Do modern prams isolate young mums?

littlerock

When I was a young mum, large baby carriages were out and we all pushed our children around in lightweight buggies. The advantage of these were that they could be manoeuvred fairly easy onto the bus and even collapsed (with a strategic kick) and the small occupant lifted under one arm (for going up and down stairs in public buildings etc) when needed.

My daughter in law in New York has such a buggy and as she now has two small children, of 3 and 1, one travels in the stroller and the other is worn in a sling on her chest. A small back pack is used for baby essentials. Nearly all mothers in New York have one of these strollers. The pavements are crowded and many mothers, like my d-i-l, live in walk ups without lifts. She travels all over the place with the kids, on the the subway, on public transport etc.

I recently helped out a friend with a craft fair on the first floor of a shop. There was a good view of the road and as I looked out I was struck by how the pendulum here seemed to have swung back in favour of large technologically advanced baby carriages. I noticed a lot of young mothers pushing one of these mini perambulators, the lower tray stuffed with shopping and the babies buried inside in a cocoon of bedding.

I also noticed that the only mothers to visit the craft fair were those with strollers or babies in baby slings despite the fact there was a large and attractive range of baby related items on sale. We had someone at the street level, to greet and mind the prams while the mothers visited the fair but all the big pram pushers declined on the grounds the pram was too heavy to carry upstairs, they did not want to disrupt the baby by removing them from it etc. It was not safe to leave their shopping (even though we had a baby park minder.)

I was struck by this as it seemed to give young mothers much less freedom of movement when on their own. I asked around and mong the younger mothers I know, many confessed to having a large modern pram and all defended them on the ground it was very useful to have a baby carriage which doubled as a removable car seat /carry cot and also could carry plenty of shopping. They did admit they avoided travelling on the bus with larger models because they were cumbersome and took up room on an already crowded bus service. And some said that they were also limited in the shops they could visit with one and they tended to stay on foot and not visit shops with stairs or narrow entrances or aisles. Those whose husbands took the car to work and were a one car family, agreed they were limited in how far from home they felt it was easy to travel as they did not want the bother of getting a large modern baby carriage onto a busy bus.

I pointed out what I thought was another benefit of the buggy which was that the child faced the street and could see what was going on. They were all horrified and said they were all taught it was more important for the baby to see and communicate with its mother. I am unconvinced about this. I recently went on a walk with a friend who has two small children, one in a stroller facing the street and one in a sling. The child in the stroller was around 2 1/2 and chatting happily to his mother despite not facing her. My friend remarked darkly that these modern carriages are also very expensive and to own one is a mark of your status.

What do other young mothers who own large baby carriages think?

Transformers

Doesn't stop them from bringing buggies the size of a small car into our local Starbucks - four mums can take up half the seating area with their huge prams.

jen1301

Transformers wrote: »

Doesn't stop them from bringing buggies the size of a small car into our local Starbucks - four mums can take up half the seating area with their huge prams.

You really did get out of the wrong side of bed this morning didn't you?

VfM4meplse

I think this reflects a trend of wanting the "best" of everything. I can see why modern mothers might not be content to push something that looks like a deckchair on wheels around!

raven83

VfM4meplse wrote: »

I think this reflects a trend of wanting the "best" of everything. I can see why modern mothers might not be content to push something that looks like a deckchair on wheels around!

You couldn't of worded it better....deckchair! That is exactly what them buggies look like, they're ok for when the child is older, but mine all had prams, in fact, I think I had a bit of an addiction for prams when mine were little

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I hate the sodding pavement panzer brigade.

The kids don't see anything of the world around them, everybody else has to dodge out of the way or risk being mown down, and it's more about being seen with the biggest, shiniest, most expensive lump of plastic that was ever pushed the ten foot from the 4x4 abandoned half across the kerb, half on the double yellow lines to the school yard.


As soon as mine were physically ready, they were put into the most manoeuvrable, narrowest, single handed collapsing buggy I could find (for the least amount of money). Better for them, me and everybody around us.

