House & Home / Pushchairs

A pushchair is an important decision to get right. You will be using it to transport the most precious cargo of all, so a pushchair should be as comfortable and as safe as possible for its tiny passenger. In addition, a pushchair gets a lot of use – it will be wheeled for miles on a variety of terrains, lugged up and down steps, manoeuvred around shops and supermarkets, hauled in and out of cars, folded and unfolded endlessly – and so, in an ideal world, it should be able to perform all the actions required of it with minimum effort on the part of the potentially frazzled parent at the helm. In our independent laboratory tests, as well as expert assessments of the pushchairs, each model is road-tested by a minimum of six parents or child carers using a task-based obstacle course and a simulation of a bus and an escalator to see how the pushchairs fare in a range of situations.

Factors to consider

If you are buying a pushchair for the first time and have little or no experience of wheeling a buggy around, it is worth taking the time to “test drive” a number of models to see what might suit you best. You should ask any friends that are proficient pushchair users about the features they find most useful and see if they will allow you to try out their strollers so you can get a feel for handling them.
Factors that come into play when you are choosing a pushchair include the following:

• The age of your baby – Newborn babies need a lie-flat option to support and protect their backs, so for very young babies make sure that the pushchair can recline to more than 150°. Pushchairs that do not recline are not suitable for babies until they are around six months old – that is, until they are able to sit up.
• The size and configuration of your family – If you have two very young children, either twins or a baby and a toddler, you may need a double buggy. There are side-by-side and tandem options, both of which have their pros and cons. If you are buying the new pushchair for a first baby but are hoping to increase the size of your family in the near future, you may like to invest slightly more in a durable model that can be passed down to younger siblings. Some pushchairs start off being suitable for one child but attachments can be bought to convert these models into a tandem buggy for two.
• How long the pushchair needs to last – The question here is whether you are looking for a pushchair that will last from birth for several years until the child no longer needs it or if you are happy to buy a more lightweight stroller when the child is a few months old – in which case you should not spend so much on the initial purchase.
• Where the pushchair will live – Pushchairs are bulky items, so you will need to check not only that your chosen model will fit through your front door and down the hallway but that it will not take up too much space in your home if you are planning to leave it unfolded most of the time. If you intend to regularly store the pushchair in its folded position, make sure that it folds swiftly and easily. Also, pushchairs that stand upright on their own when folded or are easy to lock folded are less trouble to store.
• How you will use the pushchair – Whether you do a lot of walking, whether you live in the countryside or the city, whether you want to jog as you wheel your baby along, whether you drive a good deal, and whether you frequently use public transport are all key considerations in finding the perfect pushchair.

The lifestyle factor

• For those who do lots of walking – If walking is the main way you get around, you will need to find a pushchair that is easy to push on a range of surfaces, has comfortable handlebars and offers good handling and manoeuvrability around corners and up and down kerbs and steps. Effective protection from various weather conditions – rain, cold, sun and wind – is important for the comfort of your small passenger. An added bonus is a model that provides plenty of storage space for shopping and changing bags.
• For frequent users of public transport – For getting on and off buses and other types of public transport, you will need a compact buggy that can manoeuvre easily in tight spaces and that can be folded quickly and effortlessly, preferably with one hand. Many of the new larger pushchairs are clearly not designed with public transport in mind. All our models have been tested for the ease with which they handle public transport. A simulation of a bus and an escalator are set up in our labs to assess how each pushchair on test would fare in these situations.
• For those who drive everywhere – If you find yourself in the car a lot, you will obviously need a buggy that can be folded easily and fit neatly into your car boot without too much hassle. Our testers assess the ease of storing each pushchair in a simulated hatchback car boot using the dimensions of a Volkswagen Golf as a template. Those who regularly have to switch their bundle of joy from car seat to pushchair and back again may find a travel system suits their needs best. A travel system is a pushchair that can also be fitted with a compatible car seat that either goes on top of the existing seat or can replace the entire seat frame using a quick release system. A carrycot may also be mounted on the pushchair frame to allow smaller babies to lie flat. Travel systems are versatile but they can be expensive and tend to be large, even when folded.
• For those who love the great outdoors – For parents who enjoy walking in the countryside or even on the beach, an all-terrain buggy might be the answer. Often, these buggies have three wheels instead of the more traditional four and have pneumatic tyres to help them tackle bumpy, uneven ground and to give a smoother, more comfortable ride. Although three-wheelers tend to be longer, wider and heavier, they are also more manoeuvrable. In contrast, four-wheelers are more compact, offer greater stability and are better suited to public transport. Three-wheeled buggies are also the choice for parents who like to combine jogging with taking their baby out and about. Many current models offer a front wheel that can be locked into the straight-ahead position – which is much safer when travelling at high speeds or over rough terrain – or set free to swivel, which makes steering when walking far easier.

Features to look for

Ease of use, size and style may all influence your buying decision, but the overriding factor is always, of course, your baby’s safety and comfort. Your baby may not be able to offer an opinion on which model is the most comfortable, but there are a few features you can look for that might help you decide on the right pushchair.

• The level of padding on the seat will influence comfort and for seats that you feel are not sufficiently well-padded, a removable liner can provide additional comfort and help support younger babies.
• An adjustable backrest that can be lowered to one or more semi-reclined positions is useful for maximising the comfort of a sleeping child. As noted above, only pushchairs that fully recline to an angle of more than 150° are suitable for babies up to three months of age. Make sure that the reclining mechanism can be operated easily and smoothly with your child in the seat, as performance here varies among pushchairs.
• A footrest decreases the likelihood of injury through the child’s feet touching off the ground or becoming caught in a front wheel and adjustable leg support increases comfort for smaller children by supporting their lower legs which otherwise might be left hanging in mid-air because they cannot yet reach the footrest.
• A reversible seat unit means that parents can choose to have their baby sit either facing them so they can maintain eye contact as they walk along or facing forward (as they would in a basic stroller).
• Brakes are an important safety feature so they should be easy to apply in order to encourage parents to use them every time they leave their hands off the buggy. Linked, foot-operated brakes on both rear wheels – so that the left and right brakes can be applied at the same time, instead of individually – are very convenient. Foot-operated brakes mean you don’t have to bend down but make sure that your feet fit underneath them easily and that the bar that connects the brakes does not interfere with walking.
• A five-point harness has two shoulder straps, waist straps and a crotch strap and will keep your baby or child secure in the pushchair. Our colleagues at Choice, Australia’s independent consumer association, recommend looking for straps that undo in such a way as to leave no closed loops in the harness to minimise any potential strangulation risks.
• There should be two frame-locking mechanisms to release before the pushchair will fold down and these should be easy to use – for the parent, that is; not for the child. Both locking mechanisms should be engaged before the child is put into the chair and the child’s limbs and fingers should be well clear of the pushchair before folding or unfolding it.