dd is now 2 1/2 and it's still gonig strong kiddicare have them for £99 and there delivery is fantastic.

maclaren volo, v light weight and nippy does not recline but suits my ds who happily ziz's in it, i love small light things so it suits me great price on kiddicare

I'm another happy Techno user. My big thing with them is they are just an inch or so narrower than most other comparable buggies and you can get them off and on most London buses that bit easier. May not be an issue for you Stella, though.
We use a lambskin in our Techno to provide a bit of extra padding for dd (1, has had the pushchair since birth).
Agree they last and last. We had an old Maclaren Opus 5 for ds from birth and all my NCT travel system friends had switched to a Maclaren of some sort by the time their babies were 9 months old...

Depends on your lifestyle. If you are going to do a lot of walking then the Riga would probably be cosier and more sturdy to push. If you need to have a lightweight one to put in and out of a car or public transport then an umbrella fold would be easier. You could certainly use the Riga until he is older and for naps. However ds faced forwards from about 4 months but dd (who had separation anxiety) stayed rearward until about 10 months, although we used out Maclaren for shopping trips, so that "feature" may be of limited use to you now. Think you get more extras like footmuff with the Chicco while Maclaren is all separate.

Have you looked at the reviews on mumsnet?

I have a Maclaren which I love apart from 2 things - 1. the tiny shopping basket and 2. The crap brakes.
Would consider a Graco next time for the huge shopping basket.

Would steer clear of the travel systems though for older babies (My M&P was great up until about 6 months old, then I ditched it in favour of a lighter maclaren)

There's not much between the Quest and Techno and for a 7mo I don't think you need the extra 50 quids worth of stuff onn the Techno like full reclining, padded straps, bigger wheels. Very happy with my Quest anyway and as my dd was 3mos old I decided I didn't need the things the Techno had.