to buy a new pushchair when my DC2 is 20 months....

[TrippingDownMammaryLane]

Hi - I'm Rachel, and I am a recovering pram addict. Loved ones are concerned I still have a problem but am in denial...

During my first child's first 3 years, he had in total 15 different types of pram. I used to pore through pram magazines religiously, knew every type, developed an extensive knowledge on the subject. I justified my habit with the usual excuses..."I don't drink, smoke or go out.. It's my one vice "... "people spend way more in a car, it's my set of wheels! " or that old chestnut, "It's not for me, it's for my son, that coordinating footmuff n changing bag will really increase his sense of security and good taste!"

Like an alcoholic thrown out of pub after pub, certain shops quickly became off limits to me as the staff thought I was weird and i'd have to travel town to get my kick, of trying ones out on the shop floor.

I thought I was over it.... thought I'd learned my lesson! did my research. Found the perfect pushchair for DC2 in the shape of the baby jogger city versa and have been happily using it, for a indulging my occasional need for new pushchairs by changing the buggysnuggle, when I get a craving.

However, we have recently moved to a city and I am sick of l getting in people's way with the cumbersome big buggy.... And coincidentally, I only realised this when I saw the cath kidston floral spray maclaren for a budget price on eBay.....


aibu to get a new one when I spent nearly 500 on my perfect one a year ago?? More to the point, AIBU to buy the cath kidston one when I can't stand her stuff, except I love the stroller....

Help.. I can feel myself slipping back into old thought patterns and is only a matter of time before an all day mothercare/ john Lewis / nappy pin spree, even though little one is practically walking everywhere now!!

[SylvaniansKeepGettingHoovered]

Bloody hell, that's a lot of buggy's you've bought! Why on earth?? Just keep the one you've got!! I couldn't wait to get rid of the buggy myself. Pushchairs are a pain because:

• they take up space in the hallway/house/porch
  
• they get dirty wheels which you have to deal with in the house or in the car boot
  
• it's a pain lifting them in and out of the car boot
  
• toddlers sense when you're in a rush and decide they want to get in the buggy, get out the buggy...get in...get out...get in...get out

[Rainicorn]

I am Rainicorn and I am a former pramaholic. I was fine when I had my first two DC, they had 10 prams between them respectively. However, when dc3 was born, I was a bored housewife so filled my time buying and selling prams. I tried over 50 prams during his first three years, some of them repeated models.

So op, as long as you're not hurting anyone or making yourself skint or getting in debt, do whatever you want.

I'm gutted I never got to try Uppababy prams, almost makes me want another just so I can

[BitterAndOnlySlightlyTwisted]

FIVE HUNDRED QUID? I had no idea these things were so expensive. After spending/wasting that kind of money you'd be effing mental to spend any more on something else. Get a bloody grip, woman!

[ViviPru]

I've heard about this phenomenon, women like you who are compulsive about pushchairs, I don't really get it but I'm fascinated. How many were in your possession at any one time?

I don't think it's unreasonable to supplement a full-on travel-system style set up with a lightweight Maclaren, especially if it's a bargain.

[StillStayingClassySanDiego]

Bloody hell fire!

I've had three ds's and we went through a total of 4 between the three of them.

If you think a smaller buggy will suit your lifestyle who are we to tell you otherwise but I am agog at how much you must have spent on prams/buggies.

AGOG!

[Molotov]

Goodness, OP, that's a lot of pushchairs!

I love pushchairs; I love babies and I think I get where you are coming from re. styling of prams/pushchairs/buggies. Accessories and coordinating pieces appeal to me, too. Each of my dds (I have 2) have had more than one pushchair: dd1 had two and dd2 is on her third.

However, I had a massive, impractical Silver Cross for dd1 that I had to change (I got a fabulous iCandy) when she was 8mo. Dd1 had a new pram because I couldn't use the iCandy from birth. Dd2 went into the iCandy at 12mo. The iCandy finally wore out when dd2 was about 21mo and she's now in a new pushchair. She prefers to walk now at 2.4yo, but my girl still needs her pushchair for the school run and getting about.

