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Original poster

Bugaboo advice needed

25 replies

gemdangracie · 21/02/2009 08:39

I want to buy a bugaboo for my 2nd DC which is due in august, but I am undecided on which one to get!

I have found both at a local shop which do a payment plan (I currently have £560 to spend), but I can save the rest!

Do I get a Gecko for £439 and have some money for myself, or do I buy a Cameleon for £629 and save the remaining money?

Thanks. x

OP posts:

suwoo · 21/02/2009 08:42

No, you buy a frog second hand from Ebay and then get all the cam fabrics for it.

cupofteaplease · 21/02/2009 08:47

I have the Gecko- it's fab. Was bought second hand for £200 but is like new. Love it. Would not pay £629 for a pram though, but that is just me!

Original poster

gemdangracie · 21/02/2009 09:01

suwoo do the cam fabrics fit the frog? (dont know much about them)

cupofteaplease I normally wouldnt pay that for a pram, but sold my toro, P&T and DS lite on ebay yesterday plus my sis owes me £100, so have the money :D

OP posts:

BusyBeeWithThree · 21/02/2009 09:10

I have a frog from ebay. Has been wonderful only paid £150 for it. Do the cam fabrics really fit frog? I didn't think they would.

weepootleflump · 21/02/2009 09:18

I got a 2nd hand cam from ebay, the carrycot has been a waste of time as dd just will not go in it.

Luckily I found out that you can buy adaptors to fix a maxi cosi car seat onto the chassis, those have been well worth the money.

I have no experience of the others so can't advise. Ideally, I'd have bought a cam but without the carrycot.

suwoo · 21/02/2009 09:19

Yep, they certainly do. I have modelled them on my frog. The hood can be a tiny bit baggy, but is fine.

suwoo · 21/02/2009 09:21

I bought the black frog and currently have the sand seat cover/ hood and footmuff. The frog footmuff isn't great, the cam one is much nicer, but they are £70 so thats quite alot of budget gone already. The frogs go for about £200-£250 at the most on Ebay IIRC. I paid £150 for mine.

suwoo · 21/02/2009 09:22

The maxi cosi straight on to the chassis is the best bit IMO. Great for nipping in and out of the car.

MegBusset · 21/02/2009 09:49

I'm selling my red Gecko (very good condition, only used for 9 months) if you're interested -- will take £200 + delivery, then you can spend all the rest on shoes

Original poster

gemdangracie · 21/02/2009 09:59

MegBusset Do you have pics of your Gecko? [email protected]

suwoo would I be able to see pics of your frog with the cam fabrics on?

OP posts:

carrielou2007 · 21/02/2009 10:34

Depends on how you want to use the pushchair. If you do a lot of walking then a cam. If you use the car all the time the phaff of putting the seat on the chasis when you just want to pop into a shop will drive you bonkers so then get a bee.

If you are tall the gecko is no good for you and the seat unit sits SO low to the floor it looks ridiculous imo.

I found the bee very flimsy and really did not like it yet apart from the car thing I loved my cam. If you drive a lot I would defo get the car seat adaptors to use the car seat on the frame.

Best 600 quid I ever spent then bought all the extras...

lisad123 · 21/02/2009 10:38

hmmm not keen on gecko myself, the conecters dont fold back like on frog or cam, so harder to fit into car.
Also if you put cam fabrics on frog, the hood is baggy.
The cam has a adjustable handle, which is great for my dh, as theres a whole foot in difference between us. I found frog and gecko dont last as long as kid soon hits top of hood.
I would go for cam, but dont buy new one, get a 2nd hand one from here or ebay. The hold prices well and you wont lose so much when you come to sell on. HTH

PS buy a denim cam if you can, they are lush!

Original poster

gemdangracie · 21/02/2009 11:17

Thanks for the advice, think I will get a cam i want buy one 2nd hand but DH insists that we get a new one as we will get 2 year warranty and then if anything goes wrong we dont need to worry!(he is stupid I know) also he said he would have it when we have another baby (first i had heard of this!) All i gotta do is decide on what colour fabrics to get.. (Will get grey bases)

OP posts:

suwoo · 21/02/2009 11:19

The denim is gorgeous, my friend has it.

extremelychocolateymilkroll · 21/02/2009 15:50

We have a Bugaboo Bee which is fab - and only £370 from John Lewis so you'll get a 2 year guarantee. You can buy a Maclaren footmuff for about £30 and save more money.

suwoo · 21/02/2009 16:09

Yeah but it doesn't match, milkroll

lecohen · 21/02/2009 16:40

I have a frog and so far, I love it! Is a Cameleon really an upgrade to it as don't see a big difference really...can someone enlighten me?

