break the bank prams- showboating or necessity?

[Zobohook]

Dont get me wrong! We can all choose the pram want, no one can tell us what we can or cant buy. Its just some peoples mindset that says "its £800, so its the best ,so it is a necessity.."

 

[skydragonfly]

I've got a Bugaboo Cameleon, I also had one for my previous child. I love it, it fits in the car (not many pushchairs do as I have a small boot - Ford Galaxy) and still has a proper pram unit. I hate to see babies pushed around in their car seats. My last Bugaboo was used about 9 miles a day every weekday, pushed round the Peak district at the weekends and generally took an awful lot of use. Still got a high resale value for it.
I swapped for a Maclaren Techno when he was about 2 years old and in less than a year wore out all 4 wheels.

 

[Laura_M]

We have the mamas and papas ultima 8 in 1, cost a lot of money but included car seat and base, he's already into the pushchair bit and I can see me selling it by the time easter comes. Worth the money as it is really lovely to push, but an awful lot of money for a very short time he's been in it xxx

I've got this one too! My mum offered to buy us a pram so we decided it was perfect as it included the car seat, isofix base, carrycot which doubled as moses basket to keep downstairs when LO was tiny and pushchair.

TBH I'm glad we got it as buying everything separately would have probably come to almost the same, and it saved us money getting it all together as my mum paid and practically we have found it really useful. If we were paying ourselves I'm not sure what we'd have bought as my mum just said unlimited budget so I got a tad excited.... does take up a lot of room in the boot though, but was determined to get something big to justify selling my beloved mini for a huge astra!!

Although I do think that the £95 I spent on the changing bag to match was a tad excessive....it's not really practical at all, but I daren't tell OH!!

 

[peanut56]

My sister in law is due in April and she got a very expensive car seat and stroller. The car seat was on sale for $300 and the stroller on sale for $450. I got my whole travel system on sale for $300!
She did look at the cheaper ones...but the reason she got the one she did was because she is very tiny (under 5 feet) and has a lot of back problems so she needed a car seat and stroller that was very lightweight and easy to fold up and put away/take out of the car. The one she got was the lightest we could find. It's probably less than half the weight of mine.
So I think sometimes it could be necessity.

 

[Kimmer]

My first pushchair was the Britax B smart 4 with carrycot and car seat, that cost about £550. I've just bought a Quinny Buzz (just the pushchair) for £300.

Personally, I don't like the cheaper ones. I've tried loads and I just didn't like them!

The Britax I've got has a single hand release feature for the car seat which makes life easier, the cheapies don't have that sort of thing.
the Quinny and the Britax look so much more comfortable than some of the others too.

Everyones telling me to get a £35 stroller, but I can't bring myself to put her in one.. not trying to offend anyone that's got one, but they just don't look comfortable and sturdy enough for me.

I do think some of the prices are insane though.. like the Stokke Xplory.. that is just silly IMO.

 

[lozzy21]

My first pushchair was the Britax B smart 4 with carrycot and car seat, that cost about £550. I've just bought a Quinny Buzz (just the pushchair) for £300.

Personally, I don't like the cheaper ones. I've tried loads and I just didn't like them!

The Britax I've got has a single hand release feature for the car seat which makes life easier, the cheapies don't have that sort of thing.
the Quinny and the Britax look so much more comfortable than some of the others too.

Everyones telling me to get a £35 stroller, but I can't bring myself to put her in one.. not trying to offend anyone that's got one, but they just don't look comfortable and sturdy enough for me.

I do think some of the prices are insane though.. like the Stokke Xplory.. that is just silly IMO.

I agree, iv got a lighter pram for when my mam looks after her as mine is to heavy for her to put in her car. The cheapest one i found that did'ent look like it was going to fall apart or get blown over in a strong wind was £150 reduced to £89

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

I don't think the very very cheap pushchairs look at all comfy or durable either!

 

[Hayley90]

Thats the thing isnt it... you buy what you can afford. I can afford my pram, so its not "break the bank"

id pay more if it meant i got the right pram for us!

 

[carly_mummy2b]

I have the Stokke and I love it, do you know why I bought it? Because it looks good and I wanted something that I would be proud to push. I didn't want a cheap pram and I can afford it so I thought why not. I get really irritated when people criticise others that choose to spend allot of money on an item. I would never criticise someone who could only spend £50 on a second hand pram so why is it ok to criticise the other end of the spectrum? Its just rude IMHO.

I like nice, designer things. I can afford them and I have absolutely no debt or credit cards. Why shouldn't my son and I have nice things?

I whole heartedly agree!

 

[PinkEmily]

We have a Bugaboo Cameleon, which was my dream pram but i could'nt justify spending £700+ pounds on one pram. We bought it 2nd hand from ebay and even though i would have loved it brand new im kind of glad i got it 2nd hand because even though LO is only 8 weeks its already been well used and does a lot of off roading when taking the dogs out for a walk. It has coped well though, its a very sturdy pram

 

[SKATERBUN]

I basically set myself a budget of £400 and out of that I wanted a practical, durable travel system that would get full use. None of this getting fed up after 2 months and going out and finding a new one, it had to be the right one and if it had its niggles then I would live with it. We had a budget for everything concerning LO so if we overspent on her travel system something else would have to give. We did a lot of research online and tried so many out in stores and looked for the best offer available.

So out of that £400 travel system we got full use out of the carry cot (which was indespensible - it was brilliant in the colder winter months), the car seat which will be used up until 9 months and also gets the odd airing as pushchair seat, and then the pushchair seat which has been in use since 6 months and will get used until she is at least 3 years old.

