Predictably one of the areas Ste really wanted to get involved with when preparing for Hector’s arrival was in the choosing and testing of various pushchairs and travel systems. Perhaps it’s a man thing since so many of my friends reported similar behaviour when they were expecting. Have you experienced the same?
Regardless it’s a bewildering and confusing world out there…Which model to go for? Does it have suspension? How big do you really need your basket to be? And how many seconds does it take to put the damn thing away in your boot after a day’s shopping? Over the next few months the Rock My Family team will be sharing their experiences of their own pushchairs and buggies, their likes and dislikes in the hopes of helping you navigate your way through to travel system paradise.
First up, Becky and I talk about our pushchairs from Silver Cross and Mamas & Papas.
Lolly
We started looking at pushchairs and prams quite early on in my pregnancy, mainly because I wanted to investigate as many of the options on offer before the bump got too big for me to trial and test to my satisfaction. Given that I’d be using it 80% of the time it was important to me that it was suited to my ergonomic needs; I didn’t want to struggle along with a pram that looked great but which was too cumbersome and unwieldy for me to deal with on a day to day basis.
I wouldn’t have said I was a difficult customer; in that I mean I didn’t have a huge wish list per se. We didn’t know what we were having so I wanted a pushchair that was fairly neutral in colour. I was also keen to purchase a fully inclusive travel system (without the need for additional and costly converters) that would grow with the baby i.e. one that came with a car seat, a pram and pushchair component which I could flip around depending on whether he wanted to face me or face out, lie down or sit up.
50% of my friends own Bugaboos and rate them highly but I just found them positioned too low down for comfort; we also looked at Stokke which I loved from an aesthetic perspective but which I found unbearably heavy and that was without a growing baby strapped in. One of the first travel systems we looked at was the Silver Cross Surf 2 which was a box ticker in many ways but was just a bit on the small side for me; looking back I think the storage basket underneath just wasn’t big enough.
It was actually a very lovely salesman in John Lewis that clarified things for us when it seemed like it was all about to get too much. He suggested that we focus on our lives right now, what we did and didn’t do. There was no need he said to have ‘all-terrain wheels and suspension’ if we didn’t go off-road now because we sure as hell weren’t going to with a baby in tow. And he was right. Sometimes I think we get suckered into the marketing gimmicks especially when it comes to all things baby; after all we want to give them the very best we can afford don’t we.
Once we’d taken a step back and re-evaluated we landed on The Silver Cross Wayfarer which not only met my requirements from a weight perspective but also came with a separate carrycot (perfect for newborns) and pushchair seat unit supplied as standard. All we needed was to purchase the Simplicity car seat which incidentally slots easily onto the pushchair chassis if you want to take baby from car to shops without the faff of strapping and unstrapping from car seat to pushchair.
Becky
Anthony is a real stickler for research. He likes to know all he details so he can make an informed choice. Whereas I am a bit more if-it-does-the-job-im-happy kind of girl. I guess that’s why we work so well together.
Cue needing to buy a travel system for the then impending arrival of Leo. Anthony took charge, reading reviews, checking Which to find out what was best recommended for our situation. Which at the time was a city centre apartment. A mom without a car and a large dog to walk a minimum of two times a day. Therefore we needed something compact that would easily fit in the apartment, that had good wheels for all the walking and that would be super comfortable to take Leo from birth to where we are now.
Enter the Sola from Mamas & Papas. We didn’t know if we were having a boy or girl and I didn’t want anything too boring so we went for the purple option. We got the car seat and the main ‘chair’. We didn’t go for the carry cot as at the time it felt like an unnecessary spend when the main chair could lie virtually flat and he could go in it from birth if we didn’t want to use the car seat too much.
It comes with some really lovely choices of liners, foot muffs and parasols.
I have been thrilled with it. And the thing that makes me most happy is that he can still get great use out of it. Leo is a big toddler, he is 2 and a half but currently wears clothes for between the ages of 3 to 5 and so the fact that he can still sit, and lie comfortably in it is an absolute winner.
