The Great Buggy Debate

So this weekend my hubby and I finally bit the bullet and started baby shopping, with the first item on our agenda being a buggy! I had started looking online and to be honest was feeling completely overwhelmed. Where do you even begin? The selection available is mind blowing, all with various features and brand names, it’s like a whole new language and one I just didn’t understand!!!!
I’ll admit it last week,  I had a mini melt down, feeling completely under prepared and not knowing where to start, so my (amazing) hubby suggested we visit some shops over the weekend and attempt to get our heads around it all. On a friends recommendation we visited Tony Kealys and Bella Baby in Dundrum.
And god it was stressful, although it certainly helped seeing everything in person and getting the staff to explain the workings of the various models, it is a mindfield because the choice is MASSIVE!!
I shared a picture on my Instagram and it got great reaction; lots of brilliant advice from you ladies and lots of you sharing what buggy you have and what your top tips are. I figured if I’m finding this such a tricky decision, then there are bound to be others of you out there who are finding it a smidgen overwhelming too!!!
These are the brands I looked at/ liked:

1) Uppababy Vista

From what I know, this is only relatively new to the Irish market and is already ranking very high among mums! There are lots of pros to the Uppababy Vista (It’s my hubby’s favourite one), namely it’s lightweight, seemingly very easy to fold up, has a huge basket underneath for storage and the carry cot is certified for occasional overnight sleeping; a big bonus if you are away for a night! The colour selection is good with my fav being this beige/ cream one above! This one is definitely in the running!

2) Bugaboo Cameleon

 
This is a hugely popular option. Lots of our friends have this model and brand and speak so highly of it. Interestingly on my Instagram though, lots of ladies expressed some complaints about it. One of the downsides of this model is how low down it is, which if you are tall, is not ideal. But in saying that, it has great traits too, it looks neat, elegant and stylish. It is very lightweight, and easy to manoeuvre and seems relatively easy to fold down too. Again, good colours, I like the navy and the cream.

3) iCandy

We were shown the iCandy Peach 3, and I really liked it. Favoured by Victoria Beckham when she had Harper, this is stylish buggy but with all the practicalities too. It is lightweight, easy to manoeuvre, decent storage space and looks great. When it comes to colours on the peach 3, it is a little limited I felt as they are mostly two tone, and we were thinking of opting for one solid neutral colour (we don’t know yet if we are having a boy or girl!!) I haven’t really heard many down sides of the iCandy yet!

4) Stokke

I loved this buggy when I saw it in person, the number one thing I loved about it was how high it was and how close the baby is to you then as a result. No bending so low like with the Bugaboo. Great choice for taller ladies. It also looks great, very modern and trendy. Downsides though are it is a little bulkier than the others, and slightly heavier (not by much), and far less storage space underneath. An upside is that Stokke are the only brand who do their own car seat (all the others you use a BeSafe or a Maxi cosi)

5) Joolz

This is one stylish stylish travel system. I loved it when I saw it online and wow it certainly did not disappoint when I saw it in person. There is no doubt about it, it looks by far the best of all the buggies we saw. But I know, I know, when it comes to buggies it is NOT about how they look. I get that (before I get abuse for being superficial!!). The biggest downside of the Joolz as we saw it was that it was tricky to fold up and that is has limited storage space on the bottom. Some readers on my Instagram told me they have it though and love it, so it’s all a very personal decision.

What did you go for?

Did you opt for one of these brands? Or maybe another brand like Phil & Teds, Quinny or another? I’d love to hear your feedback and experience, or if your a mum already and were doing it all over again, what would you choose?
I think it could be a really useful forum for me AND other mammas-to-be like me, who are feeling a bit overwhelmed and struggling on what buggy to decide on.
At the end of the day, all of these brands are really good, all have really positive attributes and all have their negatives too. So everyone will have a personal favourite.

Good luck with your search, if you’re looking too and I’ll let you know which one we end up going for 🙂
‘Til next time
Naomi xx