Pram recommendations needed

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1
For all the parents ...

... We have a new born. Looking for a good pram which we can use from now on itself - wherein, our daughter can lie in flat & can be used later on - wherein she can sit when she is a few months (I presume greater than six months) old.

Any recommendations?

We are thinking of buying two separate prams as we can't find one which can be used later on as well!

-GS

2
Do you mean something like this?

You can get really good ones now, when my 2 eldest were babies, I had to push a huge shopping trolly like thing around, I used to "affectionately" call it the tank.

Have a look in the children's section of your local Monor or Orchestra

3
Are you car-dependent or using public transport every day ?

Can the adult who is transporting the child, lift the pram plus baby/toddler ?

Are you short or tall ?

These were the criteria for us - I have three children, but never used a double pram because I have a weak back and I needed to stay light...

And be able to lift it into the car and back out again.

But the solution that I had was more suited to hotter climates. For the winter I'd get a pram that has a fair bit of padding and protection.

Also, not having a car in Switzerland and being on public transport every day, our pram was an 'umbrella fold' one that was narrow enough to fit down the aisle of the tram, bus or train. Handy if you want to find a seat or can't exit the way you came in, or accidentally go in the wrong door and there's no logical place to park the pram...

A lot of the second and third time parents at my preschool have Maclarens. They do lay right back close to flat, and my pram is similar and I made a firm mattress pad to put into mine for more support/comfort for my baby when he was little.

Most parents I know who start out with a 'whizz bang' super pram, end up getting a much lighter one as the child gets older...

And of course, it comes down to money. We spent a total of $0 for our first child's pram (it was second-hand from family), $60 for her stroller. $120 for the second child's pram and $35 for a stroller, and $140 for the third child's pram which recently bit the dust after 2.5 years of public transport, and just spent $80 on a new stroller for him because we have to get him to/from childcare full time for the next couple of months...or else he walks...so he has a pretty cool red stroller now with a layback seat, footrest, sun/wind cover and high handles...and the total weight is under 7kg.

4
We were absolutely thrilled with Chicco, the 3-combo (bassinette, buggy, car seat). For the ok quality super price, and it served well up to 2yrs. Then we switched to a cheap Chicco light (5kg), easy to fly with and pack away for a busy tot. It was important to have a thin buggy, since it was the thinnest on the market, you can fit it in any old escalator, elevator, gate, car, etc. It is light to lift up to the train/tram, even with a shopping and a baby. It seemed to be the only one you can maneuvre in the train, walk through the car without having to fold it. Big advantage if you take a train frequently. It is not the most fashionable design thing around, but it was practical and no hustle to use, I love Chiccos.

5
Forgot to add. I don't like at all the 'modern' prams which have 'bucket' seats which you adjust by rotating. I worry about kids being in the same seated / semi-reclined position for so many months. I'm sure it's not good for their spine...and I see a lot of older children who are in a semi-reclined position which they cannot get out of - I was taught that kids should be seated comfortably upright as soon as possible, so that their skull balances on top of their spine, and be able to turn their head and look at the world around them - not in a 'lounging' position which encourages them to lie back and be passive...

6
I have watched kids in those hardshells seats and they bump. I think child seated in soft fabric hanging on a metal construction actually sits softly and the soft seat absorbs a lot of the motion, but since we didn't have the stiff construction (wouldn't go for it for the same reasons swisspea mentioned) I can't really bitch about it.

7
Do you have two or just one? Are you thinking of buying a double pram for when #2 comes along?

My husband and I have been doing a bit of research into the 'jogger' style as we're both runners (well, we were both runners until I got to "fat" and lazy and everytime I ran, someone started jumping on my bladder). I also like the jogger style for being slightly more rugged, thus possibly being able to handle the winters (with their unshoveled sidewalks) a bit better.

The downside to the jogger is that they can be huge. However, with the fact that I see them everywhere here (that and the Bugaboo) and I see everyone helping strollers on and off the tram, I don't see they'll be that much of an issue.

Our thoughts:

Phil and Ted's

I couldn't get the brake on the darn thing to work easily; I kept jumping up and down on it. I figured that if we hit a hill and I needed to 'hit' the brakes, we'd end up in a world of hurt.

Quinny Speedi

I like the idea of the Quinny systems. You can interchange the regular stroller bit for a carrycot and/or car seat. The only thing I didn't like was the lateral movement as we ran through the store (looking like idiots). The whole system is on sale at ProBaby if you like teal and black.

Baby Joggers

We've looked at the City Elite and the Summit XC, which you can get in the UK but not here. Both are fairly similar, with the Summit being slightly more 'running' oriented and the City series being more, well, city oriented. Both have a carrycot option to switch out with the normal stroller bit. The pockets were good sized, and there was a handbrake as well as a footbrake. It has the most amazing sunshield I've ever seen, and the stroller seat reclines for sleeping toddlers. I think we'll end up going with the Summit, as it ticked all of the boxes.

