What is your wife/partner going to be doing day in day out whilst you’re at work?

Where do you live in relation to baby groups etc.?

UppaBaby Vista here too, but we live somewhere where you always walk. Baby groups, shops, cafes, pubs. It’s been in daily use for the past 3.5yrs and has been faultless for our two kids.

The basket underneath was the biggest/most accessible of all the ones we looked at so useful when getting bits when out and about.

Think about your daily life before buying anything.

One handed folding on the baby jogger city sold it for me.

Get a decent cosy toes – woollyballoo and you are sorted.

Congratulations OP! Dad to an 8 yr old boy and 6 yr old girl here. We went through several iterations of buying cheap crap that fell apart very quickly. My Dad was a pilot (retd) and I ordered a Chariot Cougar thingy in the US, delivered out of state (no sales tax) to the crew hotel, and then my dad walked straight through customs with it (naughty :D); so we got a new one for less than half UK price. They are fantastic but we were living in Paris when the kids were small and the Chariot was too wide for the pavements or to get in the shops; and this was the single version! I’d even have to take a rear wheel off to get it through the front door to our flat and into the lift. Long story short, by the time we moved to the ‘burbs the kids were ready to ride their own bikes and the Chariot was sold…(at zero loss).

Pram-wise, the worst was a second-hand double, fore and aft thing, but not like the ones where the rear child is semi-slung underneath. This was full length and steered like an oil tanker (I imagine), bl00dy agony. The happy medium we ended up with was a Joovy Caboose, which can take a baby and a toddler on a bench seat. Cheap, effective and the missus liked it.

Vista for us too for all the reasons given above.
It just felt like the most robust one in the kiddicare hell hole.

The basket underneath is massive and we have put loads of shopping in it, saves driving to the shops

timately alot of these things boil down to fashion and what pram your wife will want to be seen with when she’s with the other mums. Not criticising this, its a reality

That would depend entirely on whether your wife cares about fashion. Not a reality for us in the slightest. Go for practical at a sensible price. Different opinions and all that.

In a similar position and we are veering towards Out n About Nipper.

We were very close to getting one of these, but it didn’t fit in the car boot by millimetres! We liked them a lot, and we see a lot of them around here because they are excellent for anywhere that isn’t smooth and level.

We have friends who have an Uppababy Vista but they kept having to stop to clear leaves out of the wheels because there’s no mud clearance at all…

I’m going to do my usual hippy thing when this comes up: Don’t buy a pram. Or a stroller, or a 4WD all-terrain buggy system. Just carry the thing – loads of good slings and carriers are available, backpacks when they get a bit bigger.

We never had a wheeled contraption for our offspring, we just carried her. Which meant we didn’t have this big contraption taking up half the hallway or most of the car boot, we could go on public transport easily, and most importantly the kid was held not isolated away, which is the best place for it.

Wobbliscott has it right in my recent experience, lots of research, testing etc., and then we got a bugaboo chameleon as it’s what one of her friends has so said was best.

Does seem good so far though. Lying in a pram and being taken for a walk seems to calm the possessed by the devil screams

Baby jogger city mini is the easiest to fold and lies flatest
We looked at a lot and that was the best, spares are easily available, ours is 6 years old now and needed a replacement front wheel

Have the adaptors to fit a maxi cosi car seat, pm me if inetersted

Best advice I got at the time was, “you’ll waste a fortune on a baby chariot for the first one. The second will make do with a Gumtree special and if you have a third you’ll be happy with a box screwed to a skateboard”.

True that.

More seriously, We got a Mountain Buggy +One – it takes two kids in a tandem style. It had a clip on moses basket bit and then from 6 months we had the seats in. Works for us but it is big so crap for shops and city life – doesn’t worry us.

Whatever wheeled thing you get you will look like a hobo pushing all your belongings around and covered in someone else’s sick 😉

Bencooper above is right – you don’t NEED a wheeled thing but once you have two or if you will use it for popping to the shops – it is very handy to have a trendy child wheelbarrow to cart it all home. The wheel was a massive technological step forward remember!!