There has been a newer version launched since we got ours with some good improvements. The two major differences are that the rear wheels have been given added bearings for a smoother ride and makes it easier to push with the option to upgrade to the multi terrain wheels if you like and the basket has been made bigger too. These things can only be a bonus.
The full travel system is currently on offer at £329.
I also purchased a buggy buddy to help with carrying shopping as there are no ‘handles’ as such on the sola.
Are any of you currently in the process of choosing your pram or pushchair? What have you found interesting/difficult/frustrating about the whole process? Why not tell us all about it in the comments box below…
Images by Little Beanies
We also have the Silver Cross Wayfarer and I love it! Luckily my husbands Auntie passed it down to us so we saved a bit of cash which is always nice, but also when I had a look at prams to make sure there wasn’t something more suited to our needs, it was the one I would have gone for also! My little one has just started facing forward. She wriggles her feet out of the foot muff and rests them on the bar! So funny watching her-she looks like such a bossy boots when she does it! We also got the isofix point for our car for the car seat which was more of a convenience thing to be honest but I’ve recently heard the law on car seats is changing. I’ve tried to understand but I really can’t get my head round it, but a post on that (in girl speak!) would be really useful! Especially before we invest in her next car seat in a few months.x
I think the new law is that they have to be rear facing up to 15 months then can go forward? We just bought a Joie Stages that can stay rear facing until age 4. Hope that helps, but yes yes yes a post would be mega helpful.
Thanks Lucy!
Hi Lucy – the car seat thing is a bit tricky. It depends on whether your child is in a height based car seat (known as i-size) or weight based car seat. If they’re in the former then they have to rear face until 15 months as you’ve mentioned but if it’s a weight based seat then they have to weigh more than 9kg or just under 20lb before going forward facing. At the moment shops sell both hence the conflicting advice and confusion. Hope that clears things up a little bit…
You read our minds Suzie! We already have a car seat post planned. Just need to figure out an easy way to explain the new regulations! x
Ah, explaining regulatory requirements. Never fun! Quick tip – if you know the name of the regulations you can get them from http://www.legislation.gov.uk – click on the explanatory memorandum tab and you’ll have a straightforward explanation of what the legal position is. Well, you should do…
Ah fab! Look forward to it x
You lucky thing Suzie! I found that Hector hates having the foot muff on now which doesn’t bode well for the coming Winter – he too likes to rest his feet on the arms of the pushchair handle like a ballet dancer at the barre. So funny! We hear you on the carseat laws thing too – so much conflicting information circling about at the moment so we’ll be scheduling in a post on the ins and outs of this very soon!
Haha I love the ballet dancer reference! I shall be using that to describe Florence’s ‘feet on pram bar’ action next time she does it! Thanks for the heads up about the car seat post-I shall keep my eyes peeled x
The John Lewis man was absolutely right in my book- look at your life, look at your choices.
We have a Baby Jogger Summit, and I love it. So manoevrable, can take it anywhere off road with ease and you can fold it just by pulling a strap. Would recommend to any outdoorsy mamas and dads out there!
Bought on eBay second hand for £200 then got the carrycot new for another £120. It’s compatible with our maxi cosi but we haven’t used it like this. It’s a good place to look for bargains.
I think men like pushchair purchasing because it’s like car shopping? Is that sexist?
Definitely not sexist! My husband chose our Bugaboo on the basis that he could spin it round in circles with one hand! Why on earth that was a requirement I have no idea! x
To be fair, I got quite excited about that in Mothercare at the weekend too. Mr H just rolled his eyes at me.
I have used that ability on mine when in the supermarket doing a ‘quick’ basket shop!
I think Ste would agree with you Lucy – definitely like shopping for a car! 😉
we have the wayfarer and have to say it has been really good. Nice and sturdy, very comfortable and a good looking pram. Can’t say we’ve had any complaints from any of us!!! Also treated ourselves to the baby zen yoyo as an alternative for when we need the extra boot space! Love it so much!! As our little lass is so nosy and inquisitive, she’s wanted to be forward facing for a few months now, so finding the yoyo super whizzy and is a lot more versatile than I thought it would be. It’s nice to have both pram options, so glad we didn’t blow our budget on the travel system, and could invest in the yoyo too. X
Ps Mia hopes Hector had a very happy birthday.
