Pushchair

Hiya,
We are looking into buying a pushchair for our grandson who is 5 months on Monday, & wondered if there are any parents on here who could advise.
We want a parent facing one, but being as I have rheumatoid arthritis, we want one that is easy to fold, comfortable of course for our grandson, but also if possible not too heavy when folded.
John Lewis are useless, even on line. Mamas & papas are good, but just looking really for any recommendations, sites we can look at. We do have a couple of on line sites.
Thank you

We had similar requirements but never found one that was lightweight and parent-facing. We ended up with the babyjogger city mini and it’s been a brilliant pushchair. Taken a lot of battering over the past few years and still going strong. Very easy to fold and carry up a flight of stairs. Easy to maneuver and good for the hills around us. Babyzen yoyo are also meant to be good. Lots of people sell them second hand locally in very good condition. There’s a good Facebook group called SE23 mums for buying and selling baby things.

Thank you. I’ll have a look at the city one you suggested. My daughter has said the yoyo ones are no good for us as he is tall already.

Hi Gill,
I adored my silver cross it was so manoeuvrable and slender & easy to push too around the aisles in shops.
It was 3 in 1 one. Lay down, sit up face you & face away option. However it wasn’t cheep then! That was teenager years ago now & maybe not what your after. But it was well with it. What they offer now, no idea. But just saying as it was a dream to push, not bulky or too heavy & looked very comfortable. When we sold it it still looked as good as new. So you may find a secondhand one. Or definitely worth a trip to stockists of silver cross to see what’s on offer now.

Thanks Clair. I know silver cross are generally expensive, but will take a look.

We had around 4 at one time!

As suggested SE23 mums is good for this sort of thing, NCT pre-covid used to have second hand sales and you can get some off ebay etc.

It’s been a while, but I think the ones with proper tyres handle bumpy terrain a bit better. Not a massive issue on pavements, but if you go a nit more ‘offroad’ onto grass, bumpy paths etc it might make a difference. Not sure if this is relevant for your arthritis (please excuse my ignorance here).

Other questions would be, will you be going into shops with it, do you have a narrow doorway ie do you need a narrow one?

You’ll probably want one with a raincover and a sunshade (I’d say this is more important, or something you can drape over it in summer so they can be shielded.

The best overall one we used was a Micralite, it’s more of a travel one I think but we used it lots instead of the original McLaren we had. Was not expensive second hand, easy to fold push etc.

Good luck!

Thanks Al. Yes we had a Maclaren for our children when young, when they had first come out & were seen as the thing to have! But my daughter isn’t keen for him to have something like that as she doesn’t think they are supportive enough & I do agree, looking at the ones that are about now, also not parent facing, that was a real issue when my son was young as he would scream everytime we went in the shops because he couldn’t see me!
It’s amazing though how many they are still making forward facing.
My daughter got her pram an ickklebubba on an on line site, & we do have a couple of those that have been recommended, so will have to have a really good look.

We got a baby jogger city mini for £50 from facebook marketplace and it’s our best baby/toddler purchase ever. My tall 2.5 yo still fits in it easily, can fold with one hand and folds flat. Narrow enough for shop doorways, buses etc. I can’t recommend it enough!

Thank you! We are planning to buy a brand new one, but you never know.
Thank you for your suggestion, I’ll take a look.

Have you looked at the Bugaboo Bee. If just the buggy version without the pram bit, I think new about £500. Not too heavy. Parent facing. Folds very well and also has a stand so stands upright. My 4 YO (big for age) occasionally sits in it for fun and it still fits him.

We got ours new but now knowing what we know re second hand sales, I’d look second hand.

Great, thank you.

Thank you everybody for your suggestions. All we have to do now is do a lot of research, but at least now I have some ideas.