Things I would think about:

* what are you going to use it for most of the time? We thought we’d run with ours but only ever did once (with someone else’s kid!).
* weight is only important if you need to lift it up steps or into a car
* size is important because at one extreme shops and public transport is an arse but at the other the kid will be out of the thing within 18 months and you’ll be buying another.
* resale value – so you know cost of ownership (eg if you can sell a £1k Bugaboo on for £800 in the future then it’s not so painful – check eBay completed listings to get sale values)
* offroad buggy is useful but for most “offroad” walks you’ll probably be using a sling or rucksack thing.
* if you’re serious about offroading and especially if running then pneumatic tyres are v. helpful
* do you plan to get a cycle trailer too? This may take the place of
* it’s just a thing to push your child around in – can you afford £1k to keep up with the Joneses? (Sorry if this offends – I havent read all the replies above!)

Enjoy being a parent – it’s bloody great

+1 UppaBaby Vista

7 months of continual usage, fields, town, carrying a weeks shopping etc and it’s been great. Got a good deal on ‘last years’ model (which was just a different colour!) It’s big though, have to take a wheel off to get it in a Golf boot (fine in my Jeep) and it’s wide to push about.

I would seriously try to get second hand if you & your wife are prepared to spend a bit of time looking for a well looked after one.

My Wife insisted on a new one & it wasn’t cheap! With hindsight, I think she realises we could have spent that money on something more useful – within a couple of months, the new pram looked second hand anyway!!

We live about 15mins from Kiddicare in Peterborough & I’d say it’s definitely worth a visit if you can. They have all the main brands there, there’s loads of space to fiddle about with them & most of the staff are really well trained on the ins & outs of the various options.
We had a few visits & even took our shortlist of 3 out to the car to see how easy they would fit in.

We ended up getting a Babystyle Oyster, mainly because of how small it folds and how easy it is to fold.
It’s pretty good & suits most of our needs, although there are a few niggly things that I’d know to avoid if we were doing it again. The main thing is the small front wheels get snagged on uneven surfaces & pavement edges. We wanted smaller wheels, as most of the large wheeled ones take up a lot more boot space but with hindsight I’d try for something with a slightly larger wheels.

We ended up getting the carrycot base for it as well as the normal seat base & a Maxi-cosi Pebble car seat which fits on with adaptors.

Our daughter is about 15 months old now & we are thinking of getting rid & just getting a stroller. I’d be amazed if we got £100 for it all, when I think it cost us £600 new.

Just make it easy on yourself and get the one your misses wants, then buy a Maclaren for when it’s about 9 months old, and that’ll see you through.

It’s been a while since I’ve had to push a pram/pushchair, but this is spot on.

For what it’s worth the Out n About Nipper is the best kept secret. You mainly see their double buggies pushed by parents of twins or by child minders but you don’t often see the single. We’ve had two singles over 9 years and they’ve been bomb-proof. They go from new born to heavy weight 3 year old and are light when folded. They are only £250!! Compared to all the other over-designed, over plasticy stuff you can’t go wrong.
For the winter I’d recommend purchasing the foot muff thing as well.

Plenty of opinions for you OP.

We have an iCandy strawberry, one handed folding and light enough for the wife to lift it into the car easily. The main reason we got it was that it folds down small enough to fit into the back of a fiesta with rear wheels off.

Egg pram – expensive but very well made compared to the competitors, folds and unfolds using one hand.

Looked at the Uppababy Vista 2 but massive and very utilitarian for a pram IMHO – depends what you’re I suppose.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can any dads / uncles / brothers give me some recommendations

Go to a shop and try some. Make sure you can both open and fold the pram quickly and easily. Make sure it will fit in your car. Make sure it is easy to push and steer around the many obstacles in a modern high street. Make sure it has space underneath to stuff coats/hats/blankets/shopping. Anything else is window dressing.

As above – get what works for your budget, don’t spend the world on it, they’ll not recall what you had them in. FWIW, we just bought from a factory sell off BNIB old stock 2014 Cosi Loola – Pebble travel seat clips in and out – whole lot <£300.
We were prepared to spend more on a running buggy when it gets older as we both run a lot. But then we were gifted one, which was nice.

