Maclaren Techno XT as the choice of baby transport from birth?

[Libra1975]

anyone else considering the Maclaren Techno XT as their choice of baby transport from birth?

I have just tried some of the top of the range, super-dooper travel systems/3 wheelers etc and just thought they are so bulky and heavy I will get exasperated with them and have also heard so many stories with mothers who have only bought the best for their babies and then 3 months later ditch their all singing travel systems for something more convienent! (also saving approx £200 always makes me happy)

Any opinions/advice on this system from birth (and comments on the brakes which seem to be the main problem!) welcome.

Thanks.

I bought this very buggy when DS was about ten days old and am still using it (occasionally!) - he's just turned four. I used a mothercare snuggle and head cosy when he was tiny. It fits into the boot of my Polo, goes on public transport with no problem, and DS always looked very comfy in it.

good from birth imo, get a sheepskin fleece and you're away.

bought one 5 yrs with a very stiff/fiddly brake, but the newer model we got for ds* 3 yrs ago, with a proper kick brake, was much better.

• the downside is ime, they do only last for one child. Then the wheels fall off as you're crossing the road on the way back from pre-school

depends on your lifestyle

I wouldn't have been without a carrycot option when dd was teeny because she slept in it so much, including when we were away on holiday etc

I've got one for my next baby, it will be used as a second buggy for public transport/car. I will have a pram for walking as I like to have small babies facing me. I was very lucky though to get the XT brand new for £25 from a charity shop otherwise baby woud have a cheaper pushchair!

I had a Techno XT from birth with DS1 and used it again from birth with DS2. No probs at all with the from-birth thing, but the brakes did go within about six weeks of purchase. However, I should have just taken it back to the shop and got them fixed, but never got around to it, so was partly my fault for being rubbish. (This was nearly six years ago so brakes might have been improved since then.)

Apart from the brakes, it's a fab pram I think - not as smooth to push as pram with suspension, but hardy and light and very transportable. (Unlike MyEye, mine lasted through two children.) If you use public transport a lot it's a winner.

we considered that and the XLR but chose neither in the end because of how you adjust the seats. was a right palaver. ended up with a loola up.

I had exactly this model for my dd2 - it is fantastic

i had a 3-in-1 for my first and this time went straight for the maclaren techno - it reclines fully so baby can sleep in it when out and about. You need extra head support when tiny as bluestocking suggests.

My dd2 is now 2 and it has been used every day, gone on planes, in cars etc and is still perfect condition.

i do look at people pushing huge bugaboos around and do think them slightly bonkers - ok if you have two very young kids i guess, but for one on its own, the maclaren is great

I'm pregnant with my 2nd baby and definitely plan to get one of these. I had an all-singing, all-dancing Jane Matrix with baby no.1 - abandoned it after 3 months (3 annoying months of struggling with the many annoying and cumbersome features of a 'travel system'). Got a basic McClaren instead and absolutely adore it, although I do agree that they give up the will to live after about 2 yrs of serious pavement pounding (DS is 3 yrs old and we've got through two - XT may be sturdier, though?). This time, I'll be using the XT from birth. I've tested it out in Mothercare already and it's fab.

DS (29 months) had a Maclaren techno XT from birth and is still using it. We've even taken him out to dinner with us recently with him asleep in it.

It slightly resembles a wheelbarrow now as the roof frame has snapped (my fault for loading shopping on to it), but we're still pretty happy with it.

hi there- really depends on you and baby- I liked having a carrycot when ds was small. But then we got a carrycot that he could sleep overnight in so he used that as his moses basket- meant if he was asleep at home then we could just wheel him out in it. Also saved on cost of moses basket/travel cot (we took it away with us too) Agree about the cost though- maybe you should consider a 2nd hand one as you will prob only use it for 5-6 mnths....

I bought an XT from birth thinking I would only ever need one pushchair. Quite frankly its neither one thing nor the other. I live in a historic city with steep hills, bumpy uneven pavements and lots of steps. It really couldn't cope with being banged around.

The brakes started sticking really early on - being a first time mum I thought I was being useless and didn't work out until too late that it was the pushchair that was crap.

I think it is probably fine if you don't walk around much or shop/meet up mainly on modern even pavements. I ended up going for the packhorse look with baby on front and changing bag on back rather than use the frigging thing.

I still have it four and half years on, but only because I am too tight to chuck it and buy a new one.

Get big wheels, I say. Much easier to push and much more comfortable. I found my P&Ts loaded with two children easier to push than my XT with one. I thought lightweight would be good but that's not necessarily the case.

thats such bad luck thingone - i live in an old place too with hills/uneven pavements etc and my maclaren was fine - more so than my 3-in-1 mamas and papas - oh well

My only reservation about the Maclaren Techno XT is the brakes - you have to be quite firm with them, and they do sometimes stick!

I have the XRL which is very similar - slightly bigger and can be used with 0+ car seat.

I loved it. Got the footmuff/liner/headhugger bits, which made it cosy for a newborn. it's great for going on the bus, nice long handles, which really matters if you are tall, and DD must have found it comfy because she slept better there than anywhere else. Brakes fine for us.

if you want all the accessories kiddicare.com tend to sell the pushchair plus acessories at a big discount, as long as you are prepared to have last season's colours

Love the Maclaren but not sure about it from birth to be honest. We were lucky enough to be given a Techno XT after I had bought a massive travel system. I think that with very little babies you want something sturdy, cosy and which protects them from all the bumps. DD hated the Maclaren when she was little and much preferred the admittedly huge travel system which had a carry cot for the first few months. Despite all the accessories she just didn't look as cosy as in a carry cot and crucially didn't sleep! Have to say also found the travel system really good value - as you got the car seat plus carry cot included all for £200 , probaby could have got even cheaper on ebay.

Now she is 12 months, Maclaren suits us fine, though.

I have one, used it from birth with both children (although also now have a P&T)
Never had any problems with the brakes and would throughly recommend it for city dwellers

We bought the M&P pulse/beat buggy for ds1 three years ago and are now using it for ds2 - for £80 I'd say we're getting our money's worth!

Libra, I got an XT from birth for my DS three years ago and it's still going strong. In the meantime I needed a double buggy for DS and DD, when he was 15 months when DD was born, but now that he's nearly three we hardly use the P+T (though I still shove all the shopping in it!) and we're back to the XT for just DD. Quite often on short walks, we'd just take the XT too, while DS walked.

It's great with a foot muff, while it reclines enough for a newborn, it's not 100% flat, so I wouldn't have the baby sleep in it as a daily 'cot', it's great for snoozing on the go.

I never had a problem with the brakes.

Lots of mums I meet started off with your bugaboo/quinny type things, and once the baby could sit up, ended up getting a small Maclaren just to have something easier to manage.

Good luck!

thanks for all your opinions.

Have showed DH the thread and he emailed back:
"Personally I'm aiming for the "Sherpa look" as one on that thread called it."

So that's him sorted as we have already bought a bushbaby cocoon. However I think for myself the Maclaren does sound the way forward and you have allayed my fears re: from birth and brakes.

I had a secondhand Mamas and Papas pram thing when my daughter was born. I loathed it. After 10 weeks I was in Mothercare salivating like a lunatic over the tiny lovely MacLarens. Bought one, never looked back. I wish I'd had it from the start and would definitely use it from birth for a second child. Mine was a Techno Classic but they are very similar. I can't think of anything it falls down on apart from off-road stuff and even then it's okay unless the terrain is pretty rough.