What Makes Good Prams?

A pram (also called a stroller or a pushchair) is the most popular form of transportation for babies and toddlers. A quality pram blends comfort, safety and design to make walking enjoyable for the whole family.

The R for Rabbit Poppins Stylish Baby Stroller is a fantastic stroller for babies to 3 years old. Its reversible handle allows you to tilt the seat so that your child can either face either you or the world around them.

Comfort

If you’re out and about with a baby, you want to ensure they’re secure. There are prams that will ensure your baby doesn’t feel any discomfort.

The prams we’ve picked in this buying guide all allow your baby to lay flat, which is essential for babies who are just beginning to crawl. Lying flat improves oxygen levels and helps support their growing spine and hips. The seats can be adjusted to an upright position once your child is able to sit up.

For a truly luxurious experience this Venicci egg2 provides a warm feeling of a cocoon for your baby with sleek, curved lines and a bucket-shape seating that does not recline to a lying-flat position but does have padding on the liner and mattress. It’s also lighter than other prams, weighing less than 8kg, but it has an extremely sturdy chassis and grained leather accents as well as tyres with air-filled tires that are puncture-proof and able to take on more rural settings.

If you’re looking for something more budget-friendly but with a similar style Minu V2 (minus carrycot) is a good option. The one-hand steer model, swish, isn’t as lightweight as other strollers, but it does have a large storage basket. It also comes with an extended hood that provides UPF 50+ protection, which keeps your baby safe and protected.

If you’re a new parent, we’d recommend considering a travel pushchair system bundle which includes a pram and a car seat that are attached to the same frame. This will make it easier to get your baby out of the car to the pram without having to wake them up and is ideal for parents on the go. The Bugaboo Dragonfly travel stroller system is a stylish and functional pram that is easily converted from a ‘pramette or a lie-flat ‘pramette’ into a toddler-friendly stroller compatible with the Graco iSize car seat.

Safety

The pram should come with a five-point safety harness that will ensure your baby’s safety. It should also have no gaps between their head and legs that could get stuck. The straps must be cushioned, and easily adjustable as your child grows. It is also important to inspect the buckles of your harness to ensure that they aren’t cracked or showing signs of wear and tear. Many children are hospitalised each year because of injuries caused by strollers or prams. Tipping over is the main cause of these injuries. Even the strongest prams can topple if you hook your bags onto the handles or if a child is wriggling and falls into or out of the seat before the harness is tightened.

Another reason for injury is falling from the stroller or pram. If a baby isn’t securely secured in, they could fall out of the pram and suffer head or neck injuries. This is why it is important to ensure that the buckle of the harness is always clicked into place.

Some prams come with an adjustable shade that can be used to shield your baby in any direction from the sun. This is a handy feature since you will not be having to wake your baby awake when you change their position in the pram or when you are going to and from the shops. Other handy features include a tray for snacks and drink holders for your infant or toddler, a shopping basket under the seat and a handlebar that locks in place when you’re not using it.

Don’t leave a baby sleeping in a pram if you are not within reach. Babies tend to wriggle while asleep, which can cause them to slide off the stroller or pram and can lead to suffocation or strangulation. A stroller or pram should not be used as a substitute for the cot. It should only be used for short periods of time during the day.

The majority of prams require you dismantle them to put them in the trunk of your car so it’s recommended to familiarize yourself with the process before purchasing one. Also, consider how it is easy to put the different parts back together before putting them in place.

Durability

A pram needs to be able to stand up to the wear and tear of many years. You want to make sure that your stroller can withstand slippery walks as well as a variety of car trips. You should ensure that your pram is in a color or pattern that won’t fade easily to avoid looking like you’ve fallen out of fashion.

The top prams are constructed with high-quality materials. They are designed to last, so you should look for strong and durable materials, robust wheels, and a well-designed suspension system. The top prams have a compact fold, so they can be easily stored in your garage or in the boot when not being used.

All the prams in this list allow babies to lie down on their backs. This is important for newborns, because it aids in the development of their hips and spine and improves oxygenation levels. A lot of these prams are designed to expand with your child’s. Some have a carrycot, or a fully-reclined chair that can be easily removed and put back on when your child outgrows them.

If you’re purchasing a new pram for the first time, you might be interested in a travel system that is a complete package that includes a lie-flat carrycot and car seat. We love the Graco Near2Me system which our parent tester Jaya used with her son of 10 months. It comes with a handy feature that raises and lowers your baby at the touch of a button, so you can keep eye contact and keep them close, which she said was really important to her as he was at an exploratory stage.

Another alternative is another option is the Bugaboo Fox 3 which our tester Jess Bird used with her two kids, Effie and Boden (pictured above). It’s a stroller that can be converted from a single pushchair double in 30 different configurations. It also has the sun canopy which can be extended and puncture-proof tires. It’s not inexpensive however, it can be used for more than one child if you need to. And like our winner, the iCandy Orange 3 with its carrycot is a great option to use right from birth.

Style

Newborns should lay flat as much as they can to help develop and improve oxygen saturation in their lungs, which is why it’s important that all prams allow this. Some models allow an entirely flat position using the carrycot which is completely reclined, while others have a seat which reclines to a horizontal position.

The Graco Near2Me features the latter and it’s brilliant at what it does, as our parent tester Jaya found when she tested it with her son who was 10 months old. She was enthralled by the fact that she could raise or lower her child with the touch of a button, keeping him in the view of others and still maintain eye contact and a closeness.

It’s a great choice for those who want to get around town easily as the frame is a great size for manoeuvring, while the puncture-proof tyres permit you to remove it from the road and into rough terrain. It’s also a smart option if you’re thinking of having another child in future since it is able to convert from a single pushchair to a double or twin pushchair pram.

The Bugaboo Dragonfly looks and feels like a premium, stylish option. It’s suitable for babies since it includes a carrycot that can be rolled flat and is compatible with a car-seat if purchased separately. It can be folded with the carrycot in place which is something isn’t the case with all prams, so it’s an easy and time-saving feature.

Its luxe fabrics, spacious shopping basket, and puncture-proof tyres are all the features you’d expect to see on a pram of the highest quality, but its sleek frame makes it easy to maneuver across a variety of terrains. This is a great choice when you live in a city and must navigate narrow streets and crowded pathways on a regular basis. Although it’s not cheap, the quality and versatility of this pram mean that it can save you money in the end by not having to buy a separate pushchair for toddlers. You can pick from a wide range of colors to suit your preferences.