The WHAT? FOR A BUGGY? IT'S NOT EVEN $%^* CARBON!! thread

DonDaddyD

As promised.

Went onto the Mothercare website and found this joyful travel system!

It's got three wheels so it looks posh, it comes with everything and it's heavily discounted.

Mrs DDD takes one look at it and says that basically it's heavy, hard to maneuver, heavy, looks all wrong and is er heavy.

I don't even argue really, I've quickly adopted that uninterested just get on with it glazed look that sits between defeat and irritation that most Dad's have.

She picks out this, even goes to Mothercare to try it out:

http://www.mothercare.com/dp/B00405ZXDU?ref=sr_11_1

It isn't in the sale and in the shop costs £388. Bye bye Fulcrums!

clarkey cat

this is what we have and its really light and goes off road

http://www.micralite.com/superlite.asp

or... if you want something made of carbon:

http://www.babys-mart.co.uk/itemdetl.ph ... Cij6n_91wS

TheStone

Get her one of those rucsac things. Can't be much above a score.

DonDaddyD

I suggested my old cycling rucksack as a travel bag to carry the babies nappies etc in. Apparently it's got to match the buggy... Thank god Castelli don't do baby gear!

EKE_38BPM

You want one of these:

Zachariah

Get a used one from your nearest NCT sale. Excellent kit at knock-down prices. Don't be proud, there is no need to buy brand new gear.

cjcp

Ebay is your friend, and the NCT Nearly New sales (although the latter is a bit more of a scrum).

Also, if you haven't done so already, sign up to Freecycle and look out for baby-related stuff.

Otherwise, welcome to the world of not having a pot to p1ss in.

The Rookie

Babies cost a lot, and then you have the crippling sense of having been conned when that 'thing' you paid £100 for gets used 2-3 times and then is grown out of (or for the Dad - Groan - out of!)

Simon

SimonAH

Children bring you lots of little pleasures, and turn all your other little pleasures to SH1T.

Can't remember who said that, but totally valid in my experience.

Get used to it and DadTFU

clarkey cat

you wont need a quarter of the crap you'll end up buying

EKE_38BPM

Well tell him which quarter so that he doesn't end up buying it then!

Gussio

cjcp wrote:

Ebay is your friend.

+1 Not everything needs to be new. Most of our kiddie stuff seems to be handowns and we take lots of pleasure in handing stuff on.

Gussio

clarkey cat wrote:

you wont need a quarter of the crap you'll end up buying

Another big +1

dhope

DonDaddyD wrote:

She picks out this, even goes to Mothercare to try it out:

http://www.mothercare.com/dp/B00405ZXDU?ref=sr_11_1

Hrm, suitable for 6m-3y so you're probably sacrificing a bit of weight for practicality. Touring buggy I see.
3 position seat recline? What are you, ITBoffin? These days you can make do with a compact!
Swiveling and lockable wheels is nice, that's a -1.

So probably about FCN of 8, right?

clarkey cat

Well tell him which quarter so that he doesn't end up buying it then!

he won't listen - you are taught that everything is vital - mostly perpetuated by nutter parenting groups like the NCT.

kurako

That's nothing. This is what they are raving about at nappyvalley.net

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle ... er-pram.do

Incidentally there's a whole subdivision among mums between pushchairs and carriers. Not to mention nanny v daycare. It kind of puts the whole hybrid v road bike division in perspective.

We just bought a macpac rucksack/carrier from snow + rock. Little monkey goes in the top and all the assorted baby stuff goes in the bottom. It's pretty cool. Not suitable for really little uns though.

EKE_38BPM

Give DDD a breakdown of things that you parents have bought but never used.
It'll give him a heads up and a chance to use a little judgement before baby hormones mess with his head.

gtvlusso

Yup - Buggies cost allot.

iCandy travel system (3 wheel) with adaptors for the maxi cosi car seat including the cot and all the accesories (sunshade, coffee holder, luxury pack in purple) - £700.....

http://www.icandyuk.com/products_detail ... ple_jogger

Car seat for when they get to 9kg + - £179 and that was 1/3 off from Halfords.