Ahhhhh Danielle that is so sweet of you. He did have a happy birthday – we visited the park and the Sea Life Centre and mummy indulged in a cheeky glass of fizz. I reckoned I deserved it! 😉
Charlotte has the Baby Zen YoYo too and raves about it – definitely worth thinking about it for the future anyway…
So sweet! It was her birthday yesterday and we have had a great few days celebrating with an awesome soft play party, a trip to a miniature railway, shoe shopping and dinner at pizza express! Also indulged in a couple of glasses of bubbly!! Most definitely well deserved! We made it, now enjoy before toddlerhood is well upon us! X
Exactly! Mia’s birthday sounds flipping awesome. To be fair Hector mostly enjoyed the soft play area at the Sea Life Centre rather than any of the fish! The miniature railway sounds fantastic as well xxx
After looking at more substantial and popular brands such as the Uppababy vista – we bought the mamas and papas armadillo flip xt – and I love it. It doesn’t need a carrycot but you can get one- we didn’t. Good enough to go on fairly rough roads and tracks but not heavy and folds up small. Massive shopping basket too ? I cant praise it enough.
Victoria I must say I fancy this – the heavy/fold up small thing is make or break for me. We had the Quinny Buzz which was fine, especially when we used it with the Maxi Cosi carseat – but it was the old model and wasn’t that light, we’re putting it on eBay soon so it we do have another little, I’ll be investigating the flip! x
I won an Armadillo Flip at the Olympia baby show. I didn’t even know I’d entered the competition, I just added my details to the M&P mailing list and got a phone call the next day to say I’d won the star prize!
We already had a Stokke Trailz (which I adore but that’s another thread!) and I find the Flip to be the perfect complimentary second buggy, it’s as good as it looks, so easy and manageable but very robust, perfect for travel. Can’t recommend it enough!
Ours is the flip xt rather than flip. Wowsers for winning – amazing! Defo worth trying it Charlotte.
When we bought our first travel system we got an icandy Cherry, which ticked all our boxes – had a carrycot and seat, could be forward or rear facing, adapted to fit a car seat, had a big undercarriage basket, came in lots of good colours and most importantly, only weighed 4.8kg (an important consideration when you live at the top of 8 steps!).
However our car was stolen and the buggy went with it, so we’re now on round two having to make the decision (and the expenditure, eek) a second time. Icandy don’t sell the Cherry any more and even if they did I’m not sure I would buy it – the annoying thing about it was that it didn’t fold in one piece, which is a massive PITA if you’re on the bus.
I’m currently eyeing up the Van Gogh limited edition Bugaboo, but like mentioned in the post, I’m not keen on the idea of baby#2 being around my knees when I’m pushing the pram – plus it seems a little (lot) decadent to spend more on a travel system than my first car cost. I do like the manoeuvrability of it and I obviously love the pattern – I’m just not sure that it’s enough to justify the expense!
I have had so many different pushchairs and travel systems over the years with my 3 children. From silver cross 3d, mothercare my3 with buggy board, then oyster max double and now have the britax b agile double. I also have the cosatto yo and a couple of other basic strollers.
Each have their faults and like ability. It totally depends what your requirements are. I love my britax b agile as i currently have a son of 4 who will walk for miles, a 2 year old daughter who has additional needs and can’t walk more than about 100yrds at a time and a 1 year old daughter who would happily run everywhere but isn’t safe for me to have my eyes off of her!
Ooo this post is perfect timing, we are trying to decide on travel systems at the mo….Babystyle Egg or Armadillo flip xt. Think we’re leaning more towards the flip as its can be folded with the buggy seat so no clunky unclipping or overloading boot space! Plus we figured, we would use it as a stroller in the future so saving money that way! The bonus with the Egg (apart from looks) is that it can be made into a double decker so has some future proofing but then there are other options for having 2 (baby wearing or buggyboards etc) and the easy fold of the flip is more attractive to how think we would use it – honestly its such a hard decision, I just don’t get how you can decide on something you have never had to use before, how are you supposed to know what you want!!?
