Prams, Pushchairs and Strollers

A pram or pushchair is a major item of expenditure so it is important to choose one that you will be happy with. With all the available products on the market, choosing the right prams, pushchairs or a car seat for your baby can be a very challenging experience, but there are a few tips you should consider.

Pushchairs

Mamas & Papas 03 Sport pushchairs - voted pushchair of the year 2006/2007 by a parenting magazine. It is great for outdoors and has high performance tyres and rear wheel suspension.
Silver Cross 3D System pushchairs
Quinny Buzz pushchairs- has many interesting features, for example its automatic unfolding system, highly manoeuvrable front swivel wheel or height adjustable push bar
Stokke Xplory stroller/pushchair- a very modern design, with many fabulous features, a bit more pricy
Bugaboo Bee Pushchairs- one of the best and very trendy pushchairs, awarded by many parents

Strollers

The next step after pushchairs are strollers. Babies love them as they can see in front of them when being pushed around. As we like Quinny pushchairs, we also went for a Quinny stroller, Quinny Zapp, one of the lightest strollers on the market, easily folded and the most compact you can imagine. It is true that the seat does not recline, but Isabelle used to fall asleep in it without any problems and did not look uncomfortable. I would recommend this stroller to parents who travel a lot. There are two other strollers that my friends were very happy with. Maclaren Quest Sport and Mamas & Papas Pulse Buggy. Both strollers have also been awarded by many parents as the best strollers.

• Maclaren Volo Pea Green/Black Stripe
• Out n About Nipper Double 360 Charcoal

Travel systems

Because we travel quite often, we were looking for something lightweight and easy to fold. We chose Mamas & Papas Pliko Pramette, a baby travel system. It is very easy to fold and unfold, the car seat clicks in the pram that converts into a pushchair and is quite light. We were really satisfied with it.
On a very similar basis there is a Silver Cross 3D Pram System, which has been awarded by many parenting magazines. Also many parents go for Graco System Travel.

 Get ready for a hot summer!

Protect your baby in their pram from sun, glare, wind and insects with this award-winning shade. It fits snugly over your pram and has a unique 3-layered design which gives effective protection. Invaluable for sunny holidays, or windy days! The shade also minimises distractions which enables your little ones to snooze easily.

Baby Car Seats

When choosing baby car seats consider the following:

• The most important thing is to make sure that the seat you choose is suitable for your child and for your car. If you use the child seat in more than one car, follow the advice below for each car.
• Don't rush the decision. Look through the manufacturer's catalogues, or on their websites or in shops that sell child seats to assess a range of seats.
• Think about how you will use the seat. For example, if you will be constantly taking it in and out of the car, a lighter weight seat might be preferable. Or, if you do a lot of long journeys, a seat that reclines may be more comfortable for your child and help him or her sleep.
• Choose a seat that is suitable for your child's weight and height.
• Babies should be in rearward-facing baby seats. Do not move your child to a forward-facing seat until they weigh at least 9 kgs and can sit up unaided, but keep them in a rearward-facing seat for as long as possible. Once your child is above the maximum weight for a rearward-facing seat or the top of their head is above the top of the seat , they should be moved into a forward-facing seat. It is not important if their knees are bent in the seat, provided they are still within the seat's weight range.
• Contact the child seat manufacturer to check if the seat will fit your car.
• Check that the seat meets the United Nations standard Regulation 44.03 or 44.04 - look for the 'E' mark.
• Do not buy a second- hand car seat, you cannot be certain of its history (it may have been involved in an accident and been seriously weakened - the damage may not be visible) and often the instructions are missing. Second-hand seats are likely to be older and not designed to current standards. Only accept a child seat from a family member or friend, if you are absolutely certain that you know its history, it comes with the original instructions and it is not too old.

Infant carriers

The first car seat we bought for Isabelle was Mamas & Papas Primo Viaggio SIP and was part of the travel system we purchased. We decided for an award winning product and we were very happy with it. Most of my friends went for Cabriofix Maxi-Cosi Infant Carrier and were also satisfied.

Baby/toddler car seat

When our daughter's weight reached 9kg, the recommended limit for a toddler car seat, we purchased a Maxi- Cosi Priori XP car seat. It is a forward- facing seat and Isabelle loves being in it. It has many great features and I would not hesitate to recommend it. Some of my friends went for Concord Ultimax car seat, which can be used for both weight groups. Up to 13kg it can be used rear- facing and for bigger children it is used in a front- facing position.

My tips

• Always keep the instructions leaflets somewhere safe.
• Buy an extra car seat cover. Not all car seat covers are machine- washable and can be tumble- dried!
• Baby Car Seat Accessories
• Pushchairs Compare ratings, prices, read reviews and write your opinions and experiences of Pushchairs.