Advice needed on travel systems please

[love j choo 10]

Hi

 

I am pregnant with first baby and due in May.

 

We have started looking at prams/pushchairs but need some advice. Both me and husband are keen to have a travel system and really like the stokke ones. As this is our first baby we are keen to get it right and therefore need advice on whats good and what to avoid. My mum and dad very kindly offered to buy us the pram and we are looking to get brand new as we will use it for second baby when that time comes. I did look at silver cross but have been told by a few friends that these are really big and bulky and a few people I spoke to changed from silver cross to other brands.

 

If anybody could also recommend places to buy from or places to avoid that would be appriciated.

 

Thanks in advance

[Love2print 10]

Kiddicare is great - they have a massive warehouse/showroom in Peterborough - it's worth the visit if you can manage it. However, I would say don't feel the need to buy the pram there and then, you can always buy it online and get free delivery later.

 

I say this because I found the choice overwhelming and we made a special trip to go there. My Dad took us and I felt under pressure to pick one. I ended up choosing a Chicco - I got rid of it after a few months because the suspension was terrible and it was a nightmare to push it round Wincobank.

 

I wish I had looked around, taken the model numbers of some and had a think about it at home.

 

I ended up replacing the Chicco with a Baby Merc Q7 and a Petite Star Zia 2. I use the Baby Merc for offroading (Greno Woods, etc) and the Zia for round town/round Wincobank.

[HarrietStar 10]

I got the graco evo which I love, it's fully compatible with the car seat and is light and easy to fold away, I got it from mothercare x

[tOrla 10]

I had a silver cross linear sleepover with Liam (now 6) yes it was big and bulky but I preferred it to the other lightweight ones. I'm not keen on Mama's and Papa's prams/pushchairs but that's just personal preference. I'm pregnant again and looked at the baby style oyster. I do like this but I'm

tempted to stick with what I know.

 

Some tips on the kind of pram/pushchair you go for...

1. Wil you be using public transport? If so go for something smallish

2. Do you have a car? Heavy prams are awkward to lift in and out of the boot. Especially after a section.

3. Think about how versatile it is. Can it be used from birth without buying extras (the oyster and an Icandy I saw were only suitable from 6 months so needed to buy the carrycot as an additional extra) also I like baby facing me, again this is personal preference but my last baby was 10 weeks prem and suffered with breathing problems so I wanted him facing me at all times.

 

These are just a few things to consider. My best advice would be to write a few pointers and the kind of thing you want from it and see which best matches the criteria

 

Happy pushchair hunting xx

[Love2print 10]

Agree with tOrla, think about what you need from the pram before you buy it. I thought about things like forward facing, but thinks like air pumped tyres or rubber, how heavy it was, etc. I didn't think about. Wish I had now.

[kirstyp86 10]

I would say defiently dont rush into it! With my first, we bought a cossatto stroller type buggy from birth and I hated it! With my second, we bought a graco big travel system and I hated it! This time I thought about what I actually wanted from my buggy, so we chose the M&P Sola and so far I am loving it!!

[HannahH 10]

I have just had a baby and felt exactly the same as you when I started buggy-hunting. There is so much choice and all you know is that you want something that will do everything.

 

In the end we still didn't know what we wanted as we didn't know what we would need, never having been parents before. Someone lent us their 3rd hand travel system (an old mamas&papas one) and it has done us fine. It has given us the time to work out what will suit us best. She is now a couple of month old and think this will last us a few more months until we buy a more light-weight stroller that we can pop up and put down easily.

 

As a side note, we almost bought a bugaboo. I loved the chameleon and my husband loved the bee. In the end we decided against it for 2 reasons...

 

1)They are insanely expensive - a lot of money to spend when you don't know what you'll need

2) They have quite a few known faults - some seem to be fine but you never know whether yours will be one that has it all go wrong.

 

Good luck!

[*Hipster* 10]

We were in the same position as you a few months ago - it is quite stressful!!

 

We went to Mothercare and had a look at their range - we ended up buying the Mothercare Xtreme travel system. It seemed to have everything we needed and was a bargain at £200 (half price).

 

However, a couple of weeks after buying it I had a major wobble and decided I didnt like it!! I read reviews about it which werent very good and after testing it out decided to take it back. The main reasons were it was too heavy/bulky; it had proper tyres that need pumping up / could get punctured which I didnt like the sound of; it had 3 wheels and I decided I wanted 4(!!); it wasnt easy to put up / fold down (you couldnt do it with one hand); and the car seat it came with was quite small so would be outgrown quickly.

