All About Buggies…

An Interview with Sharon Calsi, Head of Personal Shopping with Mamas and Papas Regent St, London

Emma
So congratulations, you’re pregnant and now we’ve got to go and buy a load of stuff, including a buggy. And it’s a minefield out there. There are thousands of them! Are there any golden rules to buying the right buggy for you?

Sharon
There is a lot of choice out there, you’re right, so what you really need to work out is what will fit in with your lifestyle. What, how, where and when are you going to use it? You need to look at things like boot space, whether it will fit in through your front door, whether you live in a flat, have stairs to get up. If you travel a lot you might want a lightweight pushchair. So those are the things you need to be talking to your sales consultant about when you go to buy one.

Emma
Is that the kind of service you should expect from wherever you buy your buggy? You should be asking those types of questions?

Sharon
Yep that’s right. You need to ask the right questions in order to get the right pushchair for you.

Emma
A good place to start is at home, look at your house and write it all down?

Sharon
Look at your house, look at the car, measure the boot space and the front door to make sure it will fit! If you are going to be using public transport a lot, think about how you will be getting it on and off buses. If you ask yourself those kinds of questions, that’s a really good place to start.

Emma
So, then we come into the shop and there about 100 in each shop, what happens next? Are there basic differences? Do they fit into categories?

Sharon
Yes, there are three main categories.
- The pram which is a more traditional unit, with the carry-cot that has baby facing towards you, or a cot that the baby can still sleep in even if you take it out.
- The Travel System, which is made to be convenient, is quite new and includes a seat which clips into your pushchair or your car.
- The lightweight pushchair is for use for basic day-to-day activities and for travelling.

Emma
For newborns, prams or the travel systems are the better choice?

Sharon
Yes, the lightweight buggies are likely to come later when the child is a bit older around 6 months - or if you are travelling.
For a newborn, you want something that ideally lays flat. It has to be at angle of at least 30 degrees as you don’t want baby to be sitting upright. You have the pram option where the baby lays flat and faces you, which a lot of new mums like. And then in the car seat, just bear in mind that your baby should not be in it for more than two hours at a time.

Emma
Tell me about the 30 degree angle. That’s to stop the baby sliding down I presume?

Sharon
Yes. It is always a feature of the prams and even in some strollers and newborn pushchairs. Anything that can lie less than 30 degrees will be suitable from birth. Anything more than this and the baby will be uncomfortable and in danger of sliding down!

Emma
I had no idea that more than 2 hours in the car seat at a time wasn’t ideal.

Sharon
It’s not very good for spine development to keep them in there for any longer. If you look at the shape of the car seat, it’s almost an L-shape - quite upright. This is perfectly safe and you need that position in the car, but at this point they are growing and any longer and the baby can’t stretch, so it might restrict their development.

Emma
Front facing or facing away? Are there any benefits or is it personal choice?

Sharon
There are advantages and disadvantages. If you have the baby facing you, you’ve got that bond and that closeness which new parents like. And then when the child gets older and might be making a lot of noise, it’s nice to have that choice to be able to turn them around!! But it is largely a personal choice it’s not essential that baby faces you from day one.

Emma
So from birth you’ve really got two choices: the more traditional pram, like the one Charlotte Church had, or the travel systems. What do you get with a pram?

Sharon
You have your carrycot, the pushchair unit and the car seat in some systems. So the carrycot you will have lying flat and facing you, so that you can take it out and the baby can stay in it. You will use the pushchair unit for later and then the car seat separately, which clips into the system easily. There are more components and lots of things to clip-on and clip-off, so you need to know how that all works before you take it home.

Emma
And then we move on the travel systems… they’re enormous. What do they consist of?

Sharon
They are more convenient really. You have the car seat which clips into the frame. Some of the pushchair units will be a two-in-one unit, so you still have the option of the baby laying flat, but it wouldn’t be something that the baby could stay asleep in overnight. It generally tends to be smaller and more lightweight and have not has many components as a pram.

Emma
What do you get for the price?

Sharon
On some of them, you will get the pushchair unit and the car seat, while others will feature the two-in-one conversion. So essentially, it’s a pushchair that converts into a pram and a car seat - and that would be its main feature. Another one may contain a small removable carry cot - not something that you can use as an alternative to a Moses basket - but one that you could occasionally use for the baby to sleep in. The travel systems and pushchair units of the prams, you can use up to around three years old.

