Mama's & Papa's or an alternative?

CopperPlate_2

DW and I are expecting our first child in Spring next year. We're starting to look at prams and the array of choices is just completely overwhelming. Safety considerations, practicality, space, weight, inter-changeability, and on and on and on. We've four months to go, but don't really fancy trecking about over the Christmas period in the city so would like to have an idea of what is good about brands and what is not.

Not really caring too much about the name - M&P seems to be a favourite, but is it any good or are all you're paying for is the designer name?

CP

bargainaholic

I've had more than my fair share of pushchairs (7 for 2 children), & I've got to say the best of the lot is an Inglesina Zippy. I've had an M&P P3 which is very similar, but nowhere near as nice. This pushchair is light, very easy to fold & open, & it has a nice wide seat for when they get a bit bigger.

It's available as just a pushchair or you can buy the extras to make into a travel system. They are sold in Mothercare for you to look at, but are obviously available cheaper elsewhere - new ones on E-Bay even.

katskorner

We had a Mothercare Travel System for our son when he was born - can't remember the exact name but it was around £200 new and we found it to be excellent.

When he got to 14mths we got a Graco CitySport and that is SUPERB - lightweight and easy to fold and fit into my tiny boot space. I can recommend them but they are not suitable from birth.

I personally would not buy a brand because it is popular or perceived to be so. Do your research, ask others and find what suits you. Try them out. They aren't ALL that easy to manoevere over rough ground! Locking wheels are useful too.

sooz

my favourite was graco for travel systems, but once baby can sit up unaided my favourite by far was any maclaren. so small, easy to carry, fits into its own bag, can go in overhead lockers on planes, allowed on buses, doesn't take up too much space in the boot. fantanstic buggy. [i have the daytripper, but really i love any, apart from the volo which i think is a bit of a con, less weight by removing all accessories, eg raincover, and selling them as extras]

try https://www.kiddicare.com for some great prices and free delivery

Katinkka

I had a graco for my first and while they last they don't look that great once they've been used a bit. When it was time to use a smaller stroller we got the maclaren techno which is great. I wouldn't get anything smaller than that because of the compromise on childs comfort. Its not that big a deal to have something a bit bigger if its more practical and comfy. With this baby (due on thursday!) we have bought the M&P full works. Pram, chair, car seat, etc with all accessories and although not road tested yet it is lovely and should last.

sooz

guess it depends on the colour - my graco been used off road for nearly 3 years and looks perfect.

maclaren is for shopping [graco 3 wheel travel system was on the verge of getting me banned from shops as i kept knocking displays over], and son's botty is padded enough for his comfort. maclaren techno and techno xt are lovely and padded and reclineable enough to be used from birth, but i chose the daytripper due to smaller wheels for shopping buggy.

Dormouse

Guess it depends on how much money you want to spend. Personally, I resented paying in excess of £500 for something that would only be used for a few months, so we went for a cheaper alternative.

sunshinegirl_3

A subject close to my heart as we're also 4 months away from our little bundle of joy.

We found the array totally overwhelming at first but once we'd narrowed down what we wanted from a pram/travel system/pushchair it made it easier. There is no alternative to trecking round the shops though, what you see on the web is great but unless you've tried putting them up/down it's difficult to decide.

We found John Lewis good for a small selection, we tried M&P and a small local nursery shop who were fab and let us take prams to the car to see what fitted.

We've decided on a Bebe Confort Loola with a Windoo carrycot as it fitted most of our spec. Compact umberella folding, carrycot for when the baby is small, a pushchair seat which faces both ways, light and most importantly I can fold it myself and don't need my husband's help. Some of them I could have imagined asking passers by for help folding as they were so tricky!

Good luck and happy shopping

btw most people I know who have M&P are disapointed after a while as the build quality isn't fantastic.

sooz

sunshinegirl wrote:

A subject close to my heart as we're also 4 months away from our little bundle of joy.

We found the array totally overwhelming at first but once we'd narrowed down what we wanted from a pram/travel system/pushchair it made it easier. There is no alternative to trecking round the shops though, what you see on the web is great but unless you've tried putting them up/down it's difficult to decide.

try finding a large shopping centre...somewhere like brent cross with john lewis, mothercare, mamas and papas [opeining soon] and toys r us nearby. then you can try lots without too much trecking

also, measure your car boot, and space within house to store buggy/travel system. do you want it blocking the hall, or have a convenient buggy cupboard/shed/garage.

folded measurements and your space requirements should help reduce your wide choice.


but then yes, you do need to try them, fold them, recline them

also, if you have a few more months, how about the baby show at olympia [on soon]. they have a buggy testing ground.....

gooismeid

Having also had 2 kids and several bad experiences with prams/pushchairs, let me boil it down to the essentials:
1. DON'T spend huge amounts on a pram, or anything for your firstborn, before it is born - you'll only find out as you go along what you consider to be important and useful, and it's not essential you have everything before the baby arrives, it won't notice if it sleeps in a drawer for the first couple of weeks.
2. DO buy the best and safest carseat you can find, and learn how to fit it into your car properly.
3. If the carseat fits on the pram frame, so much the better (but not essential - babies aren't supposed to spend more than 2 hours a day in a carseat)
4. Once they are anywhere near sitting up, get a Maclaren or similar buggy, as lightweight as you can find. Ours cost about 20 quid and lasted 5 years and 2 children.
5. On any pram, weight and having wheels that can move around like the ones on shopping trolleys rather than ones that are fixed forward,are the only 2 factors to go for.

garyclay

We bought a M&P Pramette and it has been very good. Build quality is very high, the pram has done serious miles (200+ in first 6 months) and has been in and out of the car loads. It has quick extending handles for the taller parent and a big shopping basket beneath.

The only problem is even with 'umberella' folding it's BIG! It takes up a lot of boot space in our Astra and we sometimes have to place some of our supermarket shopping on the back seat. If you have a family car though should be ok.

The other problem with the pramette is that when using it in pram mode you have to change it back into pushchair mode before you can fold it down. But this is pretty quick when you get used to it.

We bought it online from the Glasgow Pram centre

https://www.glasgowpramcentre.co.uk

Good price (got something free with it, a bouncy chair I think) and excellent service.

We did go and look at it in our M&P shop first though!! And folded/converted it etc to make sure we were happy with it.

Another plus is it looks pretty cool too!

Hope this helps