Travel Systems for Taller Parents

psychopathbabble

Evening all,

We are expecting our first child in November this year. We went looking at prams at the weekend while my DH parents were visiting. We quickly discovered that a lot of handles were too short for him, being 6'6!

He fell in love with the look of the silver cross wayfarer Chelsea edition. While I like it, I'm worried the carrycot is too low. I was heading straight for the giggle 2 but the size of the basket is far too small. Comparing the two, the silver cross is around £250-£300 more as I've found a deal with giggle 2 with a free car seat.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Price is fairly important, we got married in January and bought a house in February so, as most people do, we are trying to keep costs down.

I would prefer a travel system.

While DH has fallen for the look of the Chelsea version, I have said to him that functionality and practicality is more important! I'll be using it the most but there will be times he has the baby on his own.

I have a smallish car so it needs to fold relatively small (wayfarer just fit if I took the cup holder off).

While looks are not important, I'm not a huge fan of the prams where the car seat or carrycot sits ontop of the stroller seat.

Thank you

janed9388

we have a Babystyle Oyster from Mothercare, which seems fine or my OH who is 6"5'. It is a few (4) years old now and they seem to be on to version 2 (Babystyle Oyster2) but it looks basically the same so perhaps worth trying out.

It splits in two and packs nicely in the car too. hope this helps.

psychopathbabble

Thank you, he did try it and it was slightly too short for him :-( will give it another go when we are next in the shops!

janed9388

I agree, it is slightly too short but better than a lot of the others and didn't cause him any issues pushing it.

We were actually going to buy something else but the assistant in Mothercare pointed out how much he was bending when trying it out and although it seemed OK around the shop we would regret it if we bought it - she had a very good point.

He does struggle with the oyster now that we have DS2 here and DD1 on a buggy board at the back - not so much with his back, but because he can't walk normally without kicking the board. If this might be an issue later I think the oyster2 has a version which can take a second seat underneath but our one can't.

Kynthia

My OH is 6'5 and I'm 5'9 so we needed something for tall parents. We went with the Uppababy Vista and we're extremely happy with it. The baby is higher up which felt better, there is no bar across the wheels for us to kick when taking long strides, the handle is high and adjustable so worked well for us. Plus the sun shade is much better than a parasol, the carrycot and seat are long which is great for tall babies, the basket holds loads, the carrycot is suitable for overnight sleeping (many aren't in this country as it must have air vents in the base) the brake is fantastic, the wheels are puncture proof, and the large rear wheels make curbs a breeze. It's big, heavy and expensive though. To get it in my Ford Focus I used to pop a wheel off, which was really easy but might mean it's too big for your car. However they have a new 2015 design so that might be lighter and fold smaller for all I know.

I loved the colours of the Silvercross Wayfarer and wished I could have had one. However my friend had one as I was glad I hadn't bought it. The smaller wheels made curbs more difficult and her baby outgrew the carrycot quickly. They may have changed in the last couple of years though.

psychopathbabble

Thanks Kynthia, my friend has said she has heard good things about the vista. It's again an increase in what I was hoping to spend but we will look at it as its probably worth spending the money if it's the right pram for us. I think DH is sidetracked by the limited edition design and not really thinking of the practicalities. I will certainly have a look at it next time we are in a shop that stocks it

psychopathbabble

Just found it for £655, will definitely check it out

GwylimT

Just remember with travel systems, young babies cannot be in car seats for more than two hours.

We didn't have our own, but we borrowed a bugaboo which was good, I don't know what it was called so i'll get a picture. Ah having a look its cameleon, very little under the handle bars so good room for walking without kicking it.

psychopathbabble

Thanks gwylim, bugaboos are out of our price range luckily I can walk to the shops from our house so the car seat will mostly be for popping to friends houses etc. Not too fussed if the car seat doesn't fit the pram, it's more the carrycot and seat separate so it lasts longer

Kynthia

psychopathbabble wrote: »

Thanks Kynthia, my friend has said she has heard good things about the vista. It's again an increase in what I was hoping to spend but we will look at it as its probably worth spending the money if it's the right pram for us. I think DH is sidetracked by the limited edition design and not really thinking of the practicalities. I will certainly have a look at it next time we are in a shop that stocks it

Actually using it in a shop and comparing it to others at the same time really highlighted how much better it was for us. I really wish I had the newer design now that baby 2 is due in November as you can have a carrycot and seat on at the same time with an adapter.

Apparently there's a new car seat approved by the lullaby trust as it doesn't curve a baby in the same way as others do. This means there's less risk of the problems giving rise to the two hour limit. However I haven't looked into this yet and don't even the brand. It's on my to-do list.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

A decent sling might be better for his back - and he's certainly less likely to get baby feet walloping him in the wotsits than the average bloke.

Just remember as the LO gets old enough to sit on his shoulders (which is the Best Place in the World for somebody who is only about 2 foot tall) that the first instruction s/he needs to learn is 'Duck'. [qualifications: ex is 6'5" - Offspring is 17 in a couple of days - if I'm feeling evil, I'll stand behind her and say it - she still ducks automatically :cool:]