And your laydee will not compromise when in "nesting" mode.....Have you been asked to do any DIY yet? it'll come!

Yes, ebay is your friend, unfortunately, my wife would not have anything secondhand for junior.....grrrrr!

clarkey cat

when we refused to spent a grand on an icandy or bugaboo we got the whole 'you dont want the best for your baby' chat. its a nightmare. very competitive. pretty unpleasant actually.

Kieran_Burns

If it was good enough for our Great Great Grandparents:



It'll be good for thee!

craker

Problem is when you have another one. Baby, that is.

we got a nice blingy off road travel system from Mothercare. Lot of dosh, but the d's b's for our daughter. 19 months later we had no. 2 and had to get a double off road travel system. A lot of dosh.

Plan ahead.

Still I thoroughly recommend our Phil & Teds' buggy. http://philandteds.com/products/push/explorer.

As for 2nd hand.... what, but you got a new bike just 5 months ago. Nothings too good for our small and noisy one etc etc

SimonAH

eBay.

I bought a Bebecar travel system for the mini when she was small. Awesome bit of kit with big pneum tyres (those little scratchy hard rubber 3" umbrella buggy wheels are rubbish). I think I paid around £150, when no longer needed sold it for about the same.

My wife actually makes a profit (even today) on our daughters clothes - buy used or receive as gifts (and you will be hosed from doting relatives) then launder and sell on.

Wrath Rob

The only thing we bought new for the kids was a Phil'n'Ted pram. Suitable from birth, i.e. it lets the child lie flat, it can take an attachment to add a 2nd child. Very useful if you plan on having more than 1 otherwise you'll end up buying 1 pram now and then another in 2-3 years time when number 2 arrives, leading to more expense.

Yes they are expensive but you'll use it every day for 3-5 years (depending on the number of kids you have plus how lazy they are). Cost per use will be peanuts.

And you will need to buy a 2nd pram, like a Mclaren, for shopping/airport etc as all of the 3 wheelers are heavy and don't fold down very small.

For everything else, including bottles, sterilizer, cot, clothes etc, eBay is indeed your friend. People struggle to give that stuff away so it goes for pittance. We got a sterilizer, 15 bottles and ~45 different teats for about £7.

bigmat

We got a Bugaboo Bee. I would recommend. Not cheap, but it has been great from birth to now (the boy is 2 and a half). Its light enough, extremely manoeverable, folds neatly and doesn't take up the entire car boot. Lots of people seem to buy something with tractor wheels or with a built in cot, but you don't really need that stuff - compact and versatile is the way to go.

Friends have got the Oyster, seem to rate it.

Oh yeah, when we were buying, the only from birth car seat with decent safety scores was the Maxi Cosi, so I would personally avoid any "system" that isn't compatible with that car seat. Probably being a bit hysterical, but some things I don't compromise on.

spen666

DonDaddyD wrote:

....
She picks out this, even goes to Mothercare to try it out:

http://www.mothercare.com/dp/B00405ZXDU?ref=sr_11_1

It isn't in the sale and in the shop costs £388. Bye bye Fulcrums!

Remember my comments in the thread announcing your future skint ness ( sorry parent hood) and your glib comments about having money to spend at the end of the month?

you are rapidly going to find you have too much month left at the end of the money

gtvlusso

clarkey cat wrote:

when we refused to spent a grand on an icandy or bugaboo we got the whole 'you dont want the best for your baby' chat. its a nightmare. very competitive. pretty unpleasant actually.

+1 - and keep her off mumsnet for gods sake!!!!!!

The whole thing is damn dangerous for the wallet!