My advice is don’t spend much! Been through various things, and second hand has been superb.

In the end though my wife wanted something different for number 2 and we got this. It’s great, feels sturdy, the buggy seat is great for the wee guy but now with baby it’s usually the car seat or pram that we use on the base.
http://www.kiddies-kingdom.com/pushchairs-strollers-buggies/18968-cosatto-giggle-2-pram-system-3in1-combi-hipstar-new.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiAnvfDBRCXrabLl6-6t-0BEiQAW4SRUIwmJVlTxxzDOCixCH-7WyqrBhDDYAkhHMwyipKvG28aAmYy8P8HAQ#fo_c=164&fo_k=c3d8a7ea6d7ad17195797b2ad93d60c1&fo_s=gplauk

With a nearly 3 year old and a baby now we’re going to be using a buggy board on the back of it, and hopefully that’ll work. Not sure what to do when we have to get somewhere and the toddler takes one of his regular tantrums though!

My advice:

go for a ‘system’ where the car seat clips into a base in the car as well as on the buggy part al la below. Nothing worse than waking a baby to put it in the car and having them scream all the way home.

here

Get one stable and sturdy enough to fit a lot of stuff underneath or clipped on to the handlebar.

The buggy part of the system should be ‘lie flat’

Get a second hand one. We were glad we did, even with number one. Go into Mothercare and find one you like. Look at the price 2nd hand. Think what you could buy from Wiggle with the difference!

Get a second (2nd hand or freecycle) umbrella buggy for when they’re a little older.

Don’t worry about collapsible with one hand unless you use the bus a lot. They’ll usually be in the car before or after you collapse the buggy.

We also got (2nd hand, in case you hadn’t guessed) a proper jogger with large (10″?) pneumatic wheels for all of those long walks we were planning on doing. Very happy we only paid a tenner when we gave it to charity a few years later. It had done precisely 3 walks on the beach and one blue trail.

I’ll reiterate, get a 2nd hand one. Most people are so happy they’re at the end of their ‘buggy days’ they’ll offer you freebies as you leave their house with a used buggy.

Thank flip we were given one by some close friends (M&P Sola, can whole heartily recommend, we’ve abused it with our two and it’s still going strong).

We went pram shopping a few times and just walked out each time, just so much choice.

Get yourself down to john lewis and take a few out for a spin round the shop.

There were only one or two that i could push without kicking the rear axle with every step. I’m a foot taller than my wife which ruled out one of those two as she couldn’t lift it up!

Get to John Lewis and have a good root around with an assistant. No bullsh£t there. See what suits you and then go have a good look on eBay or whatever if you want to save some cash. Get the associated car seat at JL and buy the pram bit second hand. We had a bargain on a very minimal use icandy peach jogger with baby bassinet and toddler type seat. It was hardly marked and half price.

Bigger wheels as possible are good. Folding up small is good. Ability to put your car seat on (maxi cosy pebble) is good. Ability to have rearward facing seat is almost essential and to be able to swap forward at a later date. Effective rain cover is also essential.

Now ours is a bit older we use a cheap Maclaren buggy as it’s smaller folded up in our camper. We also have a chariot bike trailer with the big front wheel for serious off road or running.

Bencooper above is right – you don’t NEED a wheeled thing but once you have two or if you will use it for popping to the shops – it is very handy to have a trendy child wheelbarrow to cart it all home. The wheel was a massive technological step forward remember!!

Getting a big and expensive baby buggy to carry the shopping in seems a bit silly 😉

We have a bugaboo for sale, can do lie flat and sit up and car seat adapters too. Good condition, Manchester based

+ 1 for buying second hand

We got a whole buggy set with all manner of accessories for £20 or so. It was in immaculate condition and was headed for the tip. As someone said above, parents just want to get rid of the clutter and let perfectly good buggies and prams go for peanuts. The local “things for sale” Facebook groups are a good starting point.

To add, I’ve not been fussed about a car base clip system at all. Baby seats come with clips on the sides for the car seatbelt to strap around and it takes seconds to do.

You need a pram as cheap and light with as little bulk as possible.

