How on earth do you choose a pram?!

A question about : How on earth do you choose a pram?!

Hi,

We're expecting our first and we'd like a Silver Cross pram system.... but how on earth do you choose which one?

Does anyone have any tips?

I've read on the net things like getting an all-terrain pram if you plan to walk a lot off road, but we don't be doing anything like that.

We definitely want Silver Cross (a pram system, not the big Balmoral) but how to choose which one?

Any tips gratefully received!

Best answers:

• There are a few things you can do but you already seem to have quite a clear idea so I'm not sure what you're asking!
  Generally speaking:
  Budget - gives you an idea about where to start
  Use - do you use a car a lot? It will need to fit in boot, with space for anything else. Do you use public transport? It would need to collapse easily. Do you live in a country area or town? If country larger tyres fair better, I.e. all terrain, town walkers generally are better to be smaller as shops are tricky to navigate.
  Personal preference - do you want rear facing so you can talk to baby? Do you want a teavel system so you can use car seat as well? Or carrycot for naps as babies should lie completely flat for first 6 months.
  How tall are you? And oh? Some buggies are adjustable.
  But mainly, try them out! Mothercare, John Lewis, Kiddicare and larger independent stores often have samples you can wheel around.
  Then go online and get one you like for best price!
  Hth.
• Hi, it's more the choice of which Silver Cross to get - there seem to be 4 or 5, all called something different (Surf, Surf 2, Wayfarer, Linear, Freeway etc) and presumably are different, but we've no idea which is best for us!
  We want a traditional flat carrycot on the pram so baby isn't squashed, with conversion to forward-facing once older.
  It will need to fit in the boot - but we need to get a new car first! We will need a car seat but all the Silver Cross systems fit with one of their car seats. We'll need to take the (new) car to try the fixings I suppose.
  We won't be on public transport at all.
  We're in town, not anticipating any 'off-roading' so we don't need any kind of all-terrain version.
  Does anyone have any experience of these prams and which are good or not?
• Go and have a look, try them out, and talk to the salesperson for advice. We initially liked the Wayfarer but now will probably go for a Bugaboo after comparing them in the shop. Why are you so desperate for a Silver Cross?
• Not sure why you have set on silver cross when you don't know exactly what will suit you. I mean I have a Silver cross pop which is a stroller. If its the name then Bugaboo and icandy and suchlike are way more trendy these days.
• As others have said, go to John Lewis/Mothercare/Kiddicare and have a good play around with a few different models. Look at the practical aspects -
  How easy it is to fold up/down, how heavy is it?
  Is the handle height adjustable (if there's a height difference this is really useful so you're both comfortable pushing it).
  What's the shopping basket like, is it easily accessible
  Do you want to be able to attach the car seat to the frame, and if so, which seats are compatible. I know not everyone likes to do it, but personally I've found it invaluable when popping to the bank as my little one always falls asleep in the car and it's not worth transferring her for a half hour trip.
  Push a couple of models round the shop to check manoeuvrability. If it's a close call on all of the above and you're struggling to chose, then think about the impractical stuff, i.e does it come in a colour you like!
  We really liked the bugaboo but in the end narrowed it down to the icandy peach and the Silvercross Wayfarer. We went for the icandy as it was H's preference but I think I'd have been happy with either.
• As a London public transport-only user we were relatively limited in choice, as the buggy had to be tiny, light and easy to fold. There were so many nice options we had to overlook. If you're not going to be on public transport at all then there are masses of different options that might suit. It would be a shame to limit yourself to one brand only.
  As others have said, the best way is to go somewhere and give them all a try - if you have a big department store or large kids store locally that would be the best place. If you can, visit off-peak and get the sales assistant to demo all the buggies you like. Make sure to have a go yourself - some looked really easy when OH folded them, but when I went to manhandle them myself found they were heavy or unwieldy.
  There are lots of reviews online so you can check the longer term quality of any models you like. Also bear in mind any warranties you might be getting from manufacturers and retailers and the ease of getting a buggy repaired if you're making a big investment or want it to last for more than one child. If you're buying a car seat many places do bundles for cheaper.
• Personally I had a silvercross 3d and wouldn't choose it again although i will be using it again as don't want to spend more money.
  I found it too heavy and chunky which was the only problem but we traveled into London every now and then on the train and was not easy to get up and down stairs.
  I agree with others to go to the shop and try out but sometimes hard to know until you actually use it a while. Reviews would also be good to read.
• Most people I know who've had the 3D have found it very very heavy to use and switched to strollers quite early on.
  Check any possible candidates fit in your car boot (most stores will help you to do this) - and if wheels and things are required to be removed - think if you're realistically going to want to do this on a cold, wet, muddy Monday morning... popping wheels off to get pushchairs to fold smaller if you're going on holiday or whatever and need more boot space is often a different kettle of fish to having to do it every single time you want to pop out of the car to the post office or whatever.