Get the flip xt it’s fab!
We purchased the sola 5 yrs ago and it easily saw my son through to 3yrs old. I loved the basket and turning circle and the fold down handles when in ques ! Whilst my other mummy friends were having to buy again as their current buggies had got too small. We used it again with our second, but after 6 yrs the wheels where starting to wobble so we now use a hand me down petite zia pushchair. Baby number 3 is on its way and there will be an 18m difference. We now have our eye on a oyster max 2, very similar to the sola and cheaper and lighter and better seats than the icandy. Looking forward to it!
We also have the sola – now 4.5 years old and 1.5 years into baby no.2. We also had small problems with the wheels getting wobbly over time, however you can buy new wheels from mamas and papas pretty cheaply (about £12 per wheel) – worth knowing as much cheaper than a whole new buggy. I would definitely recommend the sola (and you can buy the carrycots very cheaply second hand, in excellent condition as they are only used for a few months – I bought a nearly new carrycot for £50 then sold it 3 years later for £45!).
Such a timely post – my husband and I are about to start the mammoth task of pram shopping and am already overwhelmed!
I had been recommended the Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle pram (the luxury collection have a lovely nautical range) and wondered if anyone had any experience of using it?
My husband was also very keen on buggy shopping, and picked out the colour! Surprised me, but I didn’t mind – one less decision to make!! We went for the Bugaboo Cameleon, which I found super easy to manoeuvre (although our little one hasn’t arrived yet, so we will find out how easy the folding etc is soon…). We don’t find it too low, but both my husband and I are quite short so that probably helps!! I would heartily recommend shopping around though – I found our preferred buggy in a package with the car seat we wanted and car seat adaptors included along with a further discount code that made it about £80 cheaper than the cost of the buggy itself on most other sites. I have become a discount-hunting tyrant with all this baby stuff! x
Hi Annie. It is actually pretty easy to fold. You just need to learn the knack of the sort of flick to fold movement! I struggled for a while but once I got the hang it was fine. I always had the handle on the highest setting which I loved as I’m quite tall. Totally agree with shopping around. I got our Bugaboo as an ex display from Mothercare. It was immaculate as had only been wheeled backwards and forwards. It was reduced to £650 and I cheekily asked if it was the best deal they would do and they did it for £550. Bargain!! x
Good to know Lottie, thank you! I will have to practice over the next couple of weeks… Sounds like you got an excellent bargain! x
Definitely worth shopping around Annie – we purchased our Silver Cross from John Lewis and got the points for buying it on their credit card so ended up getting a fair bit back in vouchers too which I put towards buying more baby stuff. It was like getting it that little bit cheaper in the first place. I know what you mean about being a discount hunting tyrant – brilliant way to describe it! Have you heard about Kidstart?
Ooh, I saw Kidstart a while ago and had forgotten about it – thanks for reminding me! x
Another vote for Silver Cross. We have the Pioneer (in the same colour way as Hectors) and it’s VERY similar to the Wayfarer. The main differences are the chunkier wheels and bigger basket.
We also got the Silver Cross Simplicity car seat which clips straight on. My bub is 9 months and still has plenty of room in the car seat but she is very petite (still in 3-6 months clothing!)
I saw a pram in Mamas and Papas the other day which had a rose gold chassis. That alone is enough to make me purchase!! ?
Rose gold chassis – Dreamy!!!
Oh noo (but secretly YES!), this post is throwing all my carefully laid plans out of the window. Well, actually, my husband’s “this seems like the easiest/laziest option” plans so I’m secretly delighted. His sister had the bugaboo bee3 and loved it but no longer needs the carrycot or car seat so has kindly said she would give these to us. We’d just need to buy the bee3 pushchair.
Howevs I’m secretly very keen on both the Uppababy Vista and the Silver Cross Wayfarer so I’m feeling very swayed toward the latter by Lolly’s review – ESPECIALLY since it’ll cost us less to buy the Wayfarer as a full travel system than it would to just buy the Bee3’s pushchair! I do like the Bee3 but I resent how expensive everything Bugaboo seems to be. Their footmuffs cost £100! It better sing my baby to sleep at that price.
