The Silver Cross Pioneer

As a lover of all things Silver Cross (already the proud owner of the Wayferer pram & pushchair & Simplicity car seat, which is compatible with the the Wayferer & Pioneer) I was more than thrilled when I was asked to review the gorgeous brand spanking new Pioneer Pram & Pushchair.

Upon arrival of my new (well, Harry's new) toy I was extremely excited. As Harry is now 5 months, it's been a while since I've experienced the thrill of a new item of this scale to experiment with. 

Let's start with the basics, the pram comes in a series of colours from Chill Red, to Lime Green, I am a creature of habit so opted for black (I wanted it to match my car seat and be gender neutral for future babies!)

The first thing I noticed once unwrapped and assembled (which took all of a minute, I am not someone usually capable of "building" but even I could manage this one in a jiffy) was how modern and sleek the system looked. It's stylish, modern but with a traditional character, it feels like a sexy version of the quintessential Silver Cross big and beautiful pram. 

Like the Wayferer, the pram comes with lots of bits and pieces, you have the following...

- The hood & apron pack

- Ventilated carrycot

- Pushchair system

- Rain cover

- Puncture proof wheels

- Seriously big shopping basket

- Four way suspension

What makes this pram special? Having spent a month or so getting to know this pram in detail, and having taken it on holiday (easy peasy as it folds up simply) I can honestly say that this pram is like no other and here are three reasons why:

1. The Wheels... The big wheels make it so easy to drive, like most mummy's I seem to spend the majority of my life walking my bubba to sleep. I go to the park, the shops, the lake, the beach, indoor, outdoor, on smooth services, on rough services and this pram makes the ride smooth, comfortable and relaxing for my boy, and easy and pleasurable for me. Steering is a breeze, curbs are easy as pie and you don't have to worry about the tyres getting damaged on rougher services such as woodland.

2. The Shopping Basket... I can honestly say that my shopping basket is the envy of all my mummy friends. It is huge! I seem to have so much stuff all the time that absolutely has to be taken everywhere I go. Now that I am weaning Harry it is even worse, cooler bags, spoons, spoon holders, sippy cups, bibs, change of clothes etc etc etc!! This shopping basket fits the lot and leaves room for what it's designed for... SHOPPING!!! I have those clip on bag holders for the handle of the pram but always find myself tripping over them or kicking them as I walk. It is such a pleasure to have such a huge shopping basket now that fits everything!

3. The Carrycot... The ventilated carrycot is such a pleasure for Harry. He isn't the easiest baby to get to sleep during the day but I am not exaggerating when I say that he is out like a light as soon as he is placed into the cool (especially in this weather) comfy carrycot. He's like a new baby, I am sure the weaning has helped but I was so surprised the first time I popped him in and he drifted off to sleep seconds later (see below)

All in all, I couldn't be more thrilled with my new pram. It's gorgeous to look at, enjoyable to use and most importantly my little man loves it which is just fab as he'll be using it until he's a toddler! I can't wait for him to be able to use the pushchair! (only a month to go!)

Choosing the Car Seat

Last weekend our gorgeous new 'Silver Cross' Car Seat arrived.

I chose it based in compatibility with our pram but also because it's pretty (I'm such a child!!!)

Not only is this particular model (it's called 'simplicity') easy to use, safe, light and a decent size (room for Baby J to grow & stretch) but it's pretty stylish and comfy looking... I'm pretty sure Baby J will be mighty happy snuggled up their, I know I would be! (what a thought... Car Seats for grown ups!!)

I have to say that choosing the car seat was a much easier task than choosing our pram. Why? Because there are only a handful of brands and models compatible with the pram with picked (I actually think this is the case with whichever pram you go with, but I'm not sure!)

The idea 'I believe' is that you don't always use the top part of the pram, sometimes you clip the car seat into the base of the pram to avoid waking the baby, or for short trips, only short mind you...

The shop assistant in John Lewis was very quick to tell me about the issues that can arise from leaving a baby in a car seat for to long… Having read up on it, there is little to worry about! Essentially use your common sense, if your baby is premature, or has any breathing difficulties be cautious but otherwise you're pretty much ok for a few hours.

If you're worried at all, there is a really informative article on BabyCentre about this very issue: http://www.babycentre.co.uk/x554834/is-it-safe-to-let-my-baby-sleep-in-his-car-seat

Anyway, when presented with my choice it was once again, an easy decision. I'd read up on the key things a car seat had to do and was confident with the few brands of offer that these were all a given (of course I checked 5 times) this left me to choose based on USPs.... And of course design!

The main thing for me was weight.

