Prams, Car Seats etc!

[AngelGirl]

I took a trip to Babies Galore with DH last week, we were overwhelmed by the choice, how on earth do you choose? The prams ranged from $150 to nearly $1900 :eek:

We've heard the Mountain Buggy 3 wheel pram and the Safe'n'Sound Meridian carseat are good. Any comments on these?

For those who've been through this all before, any recommendations?

[Snugglepot]

Hi Angelgirl,

I ended up buying a second hand 4 wheel peg perago pram. The advice given to me at the time was that you end up putting your little one in a stroller at around 7-8 months anyway (light, easier and convienent) I really wanted a 3 wheel pram and a new one at the time, it seemed really important, but in the end I am glad I didnt, the 4 wheeler was easy to turn and push, light, it folded right back and allowed you to turn the handles over and have baby face you at the start. Too easy!

It is so confusing in the shops, there are so many prams and everyone has a favourite and will tell you what to buy. My only real advice is to remember that you do not use it for all that long and that thinking ahead to more kids does not alwys work either (my cousin brought an exensive pram with a toddler seat and the child hated it and she had to get a new double pram!) So try not to get too caught up in all the hype of spending 100's of $$$$!

Thats me, talking to much again! :ecomcity: Sorry!

[Livy]

Hi Angelgirl - I know what you mean - there are just so many brands and styles to choose from!

We are looking at the Infa Grenoble Pram and Safe n Sound Compaq car seat. (it is supposed to be really compact and good if you have a smallish car)

I found this site really great;

www.babyzonedirect.com.au

I have heard only good things about the Mountain Buggy.

Good luck with your choices :hugs:

[oscarsmilkbar]

Hi Angelgirl...

The mountain buggy is fantastic. I don't have one but am getting one as my next pram.

It definitely comes down to your lifestyle. Make sure you test drive those that you like, even a boot test if you don't have a 4WD/AWD. The mountain buggy is quite long when folded and I always recommend a boot test ( I work in a baby shop!!)

Mountain Buggy is an all terrain "vehicle" that suits bitumen, rugged road, rainforest walks, etc and you can jog with it. It is a great walker too if you are fond of daily walks/exercise. It is lightweight at 10.5kg and the fabric is durable. It does fit through standard doors, even though it's relatively wider than most others on the market.

The seat is big and definitely carries big toddlers and preschoolers in it. I see lots of 2/3 year olds still riding around our neighbourhood in it.

Safe n Sound is fantastic, probably number one leader for car seats. All the other brands do meet Australian Standards so they are considered safe too. The Safe n Sound has more padding around the head and upper torso that others ( more brownie points for safety)....I have one, my 2 year old is still in it and my mother also brought one for her car as she was impressed with mine.

Anyway...enough of my babble and opinions...hope this helped!

[Tingles]

first pram - 2001 - A Bidwell Bertini norm. $700, on sale $500 - was beautiful, so easy to push... however being PG didn't think to lift it!!!:eek: Too bloody heavy! 3 wheelers were just starting, an only Elle Macpherson had one!

second pram - 2002 - a pooh bear pattern stroller/pram - bought to bring on a holiday - cheapish - had a dogey folding mechanisim...

third pram-2004 - baby love three wheeler bright red & grey plus toddler seat - SUPER :thumbsup: I take it outside on a sunny day to give it a wash!

fourth pram-2006 - side by side double pram - bought from an ebay store - Love n Care Brand - fantastic too - this come out side for a wash too! Good Buy $$

Plus I've had a few strollers all under $100 - they are great, but make sure you get the ones that are 'long enough' for your arms - there are some **** ones with the handles too short.

didn't like the toddler seat, because toddlers like to sleep too, and they can't in a toddler seat.

I love buying prams :laughing:

[unhappy]

Hi AngelGirl
Well i have the safe and sound Meridian car seat and it is great. We bought the more expensive one with the automatic retracting straps. definatly worth the extra $30. It is so easy to use. ALot of people think that it is overpriced but when it came to car safety i couldnt put a price on my sons life.

As for the pram situation.... this is more about trial and error unfortunatly. I had a 3 wheel steelcraft to begin with BUT found that it was way too big and heavy so i had to go looking for a new pram a month or so ago. I was looking at the bugaboos and quinnys but we are TTC #2 now and there is no toddler seat or anything with them... so I actually ended up going with the phil&teds E3. I love it. It is really light, easy to fold up, very small so it fits into the boot easily and i like the idea that we can have a newborn and toddler both sitting in a 3 wheeler.
The mountain buggy prams are excellent.. I was looking at getting the side by side one for when i have the next one as you can have a bassinet and toddler together and i will still go with this option if i dont find the E3 any good when we have another bubba.
My advice is if you like the mountain buggy go with it... they are great but have a look at the E3s as they are also really good prams.

[trendy1]

Hi Angelgirl:

With our DD I had a Love n Care 4 wheel pram which I used for about 1 year and then I won a Love n Care 3 wheel jogger which I used and was fantastic. I am going to use it for this baby as well, the 3 wheelers are a bit bulkier to put in the car but still leave plenty of room. I have friends that had the mountain buggy and said it was excellent.

With this baby I am buying a new stroller (we had a cheap one with DD that is stuffed) and I am getting a Maclaren Techno Classic (actually just ordered it!!) as I find it handy to have both a stroller and a 3 wheeler as sometimes the bigger prams aren't as practical to take everywhere (especially on buses and trains).

We have 2 safe n sound car seats (1 in each car) and they have been fantastic.

Good luck with it all, it is so overwhelming when you see the prices of things.

[Tingles]

I remembered a safety point to remind you all of...