Your wife will want to spend four figures and buy a pram the size and weight of a truck that will totally fill your boot.

You will do the latter, not the former.

Can recommend the Bugaboo Chameleon. Ours is 9 years old, and still going strong on it’s 4th child (our second child).

It was expensive to purchase, but was one of the only travel systems that would fit easily into my wife’s Yaris boot.
Handles have a lot of height adjustment, and it is comfortable for me to push (I’m 6’4″), and my wife (5’8″).
Very easy to maneuver.
Car seats can be used (with adaptors), but tend not to use these.
All of the kids have found it really comfy, either as a pram, or pushchair.

I’m not a trendy hipster dad so I got a pram, not a sling. If you want a pram, go for a pram.
We got a Bugaboo Chameleon as above and found it brilliant. We paid £400 second hand and sold it 2 kids later for nearly £300 – that’s the cheapest child thing I think I bought!
With #1, I took her everywhere and she kipped in the pram – pubs, restaurants parties etc. I often left her asleep in there after walking back from town as there was no point getting her out and moving her to the cot. The maxi cosi car seat adapters made nipping out to the shops and absolute doddle as you could swap from permanently fixed base and pram base in 30 seconds. Oddly my kids were’t perfect – they often woke up and screamed when I tried to transfer them I suspect this may be quite normal! The advice on length of time in the car seat is there to stop parents from letting thier kids sleep in the car seats all the time – and I mean overnight according to a couple of pediatric Dr friends.
The pushchair is quite large folded but not ridiculous. I did after #2 progressed to pushchair only swap to a simpler chair only, but could have got away with it. Probably car size will dictate this in the end!
As others have said, have a look in mothercare / John Lewis, then go shopping on ebay!

Go to a local general auction and you’ll pick one up, cheap as chips.

At my wife’s demand we go an user expensive Danish pram, it’s massive heavy and will survive a direct nuclear strike. The turning circle also rivals that of the Exxon Valdise which means it’s very awkward to use in shops or busy area, in Denmark they leave their baby’s outside shops and cafes in prams, now I know why. We soon stopped taking it out and it’s now used for afternoon naps. At 3 months we changed to a Maclaren Xt which is excellent, lies flat so is suitable from birth but will be used for a few years after that.

Just carry the thing

Being carried in a sling so you can see out is the only way to travel.

Especially when your parents carry you in the sling, and push an empty pram round the shops.

(I should point out that one of ours loved the sling, the other hated it so much so she screamed until put back in the buggy)

Especially when your parents carry you in the sling, and push an empty pram round the shops.

Darn useful for putting shopping in though.

My wife has family near Peterborough so we went to the massive kiddicare there and tried everything.

Ditto, except it was my family who are near there. Ended up with a Babystyle Oyster. It’s been great for two kids.

Secondhand can be really good if you get a lightly used one – some parents keep buying and trying and selling new buggies. But if you get a heavily used one it’ll be awful – the hinges, bushes, clips etc all wear out and become rattly and annoying.

Things that matter:

1. Big enough wheels for where you’ll use it.
2. Low enough weight (ditto)
3. Narrow enough width (ditto)
4. Small enough folded size (ditto)
5. Compatibly with car seats etc
6. Price!

We live in hilly suburbia, walk a lot, use the car a fair bit (more with no. 2 due to time pressure around naps and school etc logistics), so we wanted something that wasn’t too heavy, folded small enough for our not huge car, rolled well enough but didn’t have to go off-road and was narrow enough to not be too annoying through doorways in shops etc.

We got a car seat that mounted on it and a carrycot for the early weeks so they could lie flat. When they got bigger we swapped to a MacLaren. For more rural outings we use various slings and carriers.

Skim read so apologies if repeating…. how big is your car? One consideration when going for a travel system consider how much space the seat and base take up in the back seat as some need the passenger seat further forward than others.

Also are you considering having two children reasonably close together? If so might be worth looking at a travel system that can be adapted to take two kids. Whilst by the time your second is born first one is likely to be very keen to walk you’ll need some way of restraining the eldest while you tend to the youngest.

