Prams FFS....
 

....thought we should probably get some baby stuff as it's less than two months now :eek:

Went looking at buggies / prams over the weekend. Like the idea of the travel systems where you have a chassis, then slot in either the push chair, car seat or optionally a carry cot. But it's mind bending the choices out there. It does also seem possible to buy on a budget but are the cheap ones rubbish, I often find the pay for what you get mantra to be true?

Very helpful in the first place we went to and from there narrowed it down the Britax B-Smart 4, Mamas & Papas Sola, or BabyStyle Oyster. Favoured the Britax as it looked really smart and chunky. Was so impressed that I said if they were within a few £ of Internet prices then we'd go back and order however have seen the Britax for £250 and they were £329 (just the buggy :eek:)

Then looked on Which? (father in law has lent me his login :)), the Mama & Papas and the BabyStyle ones were best buys, the Britax only had a review for the three wheeled version but the consensus was it was too bulky and if you had a small car (missus has a Mitsi Colt) it was a struggle getting it in the boot. However with the other two they recommended the carry cot for newborns as the seats didn't recline enough. The Britax was supposedly lay flat so carry cot possibly not needed. But on the advice of Which? maybe not the Britax after all.....

Help!

If you are posting on a car forum about which buggy to buy, you are ****ed already :D

But SNet is the fountain of all knowledge :lol1:

And I bet that deep down the male contingent do have opinions as it's still a shiny mechanical gadget with lots of options for pimping the ride :D

We bought Graco Travel system. Lasted for out 2 kids no problems. Seat base anchors to rear seat via seatbelts (Or Isofix) Seat just clips in.

We bought silver cross 3D baby r us had a great deal on. They could be worth a try?

WE went for the quinny buzz 4 travel system. Really good although very cumbersome!! The travel cot is good but TBH we hardly used ours (bad birth stuck at home for first few months) but was still a good bit of kit and with the chunky tyres was such a smooth ride for my little boy. The isofix clip in is so good and easy too great for those time when its chucking it down.

If you are close enough etc try Kiddicare and there on hand service and advise is spot on they dont go crazy for expensive to make the money and show you what you need and whats highly rated.

We got a Bugaboo Frog with maxi cosi adapters and maxi cosi carseat/isofix base for our 1st.
The frog was 2nd hand and came with all the cot, seat,umbrella etc.. all for £250

Then a quinny Buzz for our 2nd. (same maxi cosi car seat) with small and large seats.

Out of the 2 the Buzz was more modern and slightly more robust... but the Bugaboo was a great little pram/stroller unit...

Just about to list it on the bay..

Unfortunately no where near the Kiddicare shop but have seen the web site and it very competitive.

Mrs mum and dad bought us a Graco one. Brilliant 3-1 system, buggy with seat which can be a lie down one, pushchair and car seat. http://www.toysrus.co.uk/Babies-R-Us...m%280076974%29

Good quality and decent price too. :)

Find one in a local shop and have a good look and feel and then buy from Kiddiecare?

CoB - Graco stuff is really good quality and good value for money. If you like and on your way back from Scunny after collecting the car Friday you can pop in and pick up a nearly new M&P cot/bed. it converts between a cot and then to a child's bed - yours for the cost of a beer:)

I am 5 mins from j15 M1

Thats a nice gesture Paul , we've got a mirror that clips on back seat so you can check on the little one. We're just off j28 :D

It is a mindfield! Goto a shop that allows you to try them in your car. Travel systems are often the bulkiest and heaviest prams and tke up the most boot space and you'll need all the space you can get what with all the baby clobber when going for visits with the little'n. Then consider the weight of lifting it into the car if your wife isn't built like Fatima Whitbred.

:lol1:

You have PM.

:lol:

Keep em coming :D

I know when it's your first kid you want everything new, and the missuse will probably insist, but when I got the whole M&P system for £24 the realisation that we'd wasted hundreds before hit home. Sure, we got our monies worth out of what we bought and I still say it was and is a brilliant bit of kit. I just wish we'd hit eBay first, as there are thousands of thoroughly decent folk selling perfectly good used prams that are clean and fully functioning.

THIS LINK shows the full system and its versatility :thumb:

we got the phil and teds, absolutly pukka its for sale on ebay :)
330539178227

Only cus the kids are too old now!

My thoughts exactly, hence our trip out last weekend to try a few. Have to look at the Graco stuff a bit more closely though.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, keep them coming :D

Another vote for the Quinny Buzz. Got it with the Maxi Cosi car seat (and isofix base) and it's been superb. Our boy is 1 now and it still looks / works as good as new. It is quite big though, which I think is the only downside (but on the flipside this makes it quite robust and roomy).

Babies'r'Us was the cheapest when we bought ours, as they often do £100 off.