Emma
Is it a good idea to ask in store about practising with them? I didn’t do that in the store and got it home and panicked. You should be able to have a go, shouldn’t you?

Sharon
Yes, in most stores there should be someone that can demonstrate for you, so do have a go, have a push round and work out how it feels? How does it collapse? It can be a big problem, so do practice. In all our stores, we have nursery advisors and consultants that can help with everything like this.

Emma
There was a trend a few years ago to get a three-wheeler to look all sporty and pretend you jog around the park… are there any advantages ?

Sharon
It was a trend to have the three-wheeler. They have that sporty look and look cool, but you have to consider that a three-wheeler will be a bit heavier, as they have pneumatic tyres (which are air-filled and need regular maintenance). That type of buggy is ideal for someone that goes jogging, off road or if you live in rural areas. If you’re using it on public transport or in cities, you might find it a bit of problem, because they are a bit bulkier. The tyres are mostly replaceable and you can get them gel-filled at bicycle shops to prevent them breaking. You need to make sure they are regularly pumped up and looked after. And if you are going to get a three-wheeler, it’s very important to look for a front wheel that swivels. Otherwise you have to lift up on to the back wheel every time you turn a corner which puts a lot of pressure on your back.

Emma
Baby’s are sick a lot and poo and wee and generally can make a right old mess of the buggy. How do you keep them clean?

Sharon
Some of the buggies have a liner or you can buy an additional liner, which is fantastic. Most of them are wipe-able and most buggies have a washable element, but you’re not going to be wanting to be taking them off every five minutes and forgetting how they go back on! Do go for a liner or a sheet that makes it much easier.

Emma
Are there any national standards they have to go through to prove they are safe?

Sharon
They all go through some amount of testing. Mamas and Papas are tested to British and European standards. They wouldn’t be available on the market if they weren't meeting standards. So that means testing the wheel, the harness, the handles, and the backrest.

Emma
What about price… you can buy them for anything from £300 - £800. Sometimes even more?

Sharon
The price reflects the materials and the performance. Set yourself a budget but be prepared to compromise if it’s better for your lifestyle.

Emma
If I’m spending more than £800, I’m probably spending more than necessary?

Sharon
Probably. And don’t forget, you need to budget for the other bits that go with it. Foot muff, parasol for the sun, rain cover, changing mat… all of these are not usually included in the price. But some of them are essential. And most pushchairs come with a coffee holder as well!

Emma
The car seat next! It is crucial that you get this right. And there are several different ways of fitting them these days. Can you run through them for us?

Sharon
One good way of checking which is the best way for your car is that you can go to a garage and they can let you know from the make of your car whether the seat is right. A lot of the car seats in the manuals have lists of which cars they fit into. You can also come into the store and many will actually fit in the seat to make sure it’s the right one. In stores we also have mock seats of cars up, so you can try putting them in and out yourself.

Emma
Should you ever borrow them from a mate?

Sharon
See if it fits properly first… there are different ways of fitting them. One is that they just strap in with the seat belt as normal. Then we do bases, which are quite permanent, and the seat clips in and out of that. There are two bases to look for. There’s the Isofix unit - so you need to check if you have an Isofix car. There is no seat belt, as the seat clips in and out of the unit, which stays in the car. If you don’t have isofix fitting, then we have Surefix. This is a base that you fit in with a seat belt, but once it’s in, that’s it. After that, the car seat just clips in and out. Bases are also really good if you have bucket seats or dipped seats in your car to level it all up.

Emma
And where in the car do we put it?

Sharon
The baby in the first stages should always be rear facing. If you have front air bags they need to be turned off, but they do recommend - and it has been tried and tested - that its better to keep the baby in the back seats. Don’t forget that if you have side air bags they need to be turned off too.

Emma
It is difficult to bring the buggies back if they’re not right?

Sharon
Yes, so that’s why we do a lot in store to make sure it’s the right one for you. You can’t take car seats back because it’s impossible to know if it’s been in a crash or damaged.

Emma
Moving on from newborns, what are the options for six months upwards?

Sharon
This is when you will probably find you want to go for an umbrella-folding stroller. They are much more lightweight and transportable than your pram and travel systems. And some of them are suitable from birth so perfect for travelling on holidays.