Question to all pushchair / pram experts!

[Maria2007]

Hi girls,

I want to ask a question. I'm Maria, 21 weeks pregnant (it's my first pregnancy), and I'm starting to think about the dreaded pram/pushchair issue! I call it 'dreaded' because I have no idea about different makes of prams/pushchairs & so I don't know where to start looking, and yet I think it's time to start researching. Here are the few things we want in our pram/pushchair, and perhaps you could suggest some nice models that might cover our specifications?

1. we don't want a very big/flashy pram/pushchair as we have a relatively small flat, and the pram has to fit in our door & not take too much room when folded (so none of those with huge wheels, and no three-wheelers)
2. we don't care about cars / car seats because we don't travel by car & don't own a car
3. we travel by bus / on foot / on the tube and on planes (when we travel abroad), so we want a pram/pushchair that is good for travel in cities. One thing to note is that both me & my partner do a lot of walking around the city. We don't really go for walks in the country that much, so it's more a city pram we're looking for
4. we don't want THE most expensive make on the market, but also not THE most cheap. Somewhere in between is good
5. I (and not we, as my partner doesn't care about this specification!!) also want an elegant, cute pram!
6. it needs to work well for a newborn, and then to work also well as a relatively light pushchair, so I think I would prefer one that can take a carrycot, or one that works well if used flat (for newborns)

Quite a high order isn't it!! I hope some of you pram experts out there can help enlighten me & suggest some models so I can start looking
Maria

Maclaren techno XT if you don't mind that it's forward facing only or the silvercross 3D (the one that is like the mamas & papas pramette but cheaper!) if you'd like it to be rear facing.

Or if you have the money the bugaboo bee, it is truly lovely to push and nice and light and small.

and welcome to MN!

how about a mamas and papas pilko, its a lie flat pram which turns into a pushchair when baby is bigger, theres also the silver cross 3d which is a similar idea.
it also depends whether you want baby to face you when they are out of the carrycot stage?if you do then the above are no good.
maybe a good idea to have a look through some on ebay and see what is available and maybe you will find some other features that you want it to have.
i didnt have one which baby faced me for my first baby, i bought one when my second was 15months and i love it, she still faces me now (2yo) and we both like it.

what about a silvercross dazzle. i've only seen them on the net but they look fab & you can have a carrycot ype bit for newborns.

oh yes i would 2nd the techno xt - we bought ours as a light stroller when dd was 4 months to run alongside her big travel system - my ds has been inthe xt almost from birth in a nice big cosy kaiser footmuff. We have also just bought a much smaller more compact petite star zia that also goes from birth and folds up very compact- it is a three wheeller but not a big clumpy one. Welcome to mumsnet too!

Congratulations and welcome to Mumsnet.
Do you mind secondhand? Personally I think it's hard to get through the whole pushchair period with only one so I'd either but a new carycot/chassis and then sell it when the baby is a tad older and buy a pushchair or buy a secondhand carrycot/chassis (ie cheaper) and then dump it and buy a pushchair later.
Personally I would want forward facing to start with and wouldn't put a new born in a buggy (although some of them are perfectly safe but it's just me, I would want to see my baby).
Ask around your friends, visit the department store and push some round and see what feels right for you. I LOVE my three wheeler (not an expensive one, just a Mothercare Urban detour) but I am lucky enough to have a large hallway to store it in. I don't like my Maclaren XT but I keep it in the boot of the car because it's light.

Me saying "I would want to see my baby"...
did that sound arsey?? It wasn't meant to.

thinking about it Maria, you might be better off looking into really good baby carriers/slings. Much easier on the tube!

ditto wanting to see baby.
the bebe confort trophy air is LOVELY. not many places still stock them over here unfortunately, but you can often pick them up on ebay really cheap.

I love mine, it's light, it's easy to push, it can have a carrycot or a proper seat on it. baby can be forward or rear facing, it isn't huge, the suspension is fantastic.

so far don't have a bad word to say about it

silvercross 3d is not good - the converting carrycot is too small - i had to buy another pram when my ds was 4 months old as he had outgrown it. It is also rubbish to push - the handles don't go up very far and i'm only 5ft2in and when i took it on the train the brake pedals would get stuck on exiting the carriage.

i would also recommend a sling - comfy for the beginning.