To the original poster, GET A NEW ONE if hubby agrees, wow, you are lucky!

Personally I would choose Cam over bee x

Original poster

gemdangracie · 21/02/2009 19:00

lecohen I cant stand the bee, think it looks awful! Hubby only agreeing cus Ive sold my Phil & Teds, Toro & maxi cosi and my DS lite to pay for it

OP posts:

alandimi · 21/02/2009 19:28

The cameleon is slightly bigger than a frog or gecko and so the carrycot can be used as a moses basket or for ocassional overnight sleeping unlike on the frog or gecko.

I got a secondhand cameleon from ebay and thought it was great to start with. DD stayed in the carrycot for 5 months. After a while though i got really fed up with how big and heavy it was and depending on where you live some buses won't let you on if there are already couple of prams on and you can't collapse them, plus they take up almost all the space in the boot of a car.

I have just sold my cameleon on ebay and got most of my money back (they do hold their worth) and have got myself a secondhand bee which is just fab. I originally hated them, didn't like the look but after trying my sisters (she traded in her gecko) I decided to get one of my own. It collapses well, seriously nifty and light, baby can lie flat, it has pretty good suspension and you can have it rear facing or forward facing. You can also get car seat adapters for them too.

suwoo · 21/02/2009 20:25

I'm intending for my new DC to sleep in the frog carrycot overnight every night, I have bought a new mattress of course. Please tell me they can?

TwentiethCenturyHeffa · 21/02/2009 20:31

I've got a Gecko and love it. DD was in the carrycot for 5 months; she didn't outgrow it, but wanted to be sitting up so we moved her into the pushchair bit.

DH investigated the differences between the Gecko and Cameleon and we decided that it really wasn't worth the extra money (for us). The biggest thing seemed to be that the Cameleon was more adjustable, but we're both average sized so we didn't need that. I was worried about the underseat bag being too small but it's absolutely fine.

I've used mine every day for the last 7 months and haven't got a single complaint.

I really wanted to be able to pick the colours but have had loads of compliments on the look of the Gecko (green) so that doesn't bother me anymore.

alandimi · 21/02/2009 21:24

Suwoo - don't panic! I can't remember who told me, possibly someone at John Lewis, I think she said something about there being more space all round in a cameleon carry cot and that the carry cot for a gecko didn't meet british safety standards, something about there not being enough room? But please don't hold me to this. She may well have told me a porker in order to try and get me to buy a more expensive pram! My dd spent the first 3 weeks in the cameleon carry cot at night as I didn't see the point in getting a moses basket. I'm sure the gecko is fine.

alandimi · 21/02/2009 21:53

suwoo - have just googled the cameleon and gecko carrycots and according to a couple of websites the cameleon carrycot has been approved for overnight sleeping (europe, not in the uk) whereas the gecko hasn't. No idea who 'approved' it though or how it really differs. Sorry.

dueinnovember · 21/02/2009 22:11

Have had cam for 3.5 years and love it. The fabrics wash really well so I wouldn't worry about buying a second hand one as they look great after a wash. We used the carrycot instead of a travel cot for the first six months whenever we travelled and it has a hanle which I don't think the gecko has for lifting it off the frame. It all started to go wrong when we had DC2 and attached a buggyboard as they're dreadful. DC1 balancing on the board and swinging on the frame meant the chassis broke and we needed to replace that at £200. DC2 arrived just as the warranty ran out. Otherwiase they're great.

suwoo · 22/02/2009 08:36

Mines a frog, will have to google it myself. I can't see how the carrycot is any different to a moses basket? Babies used to sleep in drawers didn't they . My neighbour had this wicker monstrosity which was 50 years old, I don't reckon that would have been 'approved' for overnight sleeping.

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