Prams and car seat

[Esme78]

Dear ladies

we would welcome your recommendations/things to consider when buying a pram/car system for the baby. We are novices - this is our first pregnancy - and want to get it right.

We are an active couple, who enjoy walking, and plan to do so with the baby also. We live in a rural area with plenty of muddy roads and hills! We'd like something that will last and is durable.

Thank you.

[Lovefood1984]

I’ve heard good things about mountain buggies for rough terrain (most prams are only good for shopping centres/smoother tracks, wouldn’t recommend my cosatto for a walk up a muddy track) not sure if you can attach car seats etc to them though and they also recommend babies under 6 months lie flat before moving them to a chair type arrangement (perhaps they have a tilting one that would go flat and then tilt to a proper seat when older?). Look for things like size when folded, adjustable height handles, storage underneath (trust me by the time you put a changing bag under you wonder where to put your shopping 😂) and any other key features you’d like. Go have a look instore too, we went and hubby tried a pram twice the price of the one we were looking at and the handle rattled terribly!

For a car seat anything safe for your car/s that’ll attach with isofix (and work with the pram) I didn’t like the movement in my daughters one from seatbelt only. We’ve also found 1 isofix between two cars is good enough for now as I’ll be off for most of the use, when she’s bigger I’ll consider getting a fixed seat one per car.

I’d also recommend a baby carrier (sling libraries are good to borrow from if you don’t want to commit to a brand before trying) as you can then carry baby when a pram is inconvenient (was a life saver for us during silent reflux issues) we plan to use it at the beach next weekend too. We have an ergo baby 360 and I find it really comfortable as well as a fabric one for round the house (try sitting down in an ergo baby once they’ve nodded off in the house 😂)

Happy shopping! xxx

[emmab178]

We just headed into a showroom and tried them all out. We are tall so some of them felt like children's pushchairs!

In a rural area do you have pavements? My friend lives in a small village and doesn't feel safe pushing the pushchair directly on the road.

We didn't bother with isofix. Just had a maxicosi and used the seatbelt. Really easy and alot cheaper. If you do go for the isofix then check out fits the next size seat up. Most of the swivel chairs can't be used with the new born isofix base

If i were going again I'd get a second hand travel system and definately wouldn't bother with the bassinet for it. The seats pretty much lie flat and the baby is hardly in it for long.