We were going to get the carry-cot but glad we didn't, would never have used it. Car seat is fine for when they're small and they are never in it for a prolonged period!

Also got a Quinny Zapp for holidays / short strolls and that's been a god-send too.

In hindsight I made a mistake the first time around buying a travel as it was left totally redundant after a while. The novelty of them looking so comfy and easy to use wears off after a while when you are lugginh the rest of the house (kitchen sink included!!)
My son only got to about 6 months and I was already googling for reviews on the best stroller!

I knew which buggy I would be getting in place of the huge all terrain 3 wheeleer travel system, but sadly I needed a twin buggy for the next pregnancy.

Even thought I don't plan on having anymore babies (in the near future) I already know which pushchair I would buy. :)

http://www.3in1pushchair.co.uk/macla...pushchair-2009

I saw this stroller/travel system in Halfords when my daughter was about six months old, and I really had to stop myself buying it! I already had the recaro car seat, and it was a lovely pushchair, but at that time, I already had a stroller for when it was needed.

It may seem a little more expensive than a stroller (depending on what you would pay for one) but if you shop about you can get the full three in on e for a good price.
To me this would have been the perfect solution.
Like I said, looking back, I amd pretty much all parents end up getting a stroller not long after you have bought the 'main' buggy, and this is the best of both worlds.

Also, you can pic up accesories for this stroller on ebay at really good prices, and capital seating on ebay do really good prices on the matching car seat.
I have had all my seats from him and have never had any problems at all.

That's what I had when my second came along. Excellent pushchair, especially if you have children close together as we did.
I used to use the back seat as a luggage compartment when my son was happy to walk.
It did many a trip around silverstone with a cooler in the back ;)

Some good help here for you:

http://chris.602.org/baby_owners_manual/

Get the best advice from people who have kids that are at least 3 years old now. They've been there done that ... as H has.

Our's is now 6. We got a largish pram at first (but free from my sister - something like this ... http://www.tyre-shopper.co.uk/ ... ) and though it was great for pushing him about in, it was a pin in the butt to get in/out the car, it being so big. As soon as he could keep his head up we got a McClaren buggy and never looked back.

Also, they do all the waterproof covers etc but have a think how many times you're going to be taking baby out in the rain? Same for these thermal covers that would be great in the Arctic, how many times, and for how long, will you be taking him/her out in the ice and snow? Babies are great, they're waterproof and have their own in-built heating system so there's a limit to how much you need unless you're trekking in the Andes ....

Dave

We went with Mothercare Xcursion - where you can drop the car seat into the frame and it comes with a lie-flat section too :)

Got it for £270 from being £400!

I would love one of those Spinny Quinny ones but they're £750 - FFS - you can buy a car for that much lol

The majority of our buggys/systems have been Mclaren as they are superb and also have a life time warranty now. With 3 kids the Mrs has bought more buggys than i've bought cars and she has always ended up going back to a Mclaren if she's tried anything else out.

We just bought a Silver Cross 3D travel system.

The push chair was £299 but then Toy R Us threw the car seat in for free (£80).
http://www.toysrus.co.uk/Babies-R-Us...arcoal(0069639)

Didn't like any of the Graco ones. Didn't feel like they would last very long.
Very good prices though.
Make sure the one you chose will fit in your car. Sounds stupid but you need to check.
Also, the weight of it will be very important. If mrs can't lift it, thats another £300 down the drain.

This was the saving grace on the Graco one we have Chris, it weighs feck all. If it does the job for x amount of time before giving up I'll be happy, especially considering the quite low outlay on a safe 3-1 system :thumb:

If money was no object then I would have preferred something more high end like Silver Cross :cool:

Wasn't having a dig or anything. May be the one we tried in toys r us was a 'well used' example. :thumb:

I'm sure ours would be trashed in a few months anyway! rolleyes:

We just liked the silver cross as it felt really solid and was easy to fold.
Although if we had had to pay for the car seat seperately, I suspect we would have bought something else. £300 was the budget and I was sticking to it! There was also a voucher in the toy r us magazine which saved us another £15! :thumb:

What colour? We went with the Henley.

We got that offer if we signed up to the members thing we got £60 off which the women serving us kindly told us, but no free car seat :(

Bugger, a bargain/voucher/saving that I missed :eek::eek:

Although I have just purchased a caterpillar cuddly toy thing from Toys'r'us for £14.99 from £29.99... all 4 feet of it for baby Gilbert :D:D:D

hi mate ive not read all the replys but ive got a number for a lady which lives near us and has a mamas and papas pramette with the matching baby car seat, its immaculate she said it was their "spare" lol

she wants £100 ono for the pair, its in the black and grey poker dot design and its really nice.

my parents have bought us a new one so its no use to me, bear in mind its probably sold.