 

After loads of research we ended up buying the Babystyle Oyster travel system and I LOVE it!! It is compact, lightweight, can be put up / folded with one hand, it easily fits in the boot of the car, it is very easy to steer, is very sturdy and well made. It also comes in a range of colours!!

We got the carrycot, stroller and a Britax car seat to make one complete travel system.

It cost more than twice as much as the Mothercare one (about £500) but is well worth the money and should last a long time.

 

Highly recommend it

 

(If you'd like anymore info. just give me a shout!)

[Kaye2812 10]

We accepted a free mamas and papas travel system from my sister-in-law but found it to be big and bulky and the pram was not easy to manouvre. After a bit of research I bought a Jane lay flat travel system. It came with a lay flat car seat suitable up to 6 months and also a rear facing super light weight one. The pram is soooo easy to use with the car seat just clicking straight on without the need for any adaptors... and I wish we had bought the lay flat car seat from the start. My daughter goes to sleep instantly when she is in it and looks very cosy, rather than all scrunched up in the normal rear facing car seats. As most of our family now lives outside of Sheffield it means we don't have to worry about oxygen deprivation if she stays in it on long journeys. Even now she is 5 months old she still slept in it for over 2 hours when we went to visit my sister-in-law last weekend... and she doesn't usually sleep for that long during the day!

 

I got it through one of the bounty offers too so got it half price at £350 for the full travel system.

 

http://www.Kiddicare.com sell the Jane systems as do http://www.preciouslittleone.com. I have ordered stuff from these websites and the service was excellent from both of them.

 

As people have said though, it depends what you want it for. If you are only going to be doing short journeys then the lay flat option may not be for you as the seat is heavier than your standard car seat.

 

Good luck with it all.

[amzy 10]

Hiya,

When we went on our travel system hunt we made a list of things we felt it needed to be/ have:

Light weight

Easy to put up/ down

Fits easily into the boot of the car- most stores will allow you to do a boot fit test when you are looking!

Has the option to be used from birth to toddler

Slim (not bulky)

Easy to fit rain cover

Looks nice

Good user reviews

 

There are lots of systems on the market that look great with a huge price tag that just aren't practical! We looked at 1 system that when it had been taken down was in 4 separate pieces!!!

 

We ended up going for the graco fusio, it ticks every box for us and wasn't too expensive, although I have recently seen some bad reviews for this system so not sure if they have changed it in some way, as we have had no issues with it what so ever! (My LO is 10 months now)

 

Hope this helps!

Edited December 21, 2012 by amzy

[ellekyte 10]

Hello.. we were the same, really over whelmed. Like the Graco Evo - but decided against it as the handlebar is not adjustable, and my husband is tall - he said it was fine, but i pointed out, that's in a showroom, not walking about for 3 years. In the end we went for a Babystyle Oyster - roughly same price, britax car seat included, forward and parent facing, narrow, folds up small enough for my little corsa, and the best bit for me, dead light! I live in a first floor flat, so the best bit is that i can split it up - take up the pram or carseat part, and then the chassis - which is nly 6.75 Kg. compared to some of the bulkier models, it's great for us. being using it for 7 weeks now, no complaints. ...

 

Also , we played in mothercare... but bought online from WH Watts... mothercare wouldn't match the price, so sod them! They were very helpful too and gave me an earlier delivery time when i emailed them from hospital needing it a bit earlier, dealt with it within the hour and delivered next day!

 

Hope this is helpful :-)

[gina2007 10]

I have probably had them all... Quinny, graco, baby style, petite star, mothercare, m&p... My advice... Think about what you need it to do, and buy the one you love. I really wanted a 3d when having my first but had to get a graco mosaic due to funds. I was devastated! I ended up having in excess of 18 buggys that I used for a few weeks and sold on etc. then with number 2, I got a m&p pliko travel system, though I love it, I ended up going for smaller buggy to a Quinny buzz to my njoy. In 6 months I will need a double when baby 3 comes along. I've picked my system already, it's an icandy. But I wanted something that looked good, could use numerous seat options (seat unit, carrycot, carseat) and space didnt matter as I have a huge boot. My fella isn't impressed at the price ("how much? You only go to meadow hall and the Trafford centre!!" But I love the system!! And anything beats pushing his kids pram about - t4, google it!)

 

Good luck with your search.