  Weight to push - I've had to get rid of pushchairs (I've got a bit of a habit and tend to buy and sell 'em second hand a lot) because I simply couldn't deal with the weight of them fully laden with the hills around here... try them out with a heavy handbag or something in - nearly all pushchairs work like a dream empty on a smooth shop floor but when you've got a one year old with a basket full of shopping things change a bit.
  Check the thing's easy enough to fold and unfold (I'm currently nursing a nice bruise from jamming my finger in the fold mechanism of my pushchair) - do you need something you can do one handed or are you never going to have to do that?
  The terrain wheels - it's not just off road that can be a pain - it's snow and often parkland grass - if I have our single stroller out on grass it makes me want to cry trying to push the damned thing - I don't give it a second thought if I've got my main buggy with air-filled tyres - even considering that one's a double with often two kids in!
  Personally I think the silvercross name's been sold around so much it's not what it's cracked up to be nowadays.
  And do you want a pushchair that's going to see you right through till they're walking full-time - or do you want a pushchair that's going to be good for the baby phase with carrycot and car seat and the like and then you're going to switch to a strollery-type? Will probably affect your priorities a bit. Personally I find stroller-type ones awful to push but I think I'm in the minority there!
  The best buggy website (I don't have the bookmark on this PC but it'll come up on google) is a good starting point for reviews and comparisons of different pushchairs.
• The key criteria are:
  - Do you need it to fit in a car boot? (So compactness is key)
  - Are you taking it on public transport? (So being easy to fold is key)
  - Will you be taking it shopping? (So a large carry-basket is key)
  - Are you taking it off road? (So big wheels are key)
  - Are you prepared to buy a second buggy when your child can support its head at around 6 months?
  It is *very* easy to make the wrong decision with a buggy, and if you do then it's an expensive mistake to rectify.
• I would put your criteria in order of importance, forget about which brand it is for now, then take your list to John Lewis/Mothercare/Kiddicare to see which fits your requirements best.
  For me, order of importance would be:
  Proper lie flat carry cot - absolute must have, not negotiable
  Fold small enough for car
  Easy to push and steer
  Easy to fold and put up
  Easy to lie flat after the carrycot stage without waking a child
  Suitable all through toddlerhood
  Car seat fixes to chassis - was never to bothered by this because I used the carry cot as much as possible.
  Large basket underneath
• I have a surf and the chassis and main body have to be seperated to fold. It takes up alot of room. Saying that I still love it and will be using it again. However I also brought a second hand Maclaren mac3 3 wheeler which folds as one as ds outgrew the surf.
  It is a big purchase and as others have said I would go try some out as handle heights vary, may not fit in car boot, may not have big enough basket, you may not like the feel of it etc.
• I have a SilverCross 3d. My little one is now a toddler and as a pushchair when he is in it is very very heavy to push. The Pram itself is hard wearing, durable, well made. I cant fault the mechanics of it. It is easy to manover but can sometimes feel bulky when out shopping in a small shop. I find the system easy to fold and unfold and haven't caught any fingers yet!
  I found the actual carry cot of the pram to be a little bit flimsy. Being made of just material and having no real rigid sides. When the system was folded for transport the carry cot would crease badly and take a while with baby in it to straighten out. We never used the Car Seat on the frame as we always wanted to keep him flat as much as possible. The car seat was always left set up in the car.
  The 3d does not have the option for the child to be parent facing which if I were to buy again is an option I would go for. Also the shopping basket at the bottom can be a pain. You cant get at it from the back of the pram and it is very small, dont plan a big shopping trip with it.
• I have the silvercross linear freeway. Baby could lie flat for the first few months and then it converts into a pushchair all without having to store a bulky carrycot afterwards. It's quite bulky but LO looks extremely comfortable. It JUST fits into the boot of my small car but can't fit anything else in. I'd recommend it but I doubt it's to everyone's requirements.
• I had the silver corss surf, Loved it totally, I got all the accessories and spent over Ј900 in total.
  Def a head turner, I had it in chilli red and was often stopped and asked about it.
  Awful baskets underneath, I have a people carrier so taking seat off chasis was no problem. The baby snug was very plush, as was the baby head rest and apron.
  Beautiful pram and was a plush ride my for my girl, sadly she is the size of a 4 year old at 2 so is in a silver cross stroller now.
  I sold it within a few hours of listing it and have to admit I had a little cry as it was a lovely pram.
• i would google what cars your car seat will fit in before deciding on the whole pram as seats need to fit correctly in car and not all are compatable, before having the car, take the dimensions of all the folded prams and see which ones you will be able to get in/out the boot of the car you have chosen and go from there.
  hope this helps at all.
  foggy
• Thanks everyone!
• I have an old (1975) beetle so it was size that was always going to be the deciding factor.
  Never wanted a travel system, got a Maclaren XT, lasted until LO didn't want to be in it anymore.
  Without exception, everyone I knew who bought a travel system ended up buying a stroller.