We’ve just bought a Mountain buggy diet for our two – not used it yet but I’m impressed by the brand and the simplicity of it.

My personal experience says to get one with air in the tyres; we have a stroller too and whilst it’s handy in a shopping arcade the solid wheels are very poor on pavements.

Lastly if you go for a travel system get a roof box as when you go on holiday you will have chuff all space for the rest of the baby’s stuff let alone your own stuff.

Recommend a trip to a large mothercare or to Kiddicare (its a shame they closed most of their branches) and just try pushing them around and find one you like.

Congratulations though – being a dad beats anything else I’ve ever done in my life.

Observations

1. When the first response to your thread starts like this you know you’re going to enjoy wasting your employers money reading the replies

Superficial – Member

Whatever you get it’ll be wrong in some obscure circumstance that you only encounter a few times a year so your hormonal wife will insist you buy a second sh***ing pram so now you have twice the number of prams cluttering up the hallway.

2. Scrolling further down, reading this. I started to panic a little bit as I’m known for being indecisive at best….. then looked at the cute baby picture and all ok again…

cp – Member

Second hand, don’t spend a fortune. Mini cp HATED, like properly royally HATED the pram. Hated being on his back, hated being enclosed. screamed…. As soon as we could use it in stroller mode (i.e. sat more upright) he was great. Maxi Cosi Cabrio car seat fit on the pram chassis, that’s useful. He liked being sat in that.

3. This looks like an amazing deal. Thanks for the heads up. we will be considering it. Just to feel warm inside at the saving on RRP.

HoratioHufnagel – Member
We bought an uppababy vista 2nd hand, seems good, tho our baby is still a couple of weeks away (argh!)

However, i’ve since noticed this on hotukdeals and it is pretty much identical, and only 200 quid brand new…

4. Interesting insight. We’d very much got our heart set on a system that would allow us to not have to disturb baby when moving from car to pram. Lots of people we have spoken to have said its a must but good to hear another opinion. i Also got a v good deal on an ergo baby sling which friends have raved about so think the baby will spend a fair bit of time in that.

phiiiiil – Member
The official advice is that under four weeks they should only be in a car seat for no more then half an hour, then two hours (I think) max above that.

We never bothered getting a seat that fits the buggy, it’s never been a problem just moving her between buggy, sling or car seat.

5.Advice that has been tested over the ages, however the fact I’m getting so much data on here will allow me to navigate that conversation and hopefully buy once… not to mention I can deflect any anger re decision to the hive mind that is STW. Trust me i’ve blamed STW before many a time… like when we drove to Oxford from Leeds on a sunday afternoon to pick up a PACE Full susser on a whim (njee – think that was you!), or the time someone was selling Josh Brycleands ‘old jump bike’ located in County Durham so i ‘just had to buy it’ on a whim on a Sunday afternoon, never to do as much as a bunny hop on it once in my possession…. didn’t work those times though

wobbliscott – Member

So i’d just go with whatever your wife wants, if not then you’ll just end up buying twice

6. All questions that i’ll be asking the mrs before we part with cash. We live out of the way, between 2 small towns with not many houses (less than 10) / no shops within a couple of miles so actual walking about would be done when we get places. So think the size, ease of fold and weight will all be major factors

What is your wife/partner going to be doing day in day out whilst you’re at work?

Where do you live in relation to baby groups etc.?

UppaBaby Vista here too, but we live somewhere where you always walk. Baby groups, shops, cafes, pubs. It’s been in daily use for the past 3.5yrs and has been faultless for our two kids.

The basket underneath was the biggest/most accessible of all the ones we looked at so useful when getting bits when out and about.

Think about your daily life before buying anything.

7. Defo a factor with the chariot decision, however this is the one thing we have already made our minds up about. In Finale Lagure last year we saw lots of continental European families who had/raved about the single version. so if they can fit in their car / van for their hols then we can make fit in our house / garage…. plus gives me an excuse to buy another bike appropriate to tow ! I’m in eBay hunt mode for a ‘deal’. as you don’t seem to lose any money if bought 2nd hand (or like you from USA)

They are fantastic but we were living in Paris when the kids were small and the Chariot was too wide for the pavements or to get in the shops; and this was the single version! I’d even have to take a rear wheel off to get it through the front door to our flat and into the lift. Long story short, by the time we moved to the ‘burbs the kids were ready to ride their own bikes and the Chariot was sold…(at zero loss).