I actually went pram shopping today and looked at the loola - the thing that would really drive me wild is the zip-on raincover - took me forever to do in the shop!! also not mad about the car seat which is very fiddly to fix in - was disappointed as I thought the loola was the one for me - I am currently leaning towards the mothercare "Buggster" - has a slightly complicated floding system, but I preferred it to any of the others and it goes with a maxi-cosi car seat so a much safer option for me.
The other one that caught my eye is the MY4 - you don't need to get a separate carrycot - the pushchair seat flattens out to a carrycot so it's an "all-in-one" Also rear or forward facing - but only comes in a brown and beige colour.

We have a cherry - www.icandyuk.com/cherry.htm
think it fits most of your critera - did have a problem with the early ones, but they have changed them now and extended the warrenty!

is lovely! and have 4 friends with it too that have chn aged 3month - 2yrs and love it!

not 'too' expensive either!

I lent my Loola to a friend who lives in London and the first time she tried to take it on a bus, it was a nightmare. Impossible to collapse with one hand and is much wider than others. She gave it back to me!

I know that she uses a sling for the tube, as others have suggested.

Thanks girls...this is all very interesting! From all your suggestions, and from my own research these last couple of days on the internet, I'm thinking of the following prams/pushchairs. I would appreciate opinions on them...

1. The loola
2. the bebe confort streety
3. either the Mamas & Papas Pilko, or the Mamas & Papas ultima (which I find lovely!!)

One thing I want to ask you. I'm thinking it might be a nice idea to use the carrycot for baby to sleep in the beginning, so that we don't have to buy an extra moses basket. Do you think that's a good idea? And do the prams/pushchairs I've mentioned have good carrycots, if you happen to know, suitable for a newborn to sleep in?

Many thanks again!
Maria

i think the mamas and papas ultima is gorg,but it would be a bit of a mission trying to get on public transport with i would think?
and it would take up a lot of room at home as you would have the seat unit to store until you needed it,then when baby goes into it,you would need to store the carrycot.
the loola is quite heavy and the seat unit isnt that big so you would probably want to switch to a stroller when lo gets bigger.

another i like the look of is a mia moda travel system on the mothercare website,it has a carrycot with it, its £179.99, it looks nice.
dont know about the streety.
do you live on the groundfloor or upstairs?

Hi Maria, I bought a Graco travel system for dd which I hate so now I am expecting no.2 I had a quick look for an alternative. The lady in the shop was very enthusiastic about the Streety but although it is easy to fold the chassis looked very light and flimsy to me. I like the Loola but have heard mixed reports about it. I think I will be going for the Mamas and Papas Pliko.

another vote for the silver cross dazzle, but agree the carrycot bit doesn't last long

using the carrycot as a first bed is a nice idea till you get caught in the rain with it and need somewhere dry for dd to sleep when you get home. get a cheapy moses basket

Micralite toro? Not had one but heard good things....

We had a Loola and found it too wide and heavy altho my friend loved it with the carycot but hated it as a buggy too.

I found the loola really wide for what's supposed to be a stroller, both in frame size and width between the handles - felt odd! the car seat also seamed oversized. Thank god I bought mine 2nd hand off ebay - sold it back on there within a couple of months.

Good luck with the search - it's no wonder there are son many pramaholics out there!! join the club!

I like the Loola with the Windoo carrycot and the new Loola up buggy looks great.
Whats the difference between the Maclaren XLR and the XT? These sorts of buggies are good for later IMO.

I would definitely consider the Techno XT. We got when when dd (now 4)was around 4 months old and used it form birth with dd2. We also used to live in a smallish flat in the city centre and rarely used the car. It was great, used to leave it up the flat, didn't take up much room, and did all the shopping with it. It is still going strong 4 years later and have only had to replace the hood and it was around only 30 Euros. Really can't rate it highly enough- oh and it has been on countless flights too. We now live out in the sticks and it is in out of the car all the time. It is the only pram you'll ever need to buy...and, no, I don't work for Maclaren!

welcome to mumsnet and congratulations. i think you need loola, or maclaren. im sure you will explore whole world of prams, it will be no longer dreaded, will be addicted to it
good luck to your search to ultimate pushchair

Mamas and Papas Modo.

Mamas and Papas Modo.