I also want to recommend the Babyzen Yoyo to anyone who needs something super compact and lightweight for travelling etc. My sis in law has this and it’s blimmin’ brilliant, it’s super light and, best of all, can fit in a plane overhead compartment.
The Bee3 is very flimsy – or at least that’s what I thought. Totally different kettle of fish to the vista – as lolly says above work out what you need it for – I wouldn’t want to take the bee on anything other than smooth pavements. The vista is the other end of the scale and massive! Hope that helps.
Thanks Victoria, that’s really helpful – I didn’t know this about the Bee3. I’ll definitely go down to Mothercare and have a ‘test drive’ of my shortlist…!
Do it Kate! Get the Wayfarer!!! Tell your hubby I told you to 😉
A friend of mine who has a bugaboo does buy the standard footmuffs from John Lewis and says they fit perfectly… might be worth a try if you do go for the Bee3…
Totally missing the point of this post I know but I LOVE your shoes Lolly! Can I ask where they are from?
On a more topical note, I had the Surf and liked it but definitely struggled with the basket size (a buggy buddy and large change bag meant that wasn’t too big a problem though). My favourite thing about it was that it came with a “baby nest” which meant that we didn’t need a separate carrycot from birth. At 1 yr old, I moved on to the Mama’s and Papa’s Armadillo and that is definitely love. It collapses with a flick of the wrist, manages well on rougher terrain, lies almost flat, has a big basket and is yellow. I have to say I don’t miss lugging round a big travel system in the slightest!
Hi Martha (love your name by the way!) – the shoes are from Hobbs. Old season now but available in limited sizes in their Outlet store. Here’s the link…
https://www.hobbs.co.uk/product/display?productID=0213-T1A2-007H800&productvarid=0213-T1A2-007H800-FOUNDATION%20PINK-38_5&refpage=outlet/shoes-boots
I love love love my Bugaboo Chameleon, although I’d be in trouble if I was ever asked to fold it up on a bus. Expecting baby number two in March, eldest will be 23 months so now exploring the dark world of double buggies…any mums have recommendations here? I’m not particularly fond of the ones that ‘stack’ the children but the doubles do seem big. Help! X
Hi Gemma. I too had the bugaboo Chameleon and when I was expecting Alice I had the same dilemma. I didn’t really want a double buggy so opted for a buggy board instead. Molly was a bit small in truth (only 19 months) but I would say that by the time she was 2 she was fine on it. It depends if you do a lot of walking as she wouldn’t stand on it for long. I found that when Alice was tiny I tended to put her in the Baby Bjorn carrier and push Molly in the buggy but once Alice got bigger we had to use the board. In truth I never actually managed to get out on long walks anyway with the two of them!! x
I sound like I do Baby Jogger marketing but my cousin has their city mini double and loves it for her two girls who are 18 months apart.
My friend got the bugaboo donkey for her twins which can then convert to a single buggy with a side basket (it goes smaller than when it’s the standard double.
Our choice of pram was limited by what would (or wouldn’t as was more often the case) fit into the boot my then very tiny car. The Bugaboo Bee was just about the only things that did fit without taking the wheels off, so that was what we got.
Nearly five years on, I am so glad we were forced into buying it. It’s been the perfect buy for people like us who live in a pretty small house in the city and never go off road. Two kids later, I still use it most days and unlike lots of my friends, have never had to switch and use a separate stroller as the kids have got older. I agree with Kate – the accessories are dear but those that we’ve bought have lasted so well and sell pretty well second hand on line too.
I read a post on rock my style earlier in the year in which Charlotte talked about the babyzen yoyo. This is a small, very light (6kg) travel system that we’ve invested in ahead of our baby girl’s arrival next month. We live in London in a little house at the top of a hill, so the weight and collapsibility (is that a word?!) of our buggy is going to be crucial for us. My husband and I both commute into central London for work so we don’t run a car – which means we need something that’s going to be bus/tube/train-friendly too. I’ve seen some ladies on London buses struggle to get their buggies down the bus aisle, to the point where some of them have to remove one of the front wheels of their buggy (with the baby still in it) simply to make the chassy smaller!
