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Buying a buggy for the first time? Here’s what you need to know
Our guide will help you avoid spending hundreds of pounds on a buggy that isn’t right for your family
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Buying a buggy is an important milestone for parents, but new data reveals most people regret their pre-baby purchase and end up spending hundreds more on two or even three buggies.
In a survey conducted by baby essentials brand Baby Jogger, data showed 24 per cent of families end up buying more than four different pushchairs, while more than half of those families had fewer than three children. When you consider most pushchair packages that include a newborn bassinet and other paraphernalia cost upwards of £700, many parents are shelling out at a time when money is already very tight.
The statistics also show that 96 per cent of parents buy their first buggy before their baby is born – a trap I fell into, getting caught up in the excitement of pushing the buggies around a department store, with absolutely no thought as to whether it would fit down the aisle of a bus, or into the boot of our car (with the bassinet, it did not, leading to a very stressful first journey home from the hospital).
What I have decided, though, is unless you never need to travel on public transport and you have an enormous car boot, you realistically will probably end up with two buggies – one main sturdier buggy, able to carry a decent amount of shopping, cope on uneven terrain and potentially grow with your family, and one lightweight travel buggy for holidays and tight spaces, such as buses or trains.
This still presents a minefield of choice and, until you have used a buggy as a parent, it is very difficult to know what is important and what is just a gimmick or a ‘nice to have’.
Read more: Best prams and buggies, tested by parents
I have tested many buggies for IndyBest, from running buggies to travel buggies, and from compact designs to complete travel systems. My recommendations are based on my own experience using them as a frequent passenger on public transport, living in a largely urban area.
Here, we look at what you should consider when choosing a buggy to suit your family and your lifestyle.
Does it fit?
How big is your car, your hallway, the lift and the aisle in the bus you’ll catch everyday? Don’t do what we did and buy a buggy too enormous for your car. We drove home from hospital with the folded chassis crammed into the passenger seat, having spent a tense few minutes trying to remember the fiddly folding technique.
Check the dimensions and, if space is an issue, go for a compact model and consider using a travel buggy for everyday use. I know plenty of city-based families who are never without their Babyzen yoyo (£399, Babyzen.com) or Joolz aer+ (£429, Joolz.com) – both seriously durable and stylish options if you frequent the Tube more than a muddy path.
The one major downfall of true travel buggies, though, is the limited space for carrying anything underneath. You can, of course, use a nappy bag that fits over the handlebars and wear a backpack for shopping but this doesn’t make for a very fun or practical day out. Also, if you intend on spending time on anything other than a smooth pavement, you do need to consider that most travel buggies aren’t great at coping with mud, leaves and uneven surfaces. A great solution is to potentially opt for a smaller travel system, such as the Silver Cross tide (£595, Silvercrossbaby.com), which you can buy with the accompanying car seat for around £1,000.
Read more: Best running buggies
The tide copes immaculately on all surfaces, but feels incredibly lightweight when compared with bulkier travel systems – the chassis weighs just 7.2kg and the seat weighs 3.45kg. This is something to bear in mind when lifting the buggy in and out of a taxi or train, or even up and down the stairs of the station you were told had step-free access.
Like all travel systems, the tide won’t fold in one with the bassinet but, once you have it in the seat mode, it folds very tight, almost flat (61cm x 40.5cm x 23cm), and is freestanding.
Where and when will you actually use it?
Remember, the early days of parental leave, pushing a sleeping newborn around in a bassinet, is not the long-term reality. More often than not, your buggy will only serve you on a dash to nursery or on weekend days out. So, where are those weekend days out? Do you need to be able to carry lots of bags underneath the seat? Are you living in the city but every Saturday is spent in a muddy park? Do you go on public transport? If you go away for the weekend, will you realistically use the buggy much at all?
Read more: Joolz aer+ compact travel buggy review
My own experience is that I have ended up needing two everyday buggies – one bigger and more comfortable buggy able to fit loads of shopping underneath, and one light travel option that fits in the boot of the car, on a plane and down the aisle of the Tube.
The two buggies I use and would recommend for a one-child family are the Bugaboo fox 5 (£1,115, Bugaboo.com) and the Joolz aer+ (£429, Joolz.com). Having tested a number of buggies with similar specs, there are simply features on both of these that I consider best in class.