I lust after pushchairs and prams. I'm undecided about us having another baby, and that is a factor.

I think it's important to identify why you're getting through so many pushchairs. The amount you have seems excessive to me. The overconsumption could be caused by many things, from simply not being happy with the one you have, to feelings of competitiveness, or even wanting another baby. That's only something that you can answer.

FWIW, I think at 21mo, it is unrrasonable to replace a pushchair unless it's really necessary.

[starlight1234]

I thought I was going to say yes buy one but £500.. I bought my DS a new pushcahir when he was 2 1/2 as he looked so uncomfy in it as he had long legs

[Finney2]

If you really need a new buggy then get a £40 job from Argos. I love mine. It folds easily and is really light and it'll do until my 20 month old will reliably not run out into the road, which I reckon will be about the time he turns 2. Seriously, think of all the stuff you could buy with £500. You could pay for a holiday with that.

[StillWishihadabs]

Not unreasonable at all. The right pram will transform your life, I am reading between the lines here but as I read it your are non-driver living in a city. A car service (every 10,000 miles or 1 year) costs a couple of hundred quid, the MOT is £50 ish and the tax is £195 (on my mid range model) so £500 for your main means of transportation - perfectly reasonable.

I have 2 dcs only got my licence when dd (dc2) was 4 so 6 years of buggies, I had 5 (last one purchase shortly before dd's 2nd birthday for all the reasons stated above). One of those was a "£40 job- lasted less than 6 months.

[HavanaSlife]

I'd say buy it but then I've had 7 in the last 18 months, i still have 3 of them

[TrippingDownMammaryLane]

Now ladies I am no anthropologist but I'm sensing a real divide here - either people are pramoholics, or they aren't. Is there a gene for the condition, I wonder...!

Firstly I kind of felt like Iwishihadabs that the money was worth it for the Versa GT - it really is a wonderful machine! The wheels are non poppable big all terrain ones but it still has swivel front wheels so easy to steer, and it's not ugly nor does it carry stigma like say a smugaboo. I've got a helluva lot of miles out of it as we used to live in the country, and lots of happy memories of walks through forests etc that just would not have been possible with most other prams without risking puncture etc. And it's kept me vaguely fit, encouraged me n dcs out of the house, it folds in one piece facing either way, perfect as we travel a LOT on public transport! It is the holy grail. my baby is so comfy in it too. The reason I got through so many with my son was that I kept buying cheap second hand ones to try and save money and it turned out I spent so much i might as well have just got the one I wanted in the first place. Which I did anyway :-/

Yeah so I don't regret that purchase at all! But Molotov you are so right about the psychological aspect of it, I was a single mum with my first and when I first walked into the breastfeeding group with my second hand blue draughty stroller, wheel falling off, stuffed with mismatching blankets (all i could afford) and saw all the other babies in their furry snuggly high up old fashioned proper prams I went home and cried with guilt...that I had had a babyso selfishly without even planning for his future, that I had not even been able to buy him a pram through pregnancy despite two jobs.. Yes I know, he probably didn't care. maybe it wasn't the pram, it was the lifestyle a nice one represented...I couldn't have the nice home but for five or six hours every day we could live in their shoes kinda thing..???. Like he would not miss out on being out n about and super comfy etc. It's a joke really, it is way more important to be cheery and get a kid interested in their surroundings, whatever the pram, but hey. It was also super important for me to get one where I could face the baby cos we were out and about so much chatting. And there is some design flaw in most rear facing prams sadly, though they are better now!
..I went a bit quietly mad I think back then .It's a long story I never got post natal depression but maybe that was my way of stopping me dwelling on it. With my little girl I kind of know she is probably my last. I don't want loads of prams though just one or two perfect ones that cover all scenarios!

I'm making no sense here am I haha.

