Light-weight parent facing stroller - does it exist???

[chiccadee]

I guess this question has been asked before but I can't find the answer.

My 16 month old son loves facing me/DH in his pushchair but he's almost outgrown our travel system (which is, anyway, very big and heavy now). We have a lightweight stroller but it faces forward which isn't much fun for DS. Does anyone know of any lightweight folding parent-facing buggys or strollers?

It's not extremely lightweight but the Bugaboo Bee or Loola Up.

Thanks Nappyaddict. When I looked, those were the sorts of pushchairs I found too - but they're not much lighter than the Streety which I have already. I just can't believe that there isn't a lightweight parent-facing stroller out there. Talk about a gap in the market!

You don't really get light to push from birth buggies much lighter than the Bee though do you? I think it has something to do with being sturdy enough to be supportive of a newborn and also carry the weight of an older baby well too.

Don't get the Loola!! Complete rubbish, think mothercare do a "twist" or something?

Hinny Did you have the Up or the 2 handled version?

You're right about the Bee, Nappyaddict - I agree. It's just that as my DS is 16 months now, I don't need the 'strudy newborn' bit anymore. Ideally I want an ultra-lightweight, 'chuck it in the car and off we go' sort of stroller.

HinnyPet - not heard of that one but I'll look it up, thanks.

I guess they reckon most people will want a RFer from birth?

thing is, a rear facer has to be perfectly balanced and strong enough to take the weight of a sturdy toddler. To be sturdy enough to do that there has to be a certain amount of weight, especially if the seat unit isn't going to be extrememly close to the ground.

2 handled version. I had it for 3 days before returning it to mothercare

Yeah, I guess so. What a shame though, that all the manufacturers assume that when you move to a lightweight stroller, you'll automatically want a forward facing one.

HinnyPet - I found the My Child Coco Twist but that doesn't look as if it is parent facing. Is that the one you were thinking of?

the spin is the mothercare one.

No, sorry it's called "spin" I think!! It's the new one

The Spin is heavy though. I personally always go for from birth ones even though my DS is 3 cos it means he can lie down and nap comfortably in them.

iCandy Cherry is extremely light, I think 8Kgs seat + chassis. Still fits my 3 year old rear facing, and can push one handed easily.

That's interesting, differentID. I've never been great at physics but I can't figure out why this should be an issue for rear-facing strollers particularly? I mean, if you stand in front of a normal stroller and push it backwards it doesn't become unstable. Is it something to do with the weight shifting if the handles are at the front, rather than the back, so to speak?

Ooh, some more suggestions, thank you Lionstar and HinnyPet. Off to bed now but will look them up tomorrow.

Here is the iCandy Cherry. They have just brought out some new colours. The shopping basket is huge too. Not brilliant for off-roading, but we were glad not to have huge air-filled tyres taking up space.

On rear facing pushchairs the fabric tends to be stretched around a frame which then attaches to the more solid frame via a clip systemm of sorts. yes?
On a forward facing stroller type the main, solid body of the pushchair takes the strain and the centre of balance is closer to the frame which makes it more stable, I believe. It also means it's cheaper to produce as they don't need to add a counterbalance.

I don't know if that makes any sense?

Cherry and Bee are a similar weight so if Bee is too heavy for you then Cherry will be too.

I don't think you'll find a truly lightweight (under 7kg) buggy style pushchair that faces the pusher/ parent.

Manufacturers, rightly or wrongly, assume that the age group very light buggies are designed for prefer to face outwards and see the world.

Thanks for all the comments. I think I understand, DifferentID, thank you!

I've looked at the ICandy and Spin and the ICandy looks (apart from the Bee of course) to be the best of the bunch but - as NappyAddict and GGG suggest - neither of them are truly lightweight and compact enough to make me part with that much cash. Not the sort of thing you can sling over your shoulder to get on the train/tube/bus etc while carrying a toddler and bags if you know what I mean.

I guess DS will just have to make do with forward facing on those occasions - or we'll dump the pushchair entirely and stick to the LittleLite.

Thanks all.

The streety is quite lightweight in terms of rear facing buggies, sorry to say!

Would you consider something like this? They do look a bit dated now (though there is one slightly less 80s version on there ATM!) but they are much lighter than the rear facing buggies on the market today.

Also remember that the bigger the wheels, the "lighter" it will feel to push - the actual weight of something doesn't make that much difference, can you imagine trying to lift one of the old silvercross coach built prams? And yet they were apparently very easy to push. The Streety has quite small wheels if I remember correctly?

Hi BBCBs, that's interesting, I'd not seen these older silvercrosses before. I don't suppose you know how much the wayfarer lite weighes, by any chance, as the ad doesn't say? It's not as small as an umbrella fold but if it's light then it might be a cheap compromise.

We don't use our pushchair all that much (the rucksack and scootababy tend to be options 1 and 2), so I can't justify spending a vast sum on it.

BBCBs - I take your point about the size of wheels but I really need something I can pick up and put over my shoulder to take on and off trains, buses, aeroplanes etc as we do quite a bit of travelling so weight really is a factor for us. Ideally, something that comes with a shoulder strap or would fit into a standard travel bag but it sounds like that just isn't to be.