Magazines and mumsnet put huge pressure on you to buy "as it is best for baby"......and try to stop her buying every baby book on the planet, they all conflict information and all say that they offer "perfect solutions" to every problem - particularly sleep.

Rules of thumb from my 3:

Sleep - for first weeks of breast feeding - every 2 to 3 hour feed, sleep in between - Mum will be knackered and feel like she does not get a break, cause she doesn't!

Junior will settle, you just gotta let them figure it out - be prepared to be a zombie in the office, particularly when teething (teething can go on and on in patches for years!).

If you are too tired to cope, then you are not doing baby any favours - call in the mother/mother in law/friends to help.

When parents or whomever comes over - get them to bring their own food/cook for you and be prepared for them to serve themselves drinks etc etc - you don't wanna be entertaining when you are knackered.

Sleep - junior generally will sleep allot, you gotta reach a compromise on when you go to bed and when you are up.

theslowone

+1 for ebay
You will find that any "from birth" buggy actualy is too bulky once the little one is walking and a lightweight push chair is more suitable.

We had a Phil and Teds with all the extras from ebay for £250 used it from birth for about a year then put it away and used a lightweight pushchair. When the second child came along 2 years later out came the Phil and Teds because it can work in "double mode". One year after that our second child went in the lightweight and I ebayed the Phil and Teds got back about £150 8) Will prob ebay the lightweight as well soon and use the money "saved" to justify a new bike to the missus :twisted:

NGale

Myself and Jake had the 'which school would we send our child to' conversation last night, this was quickly followed by the 'I'm NOT sending my child there!' conversation and for me the 'HOW MUCH!!' conversation when looking at what he considers as 'acceptable' school fees.

I would like to point out that I am not even pregnant yet :shock:

gtvlusso

theslowone wrote:

+1 for ebay
You will find that any "from birth" buggy actualy is too bulky once the little one is walking and a lightweight push chair is more suitable.

We had a Phil and Teds with all the extras from ebay for £250 used it from birth for about a year then put it away and used a lightweight pushchair. When the second child came along 2 years later out came the Phil and Teds because it can work in "double mode". One year after that our second child went in the lightweight and I ebayed the Phil and Teds got back about £150 8) Will prob ebay the lightweight as well soon and use the money "saved" to justify a new bike to the missus :twisted:

+1 - we bought a lightweight pram for the later years. Stays in the car now, just in case! The big iCandy pram lives in the utility room and all the now unused cot and bits sit in the attic.....

kieranb

well we got a maclaren stroller.

http://www.babythings4u.co.uk/item/maclaren-volo

not that exact one, but very light and folded up great for public transport/back of small car etc. The seat can recline so the baby can lie down. I would avoid the '4x4' strollers and buggies out there now, compact and light they are not.

For off road a mac pac (or similar is the way to go, not too easy to push even off-road buggies up mountain sides or along narrow coastal paths.

Then as soon as we could we dumped the stroller and made her walk (still used the mac pac though).

kieranb

Sorry forgot to say also note:

A recent innovation was brought to the market with the introduction of the Techno XT, the first titanium frame baby stroller.

also:

Carbon-Fibre Skin Buggy
Leather Seat

Maclaren created the the world"s first carbon-fibre skin buggy in celebration of 40 years of innovation.

The Maclaren Leather Buggy CF6506 has a beautifully reclining (4 point) soft leather pushchair seat for baby to lie down in. The Maclaren leather pram is breathable too, so baby will not overheat and will stay cool in summer.

The stroller has a handy pocket on the hood for your phone or iPod and includes a basket, hood and raincover. You"ll also find all the usual Maclaren benefits like lockable swivel wheels and a convenient one-handed umbrella fold.

To top off the world's first carbon fibre clad frame (produced in celebration of 40 years of innovation by Maclaren), the wheels are mono spoke alloy style and the handles are leather.

Appropriate from 3 months this is the perfect buggy choice for parents who want their children to travel in comfort and style.