I would never in a million years buy something out of my price range just because it was fashionable, they claim that these prams are lighter, better for baby, and fold smaller etc but theres also a lot of cheaper ones/less common makes that do exactly that. In my opinion you are paying for a name and a fancy pattern or colour. Its all about doing your research at the end of day. If you have money to burn however and you want something thats more 'trendy' then its up to the individual at the end of the day.

 

[Hellodoris]

We ended up buying a more expensive brand then we originally planned but ended up paying the amount we budgeted! Went to kiddiecare and played with loads found a brand called Jane (i'd never heard of it before). They were selling off a shop floor model of their solo reverse pushchair and matrix car seat (can be used lie flat or in a seated position in the car and on the pushchair frame), for £279 reduced down from £750 as it had no box and had been wheeled around the shop floor a few times.

Had it been full price we would have not bought it, money is tight and I'd rather spend as much time off with her then worry about my pram. As it was we got a bloody good pram that no one else round here has, at a really really good price... WIN!

 

[Jibber Jabber]

My first pushchair was the Britax B smart 4 with carrycot and car seat, that cost about £550. I've just bought a Quinny Buzz (just the pushchair) for £300.

Personally, I don't like the cheaper ones. I've tried loads and I just didn't like them!

The Britax I've got has a single hand release feature for the car seat which makes life easier, the cheapies don't have that sort of thing.
the Quinny and the Britax look so much more comfortable than some of the others too.

Everyones telling me to get a £35 stroller, but I can't bring myself to put her in one.. not trying to offend anyone that's got one, but they just don't look comfortable and sturdy enough for me.

I do think some of the prices are insane though.. like the Stokke Xplory.. that is just silly IMO.

Its all relative though isn't it? My sister has 3 children, each child has had a new pram system as the last one is badly constructed and cheaply made. I have one pram. I will use it for my next child and if I am blessed enough the one after that too. My initial outlay is higher but long term I will spend less money than her, whats the point in paying for something that isn't built to last? I understand that the initial outlay is high which is what puts people off but like I said, its my money, I'm not in debt, I work hard for it so why not?

..I can completely justify the purchase of my Stokke, justifying the purchase of my Orla Kiely change bag is completely different..

 

[Zobohook]

If you want to spend a fortune on a ts/pram, then thats up to the induvidual! It dosnt mean its any better or longer-lasting though! Most of the cost is due to trend/fashion, which is a shame because manufacturers are loving it!

 

[Hayley90]

Actually, i think you get what you pay for. I have paid for a sturdy, well made metal pram that despite its materials is lightweight and compact.

I havent paid for a cheaply made plastic travel system, that is large, bulky, heavy and immoveable.

I havent paid for a brand or a colour... in fact, i replaced the colour of my pram with something else. I have paid for a well made pram that will last easily for 2/3/4 children. if i dont use it, i can sell it on and easily recoup 50%-75% of the RRP.

 

[angel2010]

In the US, our travel systems are much less expensive. I bought one for maybe 200USD (including the car seat), which is around 100 pounds. I think if you want a high end one, maybe look for a nice used one. There is no shame about buying used baby things here.

I think in the US prams just aren't as big of a deal. I guess because we don't do a lot of walking (unless in like NYC or something). I think mine was also around $200, but I am not even sure. I didn't even know what a pram was until this forum, had always heard the word stroller. I remember being in 2nd and 3rd tri seeing all these "which pram" threads thinking my lord what is the big deal? I guess if you have the money, why not? If I had the money, I sure would've liked to have one of those fancy old fashioned looking ones (now that I know what they are).

 

[Jibber Jabber]

If you want to spend a fortune on a ts/pram, then thats up to the induvidual! It dosnt mean its any better or longer-lasting though! Most of the cost is due to trend/fashion, which is a shame because manufacturers are loving it!

Personally I feel that the standard of my Stokke is far sturdier and is also with the ergonomic design it is far more functional than any other pram that I looked at, so for me and in my experience you get what you pay for.

 

[wishuwerehere]

I LOVE prams, I have a bit of an obsession...and I've owned a few! But get them from ebay...so I have got a couple of nice, typically 'break the bank' prams for half price or less on there. Then I sell them again a couple of months later

 

[Zobohook]

I got alot better than I paid for with my £100 ts! Its fab, in year 4 and on child 2. Which goes to show cost dosnt always equal value. My £600 ts is fab too.. Equal to the £100 in quality!
I love the look of some of the expensive prams, but after road testing friends models, some dont justify the price.

 

[Marzipan_girl]

I fell unexpectedly pregnant and had no clue about babies, buggies, or anything to do with this world! I wanted the best pushchair, but didn't bother looking them up or anything so just went to the nearest baby shop (Mama's and Papa's) and asked for the best pushchair. Lol. They sold me the Sola travel system which including the carry cot, car seat and a few other things was about....£500 ish.
I have absolutely NO faults with it whatsoever, it's brilliant and it rates second on Which.com.
However, now i've moved to a new area...a very nice area in SW London lol and have since noticed there IS pushchair snobbery. Literally, EVERYONE around here has a stokke, bugaboo or Icandy...I feel SO left out! And in all honesty, if I had known of pushchair snobbery when I went to buy one I would have bought a bugaboo! (Not a stokke...they look WEIRD lol).
But I didn't and really, considering mine works just great I really can't condone myself buying a whole new pushchair just to fit in. I always feel jealous, but even though I could afford one now, I just feel i'd be being really pathetic seeing as I already have a fab travel system.
I don't want to be one of those people!