Rainstorm I SO SO wanted the uppababy vista!! It was just way out of my price range as dd was 5 months n no longer would have needed the carrycot etc.

Is it just me who is an inverted snob about certain prams too?

I reckon a lot of women who dwell on prams etc also maybe have hungry and creative minds hmmm maybe we should club together and write a book instead of obsessing..maybe write a thesis on whether pramoholics should be in the dsm diagnostic manual thing! With a huge section with a flow chart that helps women find The Right One for Her Dc!!

[TrippingDownMammaryLane]

Also must add it isn't that frivolous moneywise, if you "become a dealer" - ie desperately sell on old prams to fund the habit ;-)

[HavanaSlife]

Maybe I'm the same, with ds1&2 I couldn't afford a new pram. In my defense 4 of them have been doubles, trying to find the right one was a pita!

[TrippingDownMammaryLane]

Frusso I have to ask what 6 had your little one had? I'm intrigued! If in honest I started virtuously. dd had a second hand free streety ( the road to hell was paved with good intentions, but it was also terribly bumpy without suspension).. A cosatto yo golightly, couldn't resist but it fell apart...a versa and now a maclaren too! And the rest of yous self confessed addicts, Rainicorn et Al what did you all have, what's your fave?

[TrippingDownMammaryLane]

Havanas.... god double buggies must be even harder to buy, rrspect! (and slight envy for getting to test all those new ones :-))

[SchroSawMargeryDaw]

Pramaholic here too. Currently have in my possession an Icandy Apple, an Emmal Junga Herqules, a Quinny Zapp and an Argos £50 one (it's rubbish) and also a couple of baby carriers/slings too. . Have just sold on a couple not long back to fund the Icandy!

Same as you many many prams for the first but settled on one (Icandy peach blossom) when the second came along, but then the toddler became too big for it and I didn't want all the extra bits lying around so sold it and was on the futile hunt again for the perfect buggy.

I say go for it. :)

[TrippingDownMammaryLane]

Sorry for the million posts - Molotov what do you mean your pram lust is a factor in whether you want another baby? does it sway you for or against?

[StillWishihadabs]

Had a Jane with ds, then a maclerean quest. Followed by a quinny, el-cheapo argos one (fell apart) then finished with another quest.

[TrippingDownMammaryLane]

Schrosaw my therapy and pram bills are inthe post to you and I'm heading to ebayeBay ;-) thanks for the licence to spend ;-) so jealous of your emmaljunga .. My perfect friend (bitch) bought one for dc1 for like a thousand, and it's seen her through three dcs, she hasn't had to so much touch any others - she even changed her car to fit it in!!! Wish I'd had that foresight. They are beautiful

[TrippingDownMammaryLane]

F a b Iwishihadabs I like maclaren quests a lot, they are quality. Wish the designs were prettier though without the white bits, to be practical you don't have to look practical normal?

[HavanaSlife]

I had britax bsmart travel system, (no problem)
cosatto yo in black jack (also fine)
Brittany bduel (bloody heavy and no footrest)
Cosatto big brother little bro (just not big enough, hard to push)
P & t explorer ( love it)
P & t sport, a doer upper because everyone raves about them, preferred the explorer but did make a bit of money on it when I sold it.
P & t smart, not keen, although I've had it customised so it's quite funky.

I'd love a p & t navigator v2 or the p & t smart lux but it would be wasting money

[SchroSawMargeryDaw]

Tripping I actually bought it second hand when DS1 was a baby and it is still going strong and perfect and DS2 is 14 months, it's just too big to take in to town and stuff really which is why I also have the Icandy. It's pretty indestructable though.

[Chottie]

OP - I can understand where you are coming from. I can remember having a really heavy old fashioned second hand push chair and how I desperately wanted a Maclaren buggy which reclined.

[HavanaSlife]

My mum moved 2 years ago and she still had 3 of my prams in the loft that were ds1s, he's 19 now