We are expecting our first in a few months so started to look around for things. We have been looking at prams this weekend but nothing has realy caught my eye. I want something that I won’t have to change in 1 year either because its no longer suitable of knackered.

Anyone have one they would recommend?

Big old Silver Cross one.

We got given it, our 2 kids napped in it morning and afternoon outside, sun or rain, from a few weeks to about 2 (as I recall), and then we sold it for about £80 on fleabay.

But you’ll need a pushchair too – we bought one of those on ebay for about £10 – again big old Silver Cross (1980’s one I think) that was rear facing (so the kids could see us rather than looking forwards). Knackered by the time we finished with it though, so it had to go to the tip.

I bought a Bugaboo Cameleon. I bought it ‘cos I had no choice, apparantly it’s what all the cool mums use…!
Actually, I think it’s pretty good. It’s light enough for Mrs transapp to deal with, will fit in the car boot (including her oh so practical mum wagon, a soft top TT), fits the car seat on top of the wheels (with supplied adapters – you’ll be amazed how useful this is if you wnat to continue a relativly normal existance) the pram bit works fine as does the pushchair. It’s not brilliant on rough stuff though, although it works ok the beach.
Not cheap though, however quite a lot cheaper than my bikes!

the more you spend the more you love your child

this says i couldnt be bothered to shop around, unless its in khaki…

You’ll end up with at least 3 push chairs. Its the law.

Avoid the Quinny Buzz.

lightweight mcclaren (£100) then phil & reds for when 2nd came along.
hated the big expensive heavy ones. impractical for us too.

Buy a second hand one; all new parents do the ‘Lets buy a really expensive pram’ thing, then never actually use them very much.

Oh, and you’ll never blow tyres up, making the buggy a bugger to push, so avoid them too

Mountain buggy urban elite. Ace buggy, but big with it! Great if your life is more village and country than city.

Phil and teds does them from new to toddler plus will take tow for when you have the second!! Ours is four years old now done two kids and is still going strong. Not cheap but very good.

o baby zeezu is what we have… seemed the best that cost less than a decent hardtail…

Phil and teds

Light, small, foldable. If you (and more importantly, your wife) can’t get it in a car or through a shop doorway you’ll hate it.

Ditto on the second hand thing. The kid doesn’t care and you’ll be getting rid of it in a year.

We have a stokke explory and it’s great because it sits the little one very high up so can be used as a high chair also ad it’s fully adjustable. But wasn’t great for forest paths or winter so we also bought a Phil and teds which has been great. Pneumatic tyres give mire comfort for the little one and expandable to take two once you need it. Took the P&T on holiday and couldn’t have lived without it there. Out of the two I’d buy the P&T if I had to choose one

make sure it fits easily in the car boot.
The best we had was a Citilite but no-one makes it anymore.
Mclarens are good but heavier and bulkier folded than they look.
+1 for used – it will look used in no time anyway.

Jane. Been using it solidly for 4 years. And it’s got a disc brake! Cable one though…
Can be converted from pram to push chair. The pram bit that comes off also then converts to a car seat. Not cheap mInd. Looking for a second hand one could save you some if you can find one.

And many congratulations. Hope it all goes good.

top tips – check it fits in your car boot.

check you can walk along with it without kicking the wheels all the time. We just got a new stroller and it does my head in as unless i walk with my arms fully outstretched i trip over the back wheels all the time. Mainly a fault of my feet rather than the pushchair, but worth thinking about. Our ‘travel system’ is much wider so doesnt have this problem.

Best bit of advice is to go somewhere and drive them about a bit, but then the massive Kiddicare superstore is near one of my offices. When we got our first pushchair they still had the ‘test track’. Pushing loads of different prams up and down steps, kerbs and over mini rock gardens was really helpful. It showed how unstable a lot of designs are. We discounted the quinny buzz based on that test as it nearly tipped up going down a step.

exactly what singletracksurfer says…all bought 2nd hand or given

We’ve found it’s a bit like bikes, the do-it-all ones don’t really do any one thing particularly well.

A big silver cross one would be ace, cause you will use it loads! We got a big pram with a great bassinet/cot thing and it was amazing. As right place right time says, you do use them a lot.

For travels, get a good foldable that you can pug a car seat into, then move to a mclaren when a bit bigger.

As said above, you will have three, it’s the law.

Can I also recommend a good bike trailer? We have a bog old Croozer 535 and both current kids, and imminently arriving number 3, spent/will spend a heck of a lot of time in it, and good ones are massively flexible. (e.g. attach to bike, wee castor wheel for shopping trips, big jogger wheel for bigger shoves, inc AMAZING on beaches.)

HTH

Kev

Phil and Teds here, 4 kids 8 yrs still works like new

We always found that the mother in law went to the pram shop with my wife, who picked one she liked and the mother in law paid for it

My role in the buying process was not sought or welcome 🙂

Just about to sell our Bugaboo Frog and all the trimmings after 7 years of use, so it’s not mandatory to buy multiple prams. Just don’t expect anyone to do everything brilliantly. For my two penneth go for something with bigger wheels, way easier to push on uneven ground or even just up and down kerbs. We bought the optional snow wheels for ours.

