Pushchair advice

mrsj28

Hi, we are expecting a baby this year and have started to look at some pram/pushchair options. I think we've narrowed it down to three that we like and wondered if anybody uses (or has used) them, and could give their opinion on pros and cons? There are lots of reviews online, I know, but nothing like hearing it from the lovely ladies and gents on MSE

The models we like are:

Babystyle Oyster
Mamas and Papas Sola
Britax B-Agile 3

Thank you in advance for any advice

Gillyx

Out of those I'd chose the Sola, it comes pretty high on Which reviews and almost everyone I know loves theres.

I found the Oyster pretty flimsy when I handled it and it was my first choice when I started looking

Not sure about the Britax but one thing to think about how long can it parent face for? That was my main thing that mattered for me, we were out of the carry cot and car seat on the pram by around 6 months, and I still have him parent facing at 1 year. I love being able to chat to him/make funny faces etc.

Edit: Sorry just realised you said pros and cons I wasn't very helpful. The best thing to do is definitely go try them out in the shop, try folding them up, folding them down, changing car seat for carry cot for pushchair seat, how easy does the rain cover go on, is there anywhere to store it, do you need shopping space, is there any. We went for the Mamas & Papas Mylo in the end as it was the sturdiest pram we found, we did like the Stokke Xplory but too expensive for us

mrsj28

Gillyx wrote: »

Out of those I'd chose the Sola, it comes pretty high on Which reviews and almost everyone I know loves theres.

I found the Oyster pretty flimsy when I handled it and it was my first choice when I started looking

Not sure about the Britax but one thing to think about how long can it parent face for? That was my main thing that mattered for me, we were out of the carry cot and car seat on the pram by around 6 months, and I still have him parent facing at 1 year. I love being able to chat to him/make funny faces etc.

Edit: Sorry just realised you said pros and cons I wasn't very helpful. The best thing to do is definitely go try them out in the shop, try folding them up, folding them down, changing car seat for carry cot for pushchair seat, how easy does the rain cover go on, is there anywhere to store it, do you need shopping space, is there any. We went for the Mamas & Papas Mylo in the end as it was the sturdiest pram we found, we did like the Stokke Xplory but too expensive for us

Thanks - the Britax is only parent facing with the carry cot on, the main seat only faces outwards, so definitely something to think about!

Gillyx

If you can research research research. I did, and spent many a weekend comparing them side by side in shops. I'm glad I did as we uhm-ed and ahh-ed about spending what we did, BUT we went for it, and I'm so glad we did.

I seriously don't see us buying a cheap stroller or anything, as I love our pram so much. So even though it cost us slightly more in the beginning, in the long run it's economical, as I haven't found anything I dislike about it, like so many parents do after using there pram for a little while. I use it at least 5 days a week and it still looks brand new, I could probably sell it on for an ok price. The Sola is v similar to ours which is why I'd recommend it

anmarj

we have the m&p sola and I do love it, only downside is trying to put the pram frame down. You have to pull one fixing and push and pull the other fixing on the other side which can be awkward if you don't do it right. I am getting used to it. OH who only has put the frame down infrequently stil struggles. But it is nice and smallish frame when down, which is good as MIL has a small car. We were lucky that we knew the shop owner when we got it and were able to have a real play with all the prams that she had in her shop when we were looking. We went for the carrycot, car seat and stroller. should say that you need to order car seat adaptors seperatley as it does not come as standard

mogwai

mrsj - i think only the britax is a 3 wheeler so for that reason may be lighter, and be able to handle more terrains than the other 2, so if you wanted to use your pushchair on the beach, for off road walks etc, it would probably be a better choice.

Its the only 1 of the 3 I have tried, and it was very smooth and light and easy to handle.

One major downside as with most 3 wheelers is that the pushchair cant be parent facing, which puts me off my current 3 wheeler fave, the Babyjogger.

But as said before, nothing like lining up the 3 and trying them out at the same time, you might automatically have a preference for one of them when compared like that!

mrsj28

Thanks everybody! As far as I can tell only Mothercare stocks the B-Agile 3 so it's going to be difficult to line them all up together (as Mothercare won't stock M & P Sola). However I have found a local independent shop that stocks the M & P Sola and the Oyster, so will go and see them side by side at least.

dizziblonde

I have a Britax double and I'm pretty impressed with it in terms of how well it handles (even in the snow on steep hills and the double is flipping heavy - but doesn't push like it), but I know I'd have missed parent-facing as an option.

ddebski_us

I have M&P Sola - it's fantastic overall.

Easy to put up and down and to switch between parent and outward facing (really easy actually!)
Easy to take wheels off if needed to get into boot
Steers well, easy to manoeurve.
My 17mth old is comfy in it and has never complained.
Easy to use with car seat too - I loved it as a new first time mum!

Only con I can see is that the footmuff/cosytoe is a bit flappy when baby lies flat - it has a folddown bit for when seat is upright and when DD was tiny, I worried about it being a bit breezy and not covering her far enough up when she was lying flat. Easily rectified using pramsuit and blankets, and I'm sure M&P do different cosytoes now which may fix this.

Other than that, great price and I defintiely recommend.

Good luck!

xDx

carolineb23

I have the sola and have used it for 16 months. It's gorgeous, lovely to push, manoeuvres well and seems comfy yet sturdy for my daughter. However we have had 2 issues with wheels coming off. After it had been in use for about 6 months the cap on the outer side of the back right wheel came off and wouldn't go back on (it's not screwed in just tapped on I think) so we had to go to M&P and get another wheel. They didn't even bat an eyelid. Then last week the left wheel came off and won't go back on again, it's not the same problem as before, this time the problem is with the frame. To be honest we've not bothered to do anything with it as we were already thinking of using the lightweight umbrella fold pushchair we have a bit more simply due to the fact the sola is a bit of a pain to store. However, if we were going to do anything it's our of guarantee and I've heard far too many horror stories about M&P customer service. We have looked after this pram and don't use it off road.
For this reason I would avoid as it's quite scary when you're faced with getting the pram and baby home when on your own and one wheel down. A quick google would confirm I'm not the only one to have had either of these issues! I was truly gutted as I love the pram but just think the build quality isn't good enough.

mrsj28

carolineb23 wrote: »

I have the sola and have used it for 16 months. It's gorgeous, lovely to push, manoeuvres well and seems comfy yet sturdy for my daughter. However we have had 2 issues with wheels coming off. After it had been in use for about 6 months the cap on the outer side of the back right wheel came off and wouldn't go back on (it's not screwed in just tapped on I think) so we had to go to M&P and get another wheel. They didn't even bat an eyelid. Then last week the left wheel came off and won't go back on again, it's not the same problem as before, this time the problem is with the frame. To be honest we've not bothered to do anything with it as we were already thinking of using the lightweight umbrella fold pushchair we have a bit more simply due to the fact the sola is a bit of a pain to store. However, if we were going to do anything it's our of guarantee and I've heard far too many horror stories about M&P customer service. We have looked after this pram and don't use it off road.
For this reason I would avoid as it's quite scary when you're faced with getting the pram and baby home when on your own and one wheel down. A quick google would confirm I'm not the only one to have had either of these issues! I was truly gutted as I love the pram but just think the build quality isn't good enough.

Thanks for this - I've read a couple of other reviews which mention the wheel(s) coming off and poor M & P customer service... so will definitely bear that in mind.