Baby Pushchairs - What to Think About When Buying One
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed
Many brands sell baby pushchairs, buggies, strollers and prams, and searching for the right one for your baby can be a daunting task. If you’re about to have your first child you probably won’t have gone through this process before so it can feel quite difficult, as there so many brands and styles to choose between.
To help make your decision easier have at look at these tips for choosing the best baby pushchair for you and your baby.
• Functionality
Firstly you need to think about whether you need a pushchair, a buggy, a pram, a stroller or a complete travel system. This decision is based on the age of your child (a newborn needs to lie flat), how you travel (do you need a car seat that can be transfered to your pushchair frame), when and where you’ll be using it (every day, around town, on holiday, etc). On holiday you might want a lightweight stroller but for every day use you may want a complete travel system that incorporates a pushchair, a carrycot that can make a pram, and a car seat.
• Kids
The second decision is based on how many children you have and their individual ages, and whether you are planning to expand your family in the near future. So will you need a tandem or a twin pushchair, or the option to add another seat or a ride-on board at some stage? If you have two children you need to decide whether you’d prefer them to sit next to each other or one in front of the other, or if you have one child older than the other whether they can ride on an attached ride-on board.
• Budget
It is important to think about how much money you want to spend and look at which brands are within your budget, as prices can vary vastly. There are many very good quality yet affordable baby ppushchairs as well as more expensive designer brands. It’s worth looking around to find offers and sales on if you have a particular brand in mind that you’d like. But remember that this is an investment for your baby, hopefully a one-off cost so if you do your research thoroughly and get the right pushchair it should last you the next three or four years, or longer if you have a second child.
• Weight
You need to think about the weight you’ll have to push around, how strong or fit are you, will you be lifting and carrying a pushchair on your own? How do you travel, on public transport, in a car? Where do you live, does it have a lot of stairs that you’ll have to carry the pushchair up and down? Remember when testing the weight of a pushchair that your baby will also be in it so add their weight on to get a true idea of how heavy it will be to push!
• Manoeuvrability
It’s really important to consider how easy it is to manoeuvre a baby pushchair and to think about where you’ll need to manoeuvre it. Think about whether you’ll be squeezing through tight spaces around town, in and out of shops and through doorways? If so you probably want a swivel front wheel, but a lockable one for using over rougher terrain. If you plan on covering any rough terrain, for example in the countryside, think about the suspension as well as the manoeuvrability.
• Compactness
When you’re looking at pushchairs in a shop they will most likely be unfolded so remember to try folding them to see how easy they are to fold, and how compact they are when folded. Think about where you are going store it at home, and will it fit easily in your car? Check whether it’s easy to unfold and fold one handed, and whether it has quick release wheels if you need to take them off to fit it in the car easily? If you’re looking at pushchairs online have a look at the sizes of them when they’re folded for storage purposes, as well as when they’re unfolded.
• Style
Although it’s vitally important to consider all the practical and functional features of pushchairs it’s also important to think about what style you like as it’s something you will probably be using and looking at every day. Styles of pushchairs also vary based on what usage or terrain they’re aimed at, e.g. 3-wheelers are often more rugged and look sporty with large, pneumatic tyres aimed at rough terrain. But there are now all sorts of styles available, in 3-wheelers and 4-wheelers, from contemporary to classic, minimalist to chunky, pretty to funky, etc.
• Extras
You might just want to purchase a basic pushchair to start with but have a look at what extras you can add at a later date if necessary? Is it possible to attach a carry cot or a car seat to the frame of the pushchair so you can move your baby without disturbance? Can the pushchair be adapted by adding an extra seat or a ride-on board if you have another child? Some pushchair brands have a whole range of mathcing accessories that can be bought separately, which is great to know as you can then adapt your pushchair as circumstances change without having to buy a new one. Some pushchairs come with more accessories included than others but most of them have a rain cover, a sun hood and a basket or a bag for shopping. Many have a range of accessories available that you can buy separately, such as cup holders, parasols, sun shades, blankets, footmuffs, insect nets, and weather shields. Always check what’s included in the price and what you might have to buy as optional extras.
Seat Comfort
One of the most important elements to think about is whether the seat is comfortable for your child. Have a look if it has several recline positions, including a lie flat position for new babies as not all pushchairs have this option and are not suitable from birth. Have a look for features like an adjustable footrest, adjustable straps, a headrest, pads for smaller babies, etc. Some pushchairs have front and rear facing seats so think about whether your baby will feel happier facing you or looking where they’re going, or whether you want the option to be able to turn the seat around as your baby gets older.
• Parent Comfort
It’s important considering how comfortable you are going to be as well as your baby. How long will you usually be pushing the pushchair around for and over what sort of ground, rough or smooth. Look for an adjustable handle height (if you’re tall some handles can seem too low). Think about whether you need a footbrake so you have your hands free to deal with other things going on around you? Is it easy to push with one hand while holding the hand of another child with your spare hand? Is it easy to fold with one hand?
You may have thing to consider as well as the things listed here but if take a little time to think about these and have a look around you should end up with the best baby pushchair for your needs. Use the tips here as a starting point for your search, write a list of the things you need and then compare similar baby pushchairs made by different brands before reaching a final decision.
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