stuartsummers1980

Hi all,

Interested to know first off whether peeps who have done 3-4 week trips back to the UK have taken their prams with them or just borrowed one the UK end?

Just trying to work out the dynamic of prams, luggage & hire car boot space!

I've got a sedan over here which doesn't exactly have poor boot space & our pram even folded in to two parts takes up all the boot area give or take, so I'm thinking to myself, gawd how big does the hire car need to be UK side to fit our pram if we took it & luggage?! So that's what got me thinking, do we borrow a smaller less sophisticated pram in the UK (assuming someone has one) which needs less boot space & means I don't have to fork out for an expensive estate hire car with a whopping boot space!

By the way we won't be in one place for the whole 3 1/2 weeks hence the need for a hire car for the whole hog, if anyone wondered.

old.sparkles

My daughter had a cheaper lie flat buggy type pushchair she used for travelling with my grandson when he was smaller, as his normal one was quite big and bulky. But even borrowing one in the UK is going to limit your boot space travelling in the hire car - unless you use a baby carrier - and unless you know someone with a spare buggy, where were you thinking of borrowing one? You can get cheap buggies from about £20 new from Argos or similar, but I think they are from 6 months+

campervanfan

If it helps...I just bought a Cossato lie-flat from birth in Argos sale for less than £70 so hardly worth the cost of hiring a bigger car when they're this cheap !


As an aside- could anyone tell me please- will I be allowed to take said buggy through to Aus when I won't have a baby in tow but I just need it at the other end??

quoll

Never owned a push chair and neither do my son and daughter in law - slings and backpacks worked well. We did buy second hand car seats - from some emigrating Poms as it happens - on their last visit and I borrowed stuff many years ago. Travel light is my motto!

kips

I went back to the UK for 5 weeks when my son was 7 months old on my own and took the lightweight pushchair I bought in the UK when he was born and brought to Australia when I emigrated. Made travelling back and forth to the UK so much easier.

Never bought one of those prams with big wheels which are heavy and difficult to fold and carry when you are travelling alone with baby in tow. Also before the pushchair goes into the cargo hold you have to fold it down - the airline staff won't do it for you. Not easy with a baby and no other OH to help.

The airline also let me use the pushchair in the airport for the two-hour stopover in Singapore. Again though I had to fold it down myself before handing it over.

What are you doing about a car seat when in UK ? My dad bought a car seat from Argos to use while I was in the UK so I wouldn't have to take the one I bought here. It came in handy when I returned to the UK two years later.

It's hard work travelling overseas with a baby without another person to help. When I arrived at Manchester Airport I had to get the suitcase off the carousel, pick up the pushchair from another area, then manoeuvre the pushchair and suitcase to the exit. It's not easy pushing a stroller with one hand when it has two handles and wants to go in a different direction to the suitcase you are dragging along at the same time.

Pomster

We took our 4mth old to uk and bought a suitable from birth McLaren. It can be folded with one hand &a kick it served us well on countless trips and has coped with probably
30 voyages in the hold. A godsend.

stuartsummers1980

Yes I guess when we bought our pram I didn't really factor in suitability for a UK trip. It's quite a bulky thing. Just happened to be the best reviewed one going, but not sure travelling long haul was one of the criteria in the reviews.

Car seat wise I know car hire companies have those available (hopefully not at ridiculous extra cost) so that's hopefully what we end up doing there.

And thankfully it will be both my wife and I travelling, so we will have 2 pairs of hands!

Gems

I used to be a frequent flyer with a baby (flying every 2 weeks).
Tried umbrella fold buggy and hated it, didn't always fit in car boots well.
Ended up buying a Quinny Zapp, this is the smallest folded pram and will fit in all car boots, and even by your feet in the back seat. You can also clip on the Maxi Cosi car seat.
Its also great for trips as good on public transport, crowded shops etc.
You can buy them from most stores in the UK Argos, Mothercare.

One thing I have done for baby stuff is order online and have delivered to relatives house, so its waiting for you.

paddyo

Quinny Zapp is excellent, a bit pricey compared to some but overall better value.