We're starting to think about a pushchair, or rather grandparents are, and I want to be informed rather than led!
As space is of a premium we need something that isn't too wide for the small lift at the flat, will fold up as small as possible for storage indoors, is relatively lightweight, and is robust enough to cope with the rigours of outdoor life in the park and rough and through a snowy and icy Munich winter, not just swishing through the shops. The flexibility of a travel system is appealing, but we don't necessarily need a carrycot and all that gumpf. Though obviously apart from all that it needs to be comfy!
So far on two trips with future grandparents our eye has been caught by the Silvercross sleepover, the Quinny Buzz (though I think it's a little fiddly) and, against our better wishes, the Bugaboo Cameleon.
In England the shopping assistant was really pushing the silvercross, but in Germany they were pushing the Bugaboo as best for 'local conditions' (it has a snow option!) Apart from the price I'm put off by the trendiness of it though.
Anyway, if anyone has any opinions on the above, or recommendations for other chairs they'd be very welcome. I've looked in the user reviews and the buzz gets good reviews but apart from that it seems everyone has Maclarens!
Hi Scribbler We got a very unexciting travel system from Mothercare but it's been good. Pluses: the car seat fitting into the top makes it much less of a faff getting in and out of the car into the buggy and our baby liked being quite high up, looking at us. Lots fo space under the pushchair to store shopping when you dont' want to hang bags off the handles (v dangerous!). Downside: not very compact when packed down. Between that and the travel cot, there's never space for any other luggage when we go away!
I don't have one myself, but a friend of mine got treated to a Bugaboo last year. Not sure if it was the Gecko one, but she thought it was a bit too easy to move, ie it felt like it wasn't brilliantly sturdy on its wheels and instead felt like one of those shopping trollies you have where the basket is small and high off the ground. I'd love some tips too, though, as the one we got for our first child is a bit worn out now and I think we should treat the new baby to their own new one!
I hadn't thought of looking at the Mothercare ones Sally, I'll have to ask my mum to pop in and have a look. Though she has a longstanding thing against Mothercare, finds it a bit scrappy, so I don't know if I'll get an independent opinion!
Bernice, I didn't look at the Gecko, the Cameleon seemed quite sturdy on its wheels, so it's interesting what your friend found. It just seemed to sort of bounce suspended on the wheels and bouce back up rather than tip, which was one of the heavy selling points for the assistant. It might well be different with a baby in it though so I'll have to check that out if I take it further.
Was your friend disappointed with the chair in the end then?
HI Scribbler! Hope it's all going well with your pregnancy, and you're taking care of yourself!
As for pushchairs.. there are any number of things you need to take into consideration before you buy! Are you going to be using the humble public transport buses a lot? (Like poor old me, the 3 wheeler is no use to me on the tiny cramped yellow buses down my way!) Will you be comfortable with baby facing away from you in the pushchair? Travel Systems with the car seat clipping into the pram seem like a fantastic idea, except when baby is 4 months plus, and doesn't like the idea of being crammed into the infant carrier all the way around Tescos! Is manuoverability going to be an issue? Fixed wheel prams look gorgeous, but I found that as Jake got heavier, he was becoming incredibly difficult to move in the big Mamas and Papas pram we had at first.
Accessories are an important thing to consider as well, is it going to cost you half as much again to get it decked out with raincovers and cup holders!?!?
In my experience, the best makers of pushchairs are Mamas and Papas. If I had been able to afford one, I would have gone for a Mamas and Papas A3 Pramette.. I love the simplicity of the design, baby faces you when smaller- and once they reach an age where they want the independance of looking out and about you unzip the seat and voila! Lightweight as well, and like all Mamas and Papas pushchairs- built to last!
I also highly recommend the Jane Powertracks 3 wheelers. Lightest on the market and again, built to last.
But whatever you end up choosing- I would say get a lightwight buggy for short trips, emergencies and holiday travel! As previously raved about on the site- the Maclarens are excellent in that field.
