A beginners guide when buying a Travel System

Where do you start....your friends give you advice, your mother gives you advice, your mother-in-law gives you advice but all of it is so contradictory and it’s such a minefield! You had no idea that the simple act of buying a pushchair could be so hard.

Your mother-in-law wants you to buy something that she put her son in 30 years ago, your friends are all telling you about the new models that are all named after racing cars, fruit or posh Italian designers! All you really want is something that fits what you need; something that's functional, not too heavy and will fit in your Corsa! (Which probably could do with tidying out, from all the chocolate wrappers that  are filling the door pockets!)

You look at the lifestyle pictures in baby magazines of size 12 mum's pushing their 3 week old child in the latest pushchair made with unicorn print, some with  gold bling  wearing 5 inch heels, when the last thing you bought with the word heel in it, was cracked heel cream because your feet are killing you!

Well the great news is there truly is a pushchair to suit EVERYONE! The real clever thing to do is work out which one is right for you!

Ladies (sorry dads but they will understand) you know when you are buying a new pair of jeans, the fit has to be perfect for your body shape, I love designer clothes but I am currently living in my £13 pair of black ripped jeans which  are from Primark! 

So it isn’t that the most expensive will be the best! Now dads to help you understand how much did you love your first gaming console. Now it wasn’t the most expensive was it? But I bet you would love to put the PS4 to one side just to have another go!

That said I won’t go anywhere without my £250 Kate Spade handbag because it’s amazing and carries my life inside it and looks incredible.

So pushchairs are exactly the same it must be perfect for you! Not your mum or sister or your best friend just you! 

Firstly forget about brand names or designers, that’s not to say you exclude them but buy based on the right fit for your lifestyle and not the name on the side.

Think about what works for you. Are you a walker or dog owner, maybe larger wheels should be important.

Does a one handed fold help so you can hold baby and get the pushchair into the boot? Maybe you are having a planned Cesarean Section so lifting with both hands at once won’t be easy.

Are you based in the city and use a lot of public transport? Then a compact fold must be high on the list of important factors.

Until I entered the world of baby products the words I heard used may as well have been a foreign language as I didn’t have a clue, UV protection, PU wheels, breathable fabrics, pneumatic tyres and apparently even a self folding pushchair (how does that even work!) you are going to be your own expert in no time. What I will say is that  each designer and manufacturer chooses those clever little things to make their pushchair the ‘best’, but best must be best for you. Some people ask if the pushchair can be converted into a double. I had even got over the shock of being pregnant and the crazy changes in my own body let alone having another one!

It isn’t easy, “do I eat my own body weight in chocolate in front of the telly, using the pregnancy as an excuse or take my other half to look at pushchairs”...... all I would say is remember pushchairs can have lengthy lead times, 8 weeks is not uncommon! So get out early and often, try everything. Think of your lifestyle, ask the retailer to collapse it and put it in your car. Be inquisitive, ask, ask, ask. You could be spending a lot of money, so make sure you get good value for money. Spend time getting what works for you and your lifestyle not what anyone else thinks is amazing! And from someone that owned 39 pushchairs/, good luck!