BabyStyle Oyster

My brother- and sister-in-law recently bought this system for their newborn and they love it. It has a carrycot attachment, and takes the car seat as well if you want to just use that. This might be only available in the UK, but it was quite a good looking non-Jogger that was significantly cheaper than ye olde Bugaboo.

And with that, I'd recommend writing out what your needs are (stroller system, umbrella stroller, jogger, etc.) and experimenting in the store. You won't know what you want until you try everything out. So, experiment. Collapse the stroller and pick it up (they can be heavy!). Try out the brakes. Take on and off any attachments (can you click on and off the carrycot?). Good luck!

8
With my second I ditched the big pram with bassinet (12kgs ) and got one of these. 6 kgs, fits in the car with shopping, fits through all tram and shopping isles. My baby lied flat with a winter sack around her - totally strapped in with the harness. We use a buggy board on the back for my son or he sits or stands on the front footrest.

I didn't like the way littles babies were not restrained in the bassinet. I live on a big hill, and my son kept moving down and his head would touch the top of the bassinet when we went down hill and he would bounce around over the stones and gutters. What would happen if it tipped over? I heard a terrible story last week of a friend whose baby slipped out of the bassinet when she was boarding a train with stairs. The holder for the bassinet wasn't clicked in properly and it tipped. She just caught the baby before it went onto the tracks too.

9
I can highly recommend the Chicco for me system. From newborn - lies completely flat. We're still using it on and off today - she's 3 years.

Also check out this thread

10
We did a lot of 'research' and almost got the Quinny but went for the Bugaboo Chameleon instead, and I love it. It's lighter than the Quinny, easy to fold (which is important when traveling by car, which we do a lot) and is very easy to use. It also has a wheelbase narrow and short enough for getting on the train/tram/bus etc, which was also a criterion for us.

It has 2 seats, a flat pram for babies up to 6 months and then a reclinable seat for older babies and toddlers.

The downside is its price so if you can get it from another country eg Germany or the UK where they are more affordable.

11
It depends on many things (your budget, height, personal preferences, size of your car's trunk and the size of the lift in your building, among many others).

From the list above, I can recommend Quinny Speedi SX because I had one. It was very well-made, solid, comfortable and maneuverable. But they all have downsides, there is no perfect buggy. Speedi is quite cumbersome and will not fit in many tiny lifts in old buildings unless you take the wheels off.

I also had a Maclaren Techno Classic and it was light and practical, but naturally not as solid. I still think that if you are going for an umbrella buggy, that is as good as it gets.

12
I had an Emmajunga, it lies flat for small children and later if you have a second child you can add a toddler seat. I used one for all 3 children and thought it was brilliant. It has a large shopping basket and will hold children up to around 4 years old. Great if you spend alot of time walking around town.

13
Consider: Weight - must be light - don't forget you could be pushing a child as heavy as 20 kg - add a heavy pram, and you could be pushing upwards of 35 kg around (excluding shopping!). Tyres - rubber inflatable much better than solid - look at used prams and you can see the solid wheels wear (often unevenly) and also they absorb less of the bumps on the road. Folding - one piece vs. two (we had the Bugaboo Frog - great in every aspect except the folding - two parts) Suspension - is there any? This helps the pusher as much as the Manoeuvrability - really important. Cheaper models tend to not have good ball bearings (if at all) which makes changing direction much harder). Also, can you push/change direction with just one hand? IMO this is an important factor that people don't always think about. Durability - are you going to have more than one child? Comparing 3 to 4 wheels: I prefer 4 over three as generally the balance is better. When getting on and off trams you need more effort with a 3 wheeler. Also, most 3 wheelers have a much longer wheelbase than a 4 wheeler, as the front wheel needs to stick out much further (think of shopping aisles or trying to cross a road between parked cars). 3 wheels are good if you want to go in a straight line (e.g. think "freedom" adds with mummy in-line skating and pushing child along beach front ).

Getting a pram with an associated child seat is a no-brainer.

If you are trying out prams in a shop, get something heavy in the seat to see what it is really like.

Otherwise, most of the top brands are much of a muchness... but Bugaboo is the best

14
We bought an iCandy Peach from the UK and brought it here for our newborn. It is very well made and collapses very easily, and converts to a pushchair for when she is older. You can also attach maxi-cosi car seats to the frame for short shopping trips.

If you have another baby later, it can also easily be adapted to fit another seat on the same frame, saving having to buy a new pram.

Unfortunately it's not for sale in Switzerland, but I'd recommend it highly anyway.