Car seats have 'used by dates'...I copied this from a website for you all.

I have been given a restraint, how do I know if it is it okay to use?

All restraints have date stamps on them (of manufacture). If a restraint is more than 10 years old, it is recommended that it not be used. It is also important to know the history of the restraint.



Just incase someone offers you a hand-me-down - or granny buys one for her car - from an OP shop:rolleyes:

Ammusing story - a friends MIL (while baby sitting)took grandchild out for a spin in the car... but you don't have a child restraint :confused: yes I do - I put one in... YES she did put one in...just sitting on the back seat!:eek:

[Kirst]

I can't rave more about Safe 'n' Sound car seats. The brand has been around FOREVER, and they have an appropriate seat to suit every budget. We will be getting another S'n'S (booster) in a few months to free this seat up for bub.

I have a Jeep 3-wheeler pram which I love. As others have said, prams are trial and error. The problem I have with my Jeep is that I can't attach a skateboard, and I don't want a twin pram. DD will be big enough to stay on a board when gumdrop is born. So I am looking around myself.

Size was never an issue for me, as I drive a Lancruiser, so anything would fit in it and still allow me room for plenty of shopping.

Toddler seats - steer clear or be VERY aware!!!!!!!!!!! My SIL bought a Valco with a toddler seat as DS1 and DS2 were less than 2 years apart. But what she didn't think about was that there were going to be times when they were both in it and she would need to take the younger one out for a feed while the toddler was in his seat. She assumed this would be okay as this would be a common occurance - WRONG! The pram flipped over on top of the toddler still in the pram. If you want to take the bub out to feed, you have to take the toddler out too! Imagine that in a shopping centre - chasing a toddler around while trying to keep #2 on the boob!

Needless to say, she sold it and got a twin pram (side by side) off eBay which has worked a treat. And like Tingles says, #1 could still slee when he wanted to.

Hope this helps.

[sueliz]

Hi there!

Just a tip for when buying your carseat. If you are a member of RACQ (obviously I am in QLD), they also have car seats. We priced our car seat at some baby stores and then noticed they also sold them through RACQ at a slightly cheaper price, but then if you were a member there is also a 10% discount on the price.
Plus they will fit the seat for you!

Obviously though - this may not work out to be cheapest if the baby stores offer a package deal, but might be worth looking in to.

We bought the Safe n Sound Meridian car seat, (I believe this was rated the safest car seat in Australia for cases of side collision - touch wood no one ever has to find that out though!) and my DS LOVES it. Loved it from the moment he went into it actually, (and this was after being in the capsule for a while), and still loves it.

[AngelGirl]

Ladies,

Thank you soooo much for all your advice, this is wonderful!! I'm taking it all on board when we go shopping!

I'm sure will not only help me but all the other new mums too so thank you.

[Milis]

My 10 cents worth :D .

Car Seat: We hired a capsule for the first 6 months - think it was a safe-n-sound one, cost about $80 for the duration, then we bought a Safe-n-Sound Discovery Plus which will last DS until he's 4. We'll probably do the same thing this time around.

Pram: We bought a Phil & Ted's, purely on the basis that we were planning another bub soon after the first and it seemed the most adaptable and safest of the toddler seat arrangements. TBH I find the steering really heavy and the seat adjustment really fiddly, and I was a bit disappointed.

My friend has a Beema and that is a fabulous pram :thumbsup: , and not ridiculously expensive either so might be something to think about if you're after a jogger.

The best way of researching I found was to go on the Choice website and download the reports they have on various baby items, cots, prams etc. It gives you an idea of the different brands available and comparisons and tells you what you should be looking for before buying.

HTH!

[ETsMum]

My 10 cents worth :D .

Car Seat: We hired a capsule for the first 6 months - think it was a safe-n-sound one, cost about $80 for the duration


My 10 cents worth too!!

I will definately be hiring another capsule for this bub. We got it from RACQ (for those in Qld). Brilliant, esp in the early days when bub is sleeping all the time. And if you have a small bub, and not ready to sit them up after 6 months, (or you hire it too early) you can extend your hire for free.

[Areca]

Okay putting in my bit.....

We have a safe and sound platinum AHR car seat. Expensive? Yes! Dearest on the market (to my knowledge) but totally worth it! It's rear facing up until 12kg's which is very important for me. DD was in it from birth and is still rear facing now at 14 months. I never worried about a capsule cause there was no way I had any intention of lugging it around a shop (too heavy and awkward) and I wanted her to get used to being disrupted by getting in out of the car seat early on so we didn't have h*ll to pay when she got too big for it. As it was, as a newborn she never woke up getting out of the car....once she hit about 3 months she did and even now she has to be dead tired to not wake up when we pull her out but she is used to it and copes well if she's woken.
Also...our car seat was over $500.....no way was I buying anything else for the car! lol DD will stay in that car seat until this baby is close to being born and then we'll put her in a maxi rider booster seat. she should have hit the 12kg mark by then!

As far as prams go....we have a Valco three wheeler. We got it cause at the time our car was a Toyota Echo and we needed something that was easy to get the wheels off (only way to fit it in the boot). It was easy and I don't really use my pram shopping....I use carrier's instead (I hate waiting for lifts and saying excuse me every 2 seconds....not to mention the fact that half the shops don't cater for pram room anyway) but I do go for walks regularly and wanted a 3 wheeler for that...much better than a 4 wheeler IMO. I have no complaints with it at all and we can get a toddler seat. I know people are against toddler seats but it won't be used much, mainly just on walks, so it's not like it's going to be stationery to topple over. Also, Valco's customer service is fantastic!!!!!