All that to say, we owe a huge thank you to Charlotte for making us aware of this brand. I think you originally referenced it in the context of going on holiday abroad (babyzen is the only buggy that meets restrictions for air cabin baggage dimensions) but we’re hoping it will also be a good options for mums and dads like us who have to battle the crazy-packed streets and public transport here in the capital!
Jenn the YOYO is AMAZING – I am going to do an entire post about it 🙂 If we have another little we would still need a travel system as they are compatible with a carseat/we do some off road etc but for a city they are excellent. We took ours on board as hand luggage and so many people comment on how cool it is when we fold it up into a handbag (!)
Not long now! xx
We got a babyzen YOYO for our little boy, who is now 5 months old. I love it! It’s perfect for us. It fits in to my teeny tiny car boot and has been tested on some pretty rough terrain, when were out walking with our dogs too. We’re just about ready to turn it into the forward facing 6 month set up, can’t wait! We’ve had some comments on it looking like a dolls pram (!) but generally lots of positive attention. I’ve also seen that there are now car seat adapters you can get for it, so hoping to try that soon too.
I went round in circles for ages. I’m useless at decisions. But eventually, egged on by my sister who has three kids, we went with the bugaboo bee3 -and we love it. Yes, it was rather expensive, but as someone mentioned- we won’t need to buy ANOTHER stroller when the nipper gets bigger, as it’s so light-weight and compact as it is.
We found the chassis and carry cot combo great, as it was so small and neat- easy to push round shops and squeeze into various coffee houses…which are key destinations in ‘maternity leave land’! Maxi cosi car seats are compatible with various attachments, which are easy enough to master.
I wouldn’t bother buying official bugaboo accessories- John Lewis footmuff is great for £30 and there are various sheepskin liners out there that fit nicely.
It’s not great on ‘rough’ terrain, but as Lolly says- we weren’t mountain climbers beforehand, so it wasn’t a problem. I’ve just had to drag it across a few rugby pitches. We tend to put him in a sling if we off on a ‘proper walk’. The bee3 is perfect if like me you live in town and pavements are your catwalk.
I bought a second hand Quinny buzz travel system second hand for £100. It lasted about 6 months and I hated it. It was too heavy and I got my hand trapped in the mechanism twice!! I also, despite not being much of an off roader before I had my son, suddenly did a lot of country walks with my mummy friends and new babas.
So, eventually I forked out for an out n about nipper 360. Amazing off road, turns easily, really easy to push even 1 handed, and although bigger than the buzz fits perfectly in the boot of my corsa. I adore it and can see it will last my now 18 month old til he’s much older.
My advice would be buy what you think you want second hand so you can see if it suits! I sold my buzz for what I paid for it so didn’t lose out.
X
We bought the Jane Epic Matrix for our son Miles, who’s now 13 months. The selling point was the fact he could travel lying flat for up to 9 months and as we do a lot of travelling it was ideal. It was also perfect to transfer him to the house if he was still asleep as there was no time limit on how long he could stay in that position in the car seat. My only downside is the car seat and pushchair are very very heavy and bulky. I’d be interested to hear other people’s thoughts on the Jane and what car seats they plan to buy once their babies have outgrown it. Our car seat should last us until 18 months but i have no idea what to buy next..and whether the very expensive Jane isofix will be redundant!
I don’t know whether you’ll see this message as its so long since you posted, but I can tell you that the Matrix Isofix is only compatible with the Matrix.
I’ve just bought the Epic/Matrix system. My plan is to use the Matrix as the pushchair carrycot only until baby is big enough for the Epic pushchair seat (6 months). At that point I will leave the heavy car seat in the car permanently (in rear-facing mode) until the baby outgrows that.
My plan at that point is to buy a Group 1–4 seat (without isofix) so that the car seat can grow with my child and hopefully I’ll not have to buy another one ever again!
Ooh I’m late to the party on this (in so many ways). Currently shopping for a good looking stroller which can be parent or world facing. Harder than it looks as everything seems to be part of a travel system (which I don’t need)… it’s been interesting so far!