Gillyx

The reasons I bought a pram over a stroller. I wanted to buy one pram to see me through from newborn to no longer needing a pram. A stroller isn't suitable for that really, I wouldn't want my newborn so exposed, I loved my carrycot on my pram, it lasted us a good 6 months and being laid flat is the best thing for there bones and back at that age. It turned on a six pence, so was so easy to manoeuvre when we lived in the city centre, it kept my child nice and high up rather than low to the floor like a lot of strollers. after the carrycot a seat unit went on to it which could parent face or face outwards. We also didn't have a car so walked absolutely everywhere, no public transport so I wanted my boy to be as comfortable as he could be. As it were my little one walked exclusively from 18 months so it's been packed away for any future children.

You can get compact prams now that aren't strollers and don't take up the whole pavement so I don't think it's a case of either/or. There are other options out there.

I'm 27 and my mum had a massive silver cross pram for me :eek: now that was massive.

Mrs_Imp

I have an old fashioned coach built pram.

For me it is the most practical and most sociable pram. I have no access to the car during the week, so if I go out for the day, or need to go shopping I can just shove everything in the basket underneath, which I can't do with a smaller pushchair. My daughter can choose to face me or turn to look around her. When she's tired she can lie down flat. She's nice and high, away from sniffing dogs, swinging handbags and splashes from cars in puddles. When it rains it takes me 2 seconds to pull the hood up to keep her dry. And everyone recognises us and stops for a chat.

I'm not a fan of tiny little buggies, and when in them my children slump down, say nothing, and interact very little.

I don't think that isolation has anything to do with what pram you drive.

Caroline_a

I had a stroller that had a back that reclined slightly which the child went into at 6 months. Prior to that I had a big Silver Cross pram, but that was only to go to wherever I could walk to - baby went in a sling if I needed to go on the bus, etc.

I do agree though with the monstrosities that seem to be everywhere today - but for the most part the mothers are on their mobiles, so poor child just gets a vision of mother babbling on about whatever to whoever. Certainly not reacting to anything the child does!

Kynthia

Many now tend to buy a travel system because that is marketed as the best option, and you buy it before the baby arrives when you are all excited, nervous, inexperienced but want the best for your baby. So perhaps you'd make a different choice later on and many do swap for something light and manoeuvrable after a couple of years. They tend to be big as they are designed to be used from birth until they no longer need a pushchair. From birth until 4-6 months the baby should be kept flat and most pushchairs/buggys/strollers aren't suitable so the system will have a carrycot attachment. It is also convenient to have the car seat be able to attach to it for short trips so there'll be adaptors for that. Then there will be the pushchair attachment that will be both rear and forward facing. This is because a few years ago research showed the modern trend of forward facing pushchairs from a young age reduced communication between parent and baby and could be distressing, and that a toward facing pushchair meant that the baby was less stressed, had a lower heart rate, was more relaxed and likely to fall asleep, and both parent and baby would talk and laugh more. Therefore there was a call to make pushchairs toward-facing for when the child was little but could then be forward-facing once they were a little older. Unfortunately this design is more expensive but parents aware of this research then pay more to have these systems.


So in answer to your question I feel that toward-facing is a very good thing for babies and this is backed up by research. However I'm not surprise the 2.5 year old you went out with was fine and I would expect a child of that age to be happier forward facing. Also I don't feel that today's travel systems isolate mum's, as the suspension and manoeuvrability is really good so great for walking long distances, very supportive and comfortable for the baby, and most shopping centres and modern shops can accommodate them as they have to be accessible for wheelchairs. Old style prams from birth were just as difficult to get on public transport as modern ones (where the baby has to lay flat) but modern buses have more spaces for these than they used to. Any parent that has to use public transport or use a lot of steps can buy a light umbrella folding buggy for this purpose from 6 months.

ciderwithrosie_2

I have always used public transport and a fold up stroller was essential. Either that or I used a backpack carrier so my hands were free and I wasn't taking up more than the one space I'd paid for. These days the mums get on the bus with the pram/pushchair as it is, they don't get the baby out and fold it up. If two pushchair mums want to get on the bus that leaves no room for mobility scooters or wheelchairs.