8. The mrs has this on her list. however we don’t think it works with the car seat she wants. which is annoying as it looks ideal. i even started to get a little bit excited thinking about making the tyres tubeless

teacake – Member

More seriously, We got a Mountain Buggy +One – it takes two kids in a tandem style. It had a clip on moses basket bit and then from 6 months we had the seats in. Works for us but it is big so crap for shops and city life – doesn’t worry us.

9. Added to the list for us to look at. Good insights

damomcg – Member
For what it’s worth the Out n About Nipper is the best kept secret. You mainly see their double buggies pushed by parents of twins or by child minders but you don’t often see the single. We’ve had two singles over 9 years and they’ve been bomb-proof. They go from new born to heavy weight 3 year old and are light when folded. They are only £250!! Compared to all the other over-designed, over plasticy stuff you can’t go wrong.
For the winter I’d recommend purchasing the foot muff thing as well.

Plenty of opinions for you OP.

10. another one on the list. Feedback we have read says the same.

Egg pram – expensive but very well made compared to the competitors, folds and unfolds using one hand.

11. Damn, id started to enjoy being in the other camp where I was prepared to go against advice and not get a system…

makecoldplayhistory – Member
My advice:

go for a ‘system’ where the car seat clips into a base in the car as well as on the buggy part al la below. Nothing worse than waking a baby to put it in the car and having them scream all the way home.

12. Another alternative opinion to what we seem to have drilled into us,

glasgowdan – Member
To add, I’ve not been fussed about a car base clip system at all. Baby seats come with clips on the sides for the car seatbelt to strap around and it takes seconds to do.

13. The point of this thread is to show her the responses too. I think with the number of responses from intelligent like minded cyclists I might have a chance

outofbreath – Member
You need a pram as cheap and light with as little bulk as possible.

Your wife will want to spend four figures and buy a pram the size and weight of a truck that will totally fill your boot.

You will do the latter, not the former.

14. On the list and good to know. think this is the 3rd recommendation in this thread.

thetallpaul – Member
Can recommend the Bugaboo Chameleon.

15. 4th recommendation now for the Bugaboo Chameleon…

tinybits – Member
I’m not a trendy hipster dad so I got a pram, not a sling. If you want a pram, go for a pram.
We got a Bugaboo Chameleon as above and found it brilliant. We paid £400 second hand and sold it 2 kids later for nearly £300 – that’s the cheapest child thing I think I bought!

16. based upon this amazingly insightful thread I’m petitioning the MRS to look at:

> Babystyle Oyster
> Uppababy vista / jogger / whatever else – loads of recommendations in this thread
> the Britax hot uk deal pram
> Babyjogger City GT / other prams in range
> Mountainbaby to see if we do actually have options re car seat compatibly
> Egg pram based upon it being mentioned on here in same terms as reviews online

i’ll need to read the thread again to really digest incase I’ve missed others to try, the other piece of advice we will take is once we have chosen said baby transporter we will then LOOK FOR A 2ND HAND DEAL.

Thanks for all the advice so far. I now feel confident enough to approach my good lady and have a proper alpha male conversation re what she should/ really/ possibly /hopefully/ if she really wants to / consider before ultimately making the wrong choice of pram (my fault no doubt)

Mountain buggy here, perfect for the mountain biker. They even come with three wheel sizes! I have a swift (the 26er equivalent).

On the tyre issue….

Solid = Zero maintenance. No chance of a flat in the middle of a long walk, as you will never, ever have your pump/patch/tube with you. Ever. Not as comfy, so look at the overall design, suspension etc.

Pneumatic = Comfier and better on rougher terrain. However, if you don’t keep them inflated (which you won’t) the tyres wear out fast and puncture easily. See above re the almost inevitable location of a puncture.

Also, in many, the tubes are utter bastards to fit. If you can find one in the right size.