Prams & Pushchairs

Prams & Pushchairs

The choosing of your pram or pushchair is one of the most daunting tasks a couple have to undertake, but when you look at the options available to fit your exact criteria, you will find the choices narrow right down.

Buggy Size

You may find the car that you drive will have far more of an impact on your choices than almost any other factor. Check the size of the boot, compared to the size of the buggy or pram that you are considering, it is important that the wheels or seat unit do not have to be removed for those short everyday trips - weekend family trips are not generally a problem, but to do a rebuild each time you need to make a quick trip for a pint of milk it does become an issue.

Some larger cars that you would expect to have a large boot and not reduce your buggy choice quite often have either a CD changer or spare wheel taking up the width, this could mean that although a large pushchair will fit, surprisingly a small umbrella folding buggy will not.

If you are planning to purchase a travel system it is VITAL to check that the car seat part of the travel system is a compatible fit with your vehicle - not all infant carriers fit all cars.

Off Road Prams

Where you wish to walk will also have an impact on the versatility of the pram or buggy, if your first requirement is to enjoy family walks into the country, with occasional trips to town or maybe you live in town and you never venture off paved walk ways you are successfully narrowing down your choices - large or small wheels. Large wheels will cover rough ground quicker and more easily, small wheels will generally swivel giving excellent manoeuvrability.

Do Wish Baby To Face You?

If your baby is due to be born during the winter you will have two reasons to consider having baby face rearwards for those first months. It has always been recommended that baby should be able to keep eye contact with you; the other advantage of rearward facing seat units is that cold air is not constantly pushed into the babies face.

It is not advisable for babies to spend more than 2 hours in their car seat, so if using a travel system it would be much better if baby were placed in the pushchair seat when ever possible, many travel systems only have baby facing you while using the car seat, if you use one of these systems always keep the 2 hour rule in mind.

Make a physical list of your requirements, having definite answers to the three points above will reduce the number of prams, pushchairs, buggies and all terrain vehicles that may suit you and reduce the choices down to a manageable level. At this point you could then add in fashions and colours.