Our first pram, stroller, buggy...?

Moomum

Congratulations! We have the bugaboo bee and it's amazing! When I had my son I had gotten through 7 buggies by the time he was one. My daughter is one in a few weeks and wouldn't swap the bee for anything. I'm 5'3 and hubby 6'2 so adjustable handles are great, it lies flat and can fit huge amount of shopping in basket underneath.

We did buy the baby cocoon and only used it for about four weeks and LO was born 1 St April, a liner did fine after that. Hmmmm what else, oh it's really narrow and fits on buses easily, it is as narrow as a maclaren but much more user friendly. It is great as is parent facing aswell as other way so nice to talk to LO as you walk around. It fits in the boot of my best friends mini easily so am sure it should fit in your boot.

Have fun buggy shopping

Xx

smithyjules

We had a Maclaren Techno XT for our DD when she was a baby and have used it non-stop for 4 years, on buses and trains, loaded with shopping the works, the covers come off and wash well, it folds down easily with one hand (see video on maclaren website) and it folds flat for newborns. We had our second baby in June last year and I found a Maclaren XLR (travel system), I hated it I was so upset it drove me mad with brakes kept going on randomly, heaviler, not so easy to put down etc. Had a real snivel about it as by then I had freecycled our old one!!

Marvelous lovely hubby, brought me a new Techno XT and we sold the XLR and now all is good!Love XT's! I'm 5'4" and hubby 6'1" and the handles adjust easily.Folds up easily, lays flat. We use it with a buggy snuggle and I'd happily put a newborn in it.

Nicki

I have a bugaboo bee for my 17 month old and it is the only pram I have had for him, and I love it. With my first two I was a serial pram buyer and had af least 4 or 5 each but never completely happy with any. So although the bee was pricy it has recouped some money by stopping me going out and buying other options. The things I like about it are adjustable height handles, parent facing for as long as you like, very light, good shopping basket ( both size and easy to get things in unlike the mclarens for example) very manoeuvrable, folds in one piece, good customer service ( they replaced the whole seat unit free of charge when it got damaged after more than a year's daily use). We had the maxicosi seat too but never actually used it on the chassis though you can. The other thing is it's great on public transport and in busy restaurants etc as it takes up so little space even with baby in it, and as its quite narrow is good in even small corner shops.

We don't have the plus as this wasn't out when we bought and I don't know how different it is, but I would highly recommend the bee.

Quenastoise

I had a collection in my time. You are right to be doing your research and investing. My (better off) friend spent more on hers and kept it throughout the early years whereas I went through a collection of second-hand models that somewhat always ended looking battered

nikki&asha

Have you looked at Oysters? I love mine - best I've had. It folds up very small (takes up about 25% of the boot of my punto), is light (I get it up two flights to my flat easily with DS is his car seat aswell - tho this is getting harder now he is 5 months!). The main reason I went for it being in a flat is that the car seat goes directly onto the frame so its easy to carry him about. I'm 5 7 and Daddy is 6 2 and both find it fine to push - lots of room to adjust it(my sister (5' 2 ) finds it fine as well).
I must say its much better than anything I had with DD steering wise and is very sturdy.

I also second maclarens they are excellent , especially once the child is toddling - excellent quality - I have a 8 year old quest that still works fine and looks brand new every time I wash it.

Good luck

onlyroz

Do you need to do any off-roading? If you do, then you can't beat the Mountain Buggy. Do you need carrying capacity? Is weight important?

We use a combination of a Mountain Buggy and a Quinny Zapp. The Zapp isn't suitable for a newborn (unless you use it as a frame for a Maxi-Cosi car seat) but it's just about the smallest buggy you can buy - perfect for taking on a plane/train/bus.

digitalphase

We have bought the Mama's and Papa's Zoom for our first baby. Very lightweight, easy to fold up and down, easy to maneuver etc etc. Fits well into my VW Golf. Comes with carrycot as well for baby's first few months where they need to lie flat.

Haven't had my baby yet, so obviously not tried it for real, however very pleased with it so far!

The Sola is also very good, I just preferred the Zoom. I also tried more expensive prams, but couldn't see enough difference to spend the extra money.

Oh and I am just under 5'10" and OH is about 6'2" and we can push Zoom fine, it's a good height for us.

iamana1ias

digitalphase wrote: »

Oh and I am just under 5'10" and OH is about 6'2" and we can push Zoom fine, it's a good height for us.

I expect it's the bending down and twisting to pick up/put down/attend to an ever growing baby/child that can cause back issues. Pushing looks like the easy bit!

Suzanne_Louise

We had a Bebecar Ip-Op and it was fantastic; really compact and incredibly easy to use. We only ever saw 1 other person with the same as us too, which was nice!

alleycat`

We have a graco travel system (coming up to 3 years old now).
The baby carrier/base went ages ago but the buggy is still going strong.
My wife doesn't drive so it gets some serious tap going to the shops and back.

Thankfully she doesn't have the buggy addiction my mates wife has (buggy number 7 i think).

Only downsides to it i can think of is that it is fairly burly beast even when folded flat and it isn't as "fancy" / "clever" as a lot of the big names.