Another options for later on is the City Jogger, folds up with one hand, very evry good, we’re hanging onto that one for another couple of months.

Quinny Buz fans in our household, but we also bought a littelife baby carrier and a McLaren collapsable buggy. So we’re pretty much covered for all eventualities.

Buzz is a great bit of kit, but takes up a shedload of room just in case you’ve got a wee car

Similar situation here. 20wk scan on weds.

You can spend crazy money. eBay seems the way forward to me. Just seen a barely used travel system some friends bought for 900, for 400.

Concord Carbon Neo here. Very good, nice and stiff when putting the power down but still gets rid of some pavement buzz. Worry about it in crashes etc but so far fine.

We bought Bugaboo Chameleon. Mostly because it fit in the back of wife’s Micra. It was either spend daft money on pram or change car! Having said that second nipper is in it now and I reckon we’ll get a decent bit of cash back on it when we sell it on.

surely nobody buys those carbon concords? £2k???

We got a quinny buzz second hand. We live on a bumpy road. It got creaky very quickly, and the frame broke after not too long. I got a replacement frame for fifty quid, pretty much brand new, but it also got creaky quickly, I certainly wouldn’t recommend buying one new.

In the loft now she is one, use a cheap maclaren and a sling for most things.

I wouldn’t bother with off road capability, a sling is way better for any decent walks, and things like round the park you’ll be fine with a normal push chair. Save the money for a bike trailer once they are six months.

Also recommend second hand, even in brand new unused state, the second hand quinny frame and bits was 50 quid compared with almost 200 or so new, ebay has some real bargains.

Joe

Another vote for Jane here. Spent many hours pushing our first round some pretty improbable places (including Glentess Skills area and our second has been round the taster route at Dalbeattie). The three big wheel thing definetly opens up lots of possibilities. Jane was the lightest frame of this type when we bought ours. It’s quite bulky after a brief fold down but gets in the boot of a mini with a couple of minutes taking bits off.
A lie flat car/pram widget is good aswell as it saves worries about curved spines if you keep them in it for a while.
Have fun.

You’ll end up with at least 3 push chairs. Its the law.

That is true! I swear she collects the things.

Maxicosi mura 4. bit different, good n stable, quite bulky, and a little heavy when folded. Recommended. With the addition of a maxicosi car seat it should last the boy from birth until he doesn’t need one any more…

The main thing is you don’t see a million Chav mums pushing them round the town centre all day long.

The main thing is you don’t see a million Chav mums pushing them round the town centre all day long.

Classy. 🙄

2 children and 4 prams later, if I had to do it all over again I’d just go for a cheapish regular, standard, pram. Too many people fall into the trap of shopping for a pram like it was a car. They really don’t need to be trendy or have “sport” in their name…it’s a bloody pram. It’s likely to get fairly trashed, and they all essentially do the same thing anyway.

oh by the way, I have a Quinny Buzz with all the trimings for sale 🙂 . Already sold the Phil & Ted uber-pram.

it depends on where you live, if you are country based then you need big wheeled jobbie, we live in manchester so got a bugaboo

yes a bugaboo is one of those travel system jobbies and it was pricey but we’ve definitely got our moneys worth – miniEd wasn’t really much of a sleeper but the one thing that got her to sleep was being pushed round in the cot. I have done so many bl00dy laps of heaton park in the freezing cold and p1ssing rain it’s not true 🙂 good job she’s ace

2 children and 4 prams later, if I had to do it all over again I’d just go for a cheapish regular, standard, pram. Too many people fall into the trap of shopping for a pram like it was a car. They really don’t need to be trendy or have “sport” in their name…it’s a bloody pram. It’s likely to get fairly trashed, and they all essentially do the same thing anyway.

This.

Having an expensive pram just means you bought an expensive pram, it’s not big, it’s not clever, it’s a pram.

Having had 3 kids, the thing you need most in a pram is that it is light and putuppable with one hand, when you drag kid from car and get pram from car boot, you need to whack it up and get gone.

I laugh every time I see modern parents with their off road prams, struggling through the world like Daleks.

We’ve got a M&P 03 awaiting the big day. It’s a hand me down from my sister, it’s been going 8 years and has done 3 boys. It’s even withstood enthusiastic uncle off roading ;-). Needed to pump the tyres up, tighten the spokes and give it a quick clean, just like a bike really!

Had a Bugaboo Cameleon which the father in law bought. We were very pleased with it, nice and light, turns on a sixpence and fitted into the car. Tot two arrives and we got a Phil and Teds Sport. Bit of a lump but very practical for two. We still use it a bit but both like walking but it’s great for when they are tired. Also just got a stroller. Three prams is the law.

Classy.

Well, better than chavvy, that’s for sure. Burberry cosytoes, anyone?