Why we love the Bugaboo fox 5
The Bugaboo fox series has long been the functional yet sleek buggy of choice for families who want a pushchair that not only looks good but is also seriously functional on all terrain.
The latest iteration of the fox, the fox 5, does not disappoint – it’s seriously good-looking, obviously comfortable for baby, and handles seamlessly on everything from grass to gravel. It also has acres of space in the basket for multiple bags and shopping.
The updated colour palette and simple design tweaks make the fox 5 a worthy upgrade to 2021’s fox 3 – but savvy buyers can still pick up this excellent buggy at a discounted rate.
One thing we are huge fans of, which we consider a real plus compared with the Bugaboo’s lynx or fox 3, say, is the ability to move the seat angle and handle height using only one hand. It seems like a small thing, but two-handed mechanisms are a bit fiddly and require two-handed pressure on either side of the seat – which is basically impossible to do when holding a baby. There are ways around it, and this tester found the older system perfectly workable with the bassinet, but the one-handed adjustment becomes invaluable when your baby progresses from the bassinet to the seat, because the seat angle needs to be moved more frequently.
Read more: Best all-terrain strollers
The fox and Joolz aer+ both come with another feature I find important: silent, rubber wheels. This, for me, sets them apart from other buggies in the same class, as many sport plastic wheels. I find the noise of the plastic wheels jarring and the rubber wheels of these two buggies make for a smoother ride for the passenger. If the Bugaboo range isn’t for you, the Nuna mixx (£660, Nunababy.eu) also has seriously sturdy and smooth wheels, and feels more compact, if you ideally only want one buggy.
Do you plan on having more than one child?
The only issue with the buggies I’ve highlighted so far is that they are not compatible with a growing family, unless the age gap is such that a buggy board (£85.46, Mamasandpapas.com) would be suitable. Many parents refuse to go down the double or stacked buggy route, in favour of a combination of buggy boards and slings for the little one. However, if you have two children in quick succession, both needing to nap, it is highly likely a buggy with two seats is going to be required.
Research by Baby Jogger revealed that, with the benefit of hindsight, most parents would have bought a buggy capable of growing with their family. Two-plus-child families make up 56 per cent of all British families and yet the Baby Jogger research revealed seven out of 10 parents reported their first stroller couldn’t adapt to more than one child.
Many brands now make buggies capable of adapting from singles to doubles, with easily purchased extra equipment. The best travel option we tested was the Babyzen yoyo (£325, Babyzen.com), which is super simple – Babyzen basically sells an adaptor to connect two single buggies. The complete set (£874.65, Naturalbabyshower.co.uk) is a stylish and compact way of dealing with the double buggy conundrum. It also means you can buy just a standard single buggy to begin with and worry about the rest later.
If you require a buggy to cope on all-terrains, we recommend something sturdier, such as the Baby Jogger city select 2 (£989, Babyjogger.eu), which has 28 configurations, from single bassinet to two seats and a buggy board, with plenty of storage room underneath.
We really liked the city select 2 because, while it is a large piece of kit that coped well on all surfaces with multiple passengers, it doesn’t feel huge and it fits happily through narrow spaces and supermarket aisles.
The other aspect we liked about it was the fact it’s travel-system compatible, so, newborns can be seamlessly clipped in with the car seat. Equally useful if you have two children, the seats are suitable from birth, so, if you prefer not to use the large bassinet, you can configure it with two seats from the off. The seats also have handy storage compartments in the back.
Folding down this model was also surprisingly easy – it’s a lot more compact than other travel systems, too. We love our Bugaboo fox 5 but the city select 2 buggy is notably smaller (103cm x 65cm x 31cm).
Do your research
I wish we had properly researched our buggy and what we actually needed it for before we parted with £700 for something we ended up selling a year later. There were too many impracticalities and design issues that simply meant it wasn’t compatible with our lives.
Don’t get sucked in by trends, either – opt for quality over gimmicks, while making sure your chosen buggy can cope with the terrain and use-case most typical for you.
Finally, consider ease of use and weight. Something nimble, agile and easy to manage alone is critical. Baby Jogger’s research found 29 per cent of people felt their stroller was too heavy, 27 per cent thought theirs was too large, and 18 per cent found theirs too difficult to fold.
Keep all this in mind, and you’ll end up with a buggy that will go the distance and suit you down to the ground.
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