I would agree that, once the baby is a few months old, you'll be amazed at the lightweight ease of a Maclaren – especially if you're travelling to visit family a lot. Maclaren is to buggies what Hoover is to vaccum cleaners! However, for the early months, you do need something more solid. Have you looked at the ThinkBaby guide to the virtues of buggies, three-wheelers etc? The different options reviewed do raise factors that you might have not yet considered which fit in with your own needs. I agree with MG that 3-wheelers – probably great if you like jogging through woodland with your baby – are unweildy beasts on public transport. Although ones like the Jane P model have certainly improved the weight problem of the old school three-wheelers.
from our experience mothercares range of three wheelers tend to be very heavy and like already stated above they don't fold flat. theres something about the bugaloo that i don't like but i can't put my finger on it. our choice came down to a jane, silver cross, or mamas and papas, we dicounted the jane incase we had a boy, silly we know but people see the large JANE written on the side and assumem its a girl, we were going to get a silver cross xt system but went in to a shop to look at cots and were offered a cracking deal on a mamas and papas system with over £100 as it was ex display, compared to the mothercare detour model its replacing its a lot lighter and not so industrial in its appearane the finishing is better but then it does cost more. and one handed folding seems a great invention. when our son grew out of his old three wheeler i sold it to some friends very cheaply, if it had been a better make i could have got a lot more for it, so i did bear that in mind when looking for a new one. again people have said about a maclaren as soon as our new child is old/big enough we'll get a new one there a god send with the carry strap so when not in use you can sling it over your shoulder, they take up very little space and weight little.
I think my friend liked the fact that she had an expensive buggy so the top-heaviness of her Gecko didn't really bother her! (She has avoided 'off roading' with it through the heath though. Our first one was a Graco one which I liked. Not much to choose between the big travel systems at the time, except colour ranges. However, the new Graco travel system has a really nifty button you push down with your feet at the back, to apply the breaks. That's a lot easier than the older model and other buggies/pushchairs I've tried. Sounds like a small detail but it's the small details that matter!
Hi all and thank you for all the very useful comments and suggestions.
Great points there MG (hello! all going v.well with the pregnancy thanks! I'm now at the stage where you first found out ;-) ) I probably will use the pushchair on public transport a bit but the buses here are rather generous in that respect and there are buggy spaces by all the doors, you also rarely see a very full bus.
Manouevrability is definitely an issue given that we'll be going walking in the woods, counryside and park a lot and given the winters here - minus 11 today.
We looked at a few buggies at the weekend and I really noticed the gulf between fixed wheel and some of the swivelers, as you pointed out.
I've measured the lift and it's really quite small: 70cm wide doorway, then inside it's 130cm by 73cm (deep), so if I'm to fit in the lift with the buggy and get it through the door in the first place, it'll need either to be quite slim and nifty or have a very easily detachable seat that I can set on the ground replete with baby while I collapse the frame. The first would be better, though that would probably mean a shorter shelf-life.
I've seen a couple of Janes out and about Luke, but will have to investigate further. I don't think we have mamas and papas over here, but will definitely investigate that following your recommendation.
Bernice, for me, apart from the slimness and apparent simplicity of it, a large part of the point of the Cameleon would be the manouevrability of it 'off road'. That said, the salesperson we talked to didn't recommend the Gecko for that, so maybe they're different.
I had another look at the Quinny Buzz at the weekend, and my husband agreed with me that it felt rather rickety, although put it up and down was very easy compared with the last time I tried. Looks like there's a trade-off to be made between flexibility/manouevrability, sturdiness and price.
I saw a few interesting-looking German brands, but I don't have any way to put them in context as if there's a German ThinkBaby I haven't found it!
Thanks again for all the advice, it's all very helpful and makes me feel a little less at sea, as it's all very well seeing things that look good in the show room, but ti's not til you actually use them that you know how good they are.
We have just spent the last 3 months looking for a new pushchair as the harness on the Graco we origianlly bought turned out to be very fiddly and was slowly driving me insane.
We then started to think about other options that would be good and as I spend alot of time out on my own, realised that being able to see James would be perfect.
