Pushchairs
Thu, 2005-04-28 14:11
#1
Pushchairs
When I was a nipper these were basic zinc and canvas affairs. By the time I got into mine - it was already fourth hand with lots of sharpish bits on.
Have you seen the moon buggies today's mothers are walking around with? The kid looks like its about to go and carry out important experiments on the moon for nasa. They look like diminuitive cars complete with allow wheels and enormous tyres. The suspension looks like its been engineered by a Mclaren expert and then there are the accessories. Various bags and hampers and pockets full of strange things the functionality of which only those in the crazy world of parenting understand.
How much do the things cost? And are they REALLY necessary?
Radiodenver
If you tie a rope to them and pull them with a real car, they are necessary.
kjheritage
I find it quite interesting what people actually find time to moan about. Pushchairs? The scourge of babykind no doubt ????
Now if you want something to really moan about - it's why things bo beep!
Why do things go beep anyway. What is so great about a beep? Everything beeps these days just as a matter of course. Beeping drives me mad.
Radiodenver
The beep comes in handy when being pulled with a rope by a car and you want to signal that it's time to stop.
jude
ever been to Stoke Newington? Moonbuggies blocking the aisles of every bus and cafe and I have several scars on my ankle where the accessories have been piled so high, the parent's field of vision is greatly reduced and they ran me over.
Beeps are good.
Rachel
£449.99 upwards to answer question. And they aren't called Pushchairs anymore, they are called Travel Systems or 3T's which include carseat, pushchair, carrycot and spare breast or something very technical.
I have sling that I got for a fiver second hand that BabyC will be travelling in for the forseeable. She will grow up to believe in retrochic transportation, a bit like having a 2CV or a bus pass. She will also believe, I hope, that the dubious smell is normal.
Dan
I once saw someone jogging with one, I suppose you couldn't do that with the old type.
funky_seagull
We have one, they're excellent. You can go off-road with them, and walk through the woods, across fields, on pebbles, up steps, down rocky descents, over bumps. Marley loves it too, he laughs when we go over the bumps, and it is nicer for him and us, cause he gets to see nature, instead of concrete, and you can take him pretty much anywhere you like. No man, they're a good buy, makes taking him out much more fun for everyone. I think they're a good idea if you're into walking like me and fey are.
funky_seagull
ours cost about £120
Archergirl
I don't object to pushchairs/travel systems for small babies; what I do object to is children of four and upwards being pushed around in them, instead of walking. I have a theory that it promotes car culture:- if you're driven around all the time when you're young, you're more likely, when older, to drive down to the corner shop instead of walking. Walking is healthy. Walking keeps you thin and fit. Judging from the increasing rates of obesity in both the US and the UK, making younger children walk, at least part of the way, would stave off the increase of potentially obese children waddling about nowdays. And walking doesn't cost £450.
Schmeichel
Funny thing is Jude, McLaren do make pushchairs, dunno whether it's the same company though. There is a theory that you should buy the ones where the child faces the parent, to bond with them, maintain eye contact and such like.
jude
MY Father used to take my old zinc one cross country. ( I know this because it went to Junior 4 after me) The tyres were made of some solid material not even rubber and every pebble caused massive jarring and there was a huge potential for whiplash. When we got to a particularly muddy bit of the canal tow path, my father would just pick it up and lift it over.
jude
By the time I was toddling sufficiently the chair was abandoned and we used to go for long walks every Sunday. When my little legs got tired I rode piggy back. Agree with AG as I was a skinny, healthy, happy kid but it didn't last and I'm a lazy sod these days.
Archergirl
Adulthood beats the energy out of you, jude!
MykEl
Exercise is like celibacy - difficult at first but well worth the effort... and of course one takes your mind off the other :)
smillieboy
What is worse than pushchairs, is lonely people doing their weekly shop in the newsagent, while you're just trying to buy a paper.
'Economy custard creams, check; very small jar of pasta sauce, check; one toliet roll, check; the biggest lump of cheap cheese you have ever seen, check; daily mail, check; big bag of frozen mixed veg, check; last weeks Heat magazine, check and marshmellows, fuckin' check.
Tony Cook
That's what friends are for - to carry the kids when you get knackered. We used to walk 30 miles across Dartmoor most weekends when Mattie was a wee nipper - I'd do the first ten miles with her on my back and then our mates would take over. She loved it!
We had one of those old zinc things - 25p. from the Crediton Labour Party jumble sale. It decided to die a death as we were promenading along the very smart sea front on Juan Les Pins one summer's evening. The whole thing just collapsed. The chic set pretended not to notice. It was wonderful. Still got an old zinc one waiting for the grandchildren.
maxwell eddison
We bought one of those three wheeler mama's and pappa's and it was nothing but a pain in the arse. Way too heavy, too bulky and the tyres were always getting punctured. Yeah, we felt all proud pushing it around for a few weeks and gave sympathetic smiles to those who pushed the deck chairs on wheels and within 3 or 4 weeks we'd sold it and were pushing a deck chair on wheels too and we gave sympathetic smiles to the snooty bastards with the totally ott dune buggies.
justyn_thyme
If you push the baby around in a 'Travel System' does that mean he/she will grow up to have a 'Life' or an 'Extended Experience Cluster?'
justyn_thyme
On a more serious note, I recall an article a few years back about how baby buggies were dangerous if used in urban areas because they are at the level of the exhaust pipes from cars and buses.