Having a baby - best prams and other items...

clayton16749

My partner and I are due to have a child together soon. My first and her second.

We have a lot of things to buy obviously but I was just wondering if anyone out there has any pram reccomendations. We want something decent and good enough for the baby, but without spending a fortune. 

We have seen a pram/stroller combination at smyths. It's well reviewed and only £299 but I'm concerned that's too cheap. 

Any good reccommendations would be very welcome thank you. 

Savvy_Sue

Honestly, there's no one 'best' pram / pushchair / cot / nappy bag ... however much you're willing to spend. 

You need to find what will 'work' for your family. I had a good old-fashioned Silver Cross pram - actually technically it was a carry-cot on top. My aunt gave it to me, as she no longer needed it for grandchildren (some of my cousins are my age, and some have children my age ...) I'd never have bought one, and if we hadn't had a large hallway to keep it in, and mostly been going out on foot, it would have been a complete and utter liability. It did fold down but once that was in the boot, there wasn't room for anything more than a handbag ... Once I had two, I had a pram seat for the older child but I truly would NOT recommend them, accident waiting to happen (although fortunately not to us). 

Then my in-laws gave me a good old-fashioned Silver Cross pushchair. Slightly less of a liability, but still big and heavy to fit in the boot of the car, however you could at least put a large nappy bag in the boot with it. It was, however, brilliant for walking and shopping, as the full-length shopping tray I'd had under the pram also fitted under the pushchair. 

For taking in the car, I bought an umbrella-style buggy, and when I had three little darlings a friend lent me a double chassis for it, with carry cot. That was a complete liability for shopping because it was too wide to get in and out of a lot of shops. 

So ask yourself: how old is the older child? Are they a willing walker? What will you be using the pram for, city pavements or country walks? What will you need once baby outgrows the pram (which is quite quickly for a small carrycot, longer if you have a Silver Cross ...) Will you be catching buses?

And while you're asking those questions, look around while you're out and about. What do you like the look of? What looks ghastly? 

And if you fall in love with something really expensive, can you get it second hand? 

kangoora

No recommendations but does it have to be new? Keep an eye on Gumtree, local facebook selling sites, local mums clubs or even car boots - make sure you view before you buy obviously. I'd imagine you could get a perfectly suitable one for less than half of new price?

anotheruser

The best pram for you will be the one that makes you use the features it offers.

We bought a Silver Cross "travel system" possibly the Pioneer?
Cost us around £400 from ebay but it was brand new - wouldn't fit in the previous owners car - something to consider.
They're worth around £1200 new.

jimbo6977

Jané Matrix.

If you search online you'll find that the buffoons at Which? were apparently unable to attach it to its isofix base in a car but in any case it has colour coded indicators that tell you whether it's in properly or not. 

Not cheap, but "cheap" and "value" are not the same thing. 

whenever

Phil & Teds have a lie flat design which is good for when they are really little but is also useful after that when they get big enough to sit upright. Beyond that there's the second seat for another kid so it doesn't get obsolete as your child/family grows. We had ours for a good few years and it was sturdy too so although a bit pricey was well worth it in the long run. With our first child we initially bought a pram which was only used for about 6 months, if that, and didn't hold it's value so was basically a waste of money.

matticus7

A lot of people (myself included) will tell you that buying new is a complete waste of money for the time you'll get to use those items. That being said there's also nothing wrong with allowing yourself to enjoy splashing out if that's what you want to do.

If you do want to splash out and enjoy buying a few things then consider what the best things to focus on would be. Rather than buying a £500+ pram you could buy a 2nd hand pram or combi stroller and still have money left to buy brand new clothes, bedding, room decorations etc etc all within the price you would have paid for just 1 item.

CreditCardJunkie

Hi, just wanted to share my experience. Had my first child in 2019 and DH and I didn't see all the fuss in expensive prams. We chose the baby elegance pram from Smyth's which has one seating unit that is supposed to go from flat in increments to a seated position..and honestly... absolute nightmare. We had 3 prams from them in the end which all had the same fault with the seating unit before they would refund.
We had hospital appointments with our LO that we had to use public transport to attend so not having a pram was an absolute nightmare while we waited on the refund. Buy cheap buy twice. We ended up getting the mamas and papas flip xt3 which I absolutely love and bought online much cheaper than mamas and papas themselves. If we decide to have another baby this pram will be fit for another child too so definitely worth the money in my opinion.
Congratulations by the way ☺️

RichyRich

Our baby is nearly five months old now and we too spent hours...nay, days...looking at prams and prams and prams. In the end we decided that it was pointless spending a buttload of money, he won't be in it that long anyway, we live in a city so not like it needs to be all terrain, and settled on the Babyco Belize. Honestly if I were to make the decision again I'd make the same one. Its a three in one pram/carrycot, car seat and pushchair; folds up pretty small; does all you need to do; no damn adaptors to get lost; easy to use; comes with rain cover and changing bag included; and cost less than £300 new. I really can't think what you'd get for spending any more. We are really pleased with it and have recommended to friends and family.

SootySweep1

Hi
Its a long time since I bought a pram so I can't offer much advice on current models. However I just wanted to say think about how & where you'll  be using it.
We initially bought a big pram that converted into a pushchair. The car seat also fitted onto the chassis. It was brilliant for when we walking from home  & it also provided a great place to put our baby down to sleep downstairs during the day however it was too big to fit easily in the car so we ended up buying a buggy to go in the car.
Jen

elsien

Just to point out folks that the OP was posted last August,2020. I suspect they are sorted by now.