We bought at the weekend a Mamas and Papas reversible pushchair and it also comes as a travel system.
So far I can't fault it and the harness is brilliant!
Hi Sami, thanks for the info and glad you've found one that you like. Another M&Ps rec, it's looking good. Do you by any chance have any idea what the chair is called??
Yep it is Venezia pushchair and it also comes as a travel system.
I bought alot of items from Mothercare and Babies R Us but have started using M&P. I wish I had bought it all from there (socks from there actually stay on James's feet!)
Hi Scribbler! Choosing a pushchair is always difficult. I'm a bit of a shopaholic when it comes to buggies. My 2-year-old son has had 7 (!!) buggies. The first was a present from my mother-in-law (a bulky travel system that I always hated), then we got a Maclaren Vogue, which was lovely. It was suitable from birth, had great suspension, an apron, comfortable handles and all the other bonuses of a Maclaren. Unfortunately, through much over-use, the brakes and back suspension failed and we had to get rid of it. I still have a big fixed-wheel pram that my mum bought us when LP was newborn. It is great for comfort and has a reversable seat, but fixed wheels can make manoeverability difficult and it was too heavy and bulky for buses or trains. I had two Graco CitiSports (one was given to me just after I bought the other), which are good little buggies. They fold up quite well, have relatively good suspension, a carry strap and an adjustable handle. Unfortunately, my mum commandeered one and it stays at her house for when we visit (I told the other). My son also had a Mothercare Energico, it had a reversible seat and laid flat, it had an apron to make a pram. The downside was that it, again, was rather bulky and too heavy to take on public transport. After much debate, I returned to a Maclaren, although a Quest (not suitable before 3 months). Having had the option though, I would have gone for the ever-popular Techno XT. It's a good all-rounder, lightweight and folds up very small. This time around I'm pushing hubby towards either a Techno XT (or a Twin Traveller depending on my son's attitude to walking), or a M&P Pramette which I've always liked the look of and heard good things about. We'll have to wait until the time comes because hubby (for some unknown reason!) is rather against going buggy shopping ever again!!!
Wow Ginny you're a real expert! Interesting what you were saying, Sami, about the Graco one, I'll bear that in mind. Mine was in 2002 so maybe they've not all changed for the better. I mentioned my Gecko comments to someone else who said she also found the Gecko a bit too easy to swivel round and found all the removable bits too fiddly. However, she's now got her eye on the Cameleon! Also, I never thought about Maclaren from birth as I'm so used to them being next-step buggies. Scribbler – is all this helping or getting even more confusing?!
Hadn't tried the Mothercare three-wheeler, we had a four-wheel travel system. It wasn't too heavy, but it was big. I liked the way I could lock the wheels for heavy terrain or have them swivel for negotiating boutiques when my baby was asleep!
Scribbler - we've got the Inglesina Zippy, the Maclaren Triumph and the Out N About Nipper Double. They've all been good for different stages / reasons: - the Inglesina is very flexible, being both a pushchair and a car seat, and being able to take newborns all the way up to young child. - the Maclaren is just simple, light and small, though this one is no good for really young babies (there are others that cater for tiny ones, I believe) - the Nipper is a deluxe double, which is impressively light for such a big thing, and it has excellent big wheels that make it easy on all surfaces.
I'd have no hesitation recommending any of the three, recognising the very real differences between what they're designed for.
Wow Scribbler,what alot of messages! I have just had a similar experience on the "choosing of a pushchair" dilemma! I am in a small flat like yourself and have lots of steps to negotiate so I needed something really lightweight. I ended up choosing the McLaren Techno XT which was recommended to me by a nanny who has struggled with many pushchairs! It goes right from birth and is only about 7 kgs! Since I bought mine I have seen so many people with them and they have all raved about how good they are. I never knew that buying a simple pushchair could be such a minefield! Good luck!
Hi Have a look at the Jane Carrera. The new one that is out lok better than mine. It folds down like an umbrella buggy but is suitable for birth. It is lightweight and one of the easiest pushchairs that I have ever pushed. The price is pretty decent too. Definately worth considering if space is premium!