When you know absolute zilch about the entire baby transport world, posts like yours really help Lolly! Ta xx
Hi Karen,
We opted for the Joolz Geo. this can be converted into a tandem if ever needed but if not has a huge shopping basket.
It’s one of the most beautiful prams, in my opinion, and flips up and down in one click.
Enjoy pram shopping!
Ooh Evie it’s a beauty! Joolz are fab. Thanks my love x
Pleasure sweetheart! Let us know what you choose in the end xx
We’ve just ordered the Silver Cross Wayfarer in Eton Grey – it’s a limited edition but worked out the same price as standard colours once you added in the extras (liner, changing bag etc). We also were lucky enough to get a deal where we got a free car seat, and we went along to a parents to be event at Winstanleys Pramworld where when you spent £500+ you got 10% off (and you only needed to put down a deposit) and the store will hold the pram until nearer your due date, so the warranty doesn’t start until then either. What I really liked about the wayfarer was the excellent padding of the carrycot, as baby W is due at the end of September so will be outand about lots during the Autumn/Winter months, and the fact that if I have another baby, I can simply buy a colour pack for around £100 and change the look of the pram completely. Also, the folding system is extremely easy and not complicated in the slightest, even my nan was able to work out what to do!
Ah Buggies!! (i have a 5yr old, 24m and 5m old) We too had an LOVED the Sola with our first, liked the manoverability, the colours, weight, and basket. It saw us through 4 years and two babies.
Arrival of baby 3 forced us to re- evaluate and i was whizzing everywhere trying out buggies and eyeing up other peoples whilst i was out and about. ( i find it helpful to ask strangers their pros and cons, whilst your out and about!) We have the phil and teds DOT DOUBLE. I used to swear that i would never get a double where one kid is under the other… but then i didn’t know i would ever need one! We went for the DOT as its super duper slim and i can wizz around all shops and doorways with it. I have figured out how to flip it open with one hand, one leg and a baby in the other hand! I can also steer it with one hand and ONE child in it if needs be, and the wheels are all terrain which is great with the weight of two kiddies going up and down curbs or at the park.
What i will share is a bit of PIMP MY BUGGY…after much personal research i figured out that a LOT of other phil and teds buggy parts connect to it. So i have purchased the better ‘follow the sun’ hood with side pockets in from the DOTS older brother the NAVIGATOR and put the DOT hood on the under seat ( which doesn’t normally have one). And also the lady i bought it from had already stuck a larger NAVIGATOR second seat on it and upgraded the seat pad colours. She had also filled the wheels with ‘sludge’ so they don’t pop. Also, i can put the car seat on top and have the second seat underneath for the school run. And if out for a stroll with the toddler i can and have my youngest in newborn carry sac laying flat. All in all, it answered all my worries. And yes it is rather heavy as most double travel systems are…but then so are two children in two arms!
Its funny as I was only a few weeks pregnant when this post first came out and now my son is 2 months old! We opted for the Joolz Day. When we bought it from Mothercare they were also doing a free car seat deal too. We chose it for a number of reasons really. The position of the pram /pushchair is a lot higher than many of the others we tried – baby feels much closer and it is so much easier to lift him in and out. Also, when we start using the pushchair bit, it is table height so he can be wheeled right up to the table. Secondly the pram is safe for overnight sleeping so we use it instead of a moses basket. It also fits in the back of our Mini Clubman, very important! Its easy to manoeuvre too. The shopping basket is quite small which isn’t an issue for me but could be fr some. I also love the way it looks! It is spendy though – we were very lucky that it was bought for us by my parents in law. My friend managed to find one on eBay for less than half the original price in very good condition.
It’s so hard!!! I’m 23 weeks pregnant with my first and my mind has been blown since starting to research these systems – I almost want someone else to decide for me! I am leaning towards the Silver Cross Pioneer (especially in the limited edition colour) but it does feel like a mammoth task! Great to hear everyone’s thoughts…x
My baby 4month old now and she nosey ? iv just turned the silver cross wayfer pram from it being fully laid down from birth to sitting up but facing me. Im trying to find if it leans back a bit instead off sitting fully up but all i can find is it either fully up or fully laid back ??