To test this out, my mum and I (once again I didn't want to subject the hubs to my research tactics, it's far easier to present him with an obvious chose!) went round lifting each one whilst trying to imaging what it would feel like with the added weight of a newborn/not so newborn baby.

The 'simplicity' won hands down... Not just on weight and design but on ease.

Gone are the days of fiddly, complicated, huge machines. These days, it's a swift manoeuvre  a couple of clicks and you're in! (I'm still impressed with Will's speed at getting Baby George into the car with the pressure of the whole world watching!!!)

In case you were wondering, we opted for a simple black colour, after-all I couldn't have Baby J's pram mismatching his car seat!!

Once chosen, I took the hubs on the pointless outing to 'choose a Car Seat'... He knows me, I know me and I'm pleased to say that he trusts me. We were in and out in 5 blissful minutes (ladies, this form of decision making is the way forward... It may seem a but unequal but it avoids the dreaded in store argument! Equally men, if you're the family researcher, I urge you to try this method out next time you're on the hunt for your next big item!)

So, last weekend it arrived.

There is just one thing stopping me from getting 'quite' as excited about my new toy as I was when our gorgeous new pram arrived....

Aside from the fact that we're still living amongst a sea of boxes, so can't actually unpack and 'play' with it yet i.e. strut around the house with it pretending Baby J is inside (I think that may have been an over share!)

We have no car to put it in.

I know what you're thinking... Who buys the Car Seat before the car?!

Me.

The car seat is my domain.

The car is not (that's a big one, so a joint decision) and until we can muster the will to begin the long and painful task of selecting a new car that we can't really afford, the car seat will have to do… with only 13 weeks to go we really should get our skates on!

At least I know that the midwife will let me leave the hospital when Baby J is born… little does she know that I might not have a car to click the seat into!!!

Finding the perfect pram

This morning at 7am a rather exciting package arrived. Not 'the' package, but a Baby J related one nonetheless.

Let me start by going back in time roughly six weeks. 

After doing a little background research online and in Mother & Baby (they had a good feature in this months mag reviewing a number of different models) I headed to the shops with my Mum for further investigation.

I decided that I'd let the Hubs off until I narrowed down the list a little. 

Remember, I am still new to this as a first time mum to be, and I have to say, the whole thing was a little overwhelming.

My mum is the most practical person I know, also the most caring. Excellent combined attributes for the task at hand.

As we entered the store, we were astounded by the vast array of options. Up until this point, (despite my research), I wasn't fully aware of  the choice available not to mention how expensive these things are!! 

One particular model, housed on a special spinning stand at the front of the store was around the thousand pound mark!!

The shop assistant must have noticed the confused look smacked across both our faces as he made a swift beeline for us!

Well, I can only describe this guy as an actual pram expert!! He knew EVERYTHING and these prams could pretty much do anything.

Want a pram that can handle terrain? Fight off Mosquitos? Transform into a spaceship?? Then there is a model out there for you!!! Sometimes I think these developers forget what country we live in!!! 

After demoing most of the stock in the building to us, (they really are impressive... ) we had narrowed down our criteria.

We decided that the three important things for me were the following, in order:

1. Weight (the lighter the better)

2. Ease (this relates to how easy they are to flat pack)

3. Design (it had to look good and be worthy of Baby J!!!)

After sharing this list with the genius shop assistant he presented us three brands that met my criteria best: the Silver Cross 'Wayfarer Pushchair & Carrycot, the Bugaboo Cameleon and the Baby Jogger by City Mini. 

At this stage, I did have a firm favourite but decided to keep it to myself to be fair to other two models (I can't explain my rationale for this!!) A few days later having fully reported back, I took the Hubs into the store to review. 

This is not the kind of job the Hubs enjoyed, thus the background research and short list! I knew who I was dealing with and had to make this as easy as possible.

On the way to the store I went through the best attributes of each of the three options (despite my efforts, I knew he wasn't really listening... It's not his fault, it's exactly what happens to me when he starts talking about paint types or door fittings!)

In we went, and without realising it I headed straight for my preferred option. I felt like I suddenly did the PR for this product (PR is my 'day job' so it's easy to slip into when I'm passionate about something!), I really had my sales hat on!!

I then took the Hubs round and showed him the other models. After talking him through the three products, he turned to me in and said... 'You know which one you want, it's so obvious! You know you don't really want my opinion' 

You may think this was said with an element of sadness, or anger. 

Absolutely not. 

He knows me too well, and knows that once my mind is made up... its impossible to change. I also imagine that he had bought into my sales pitch and was happy with my selection! 

Today my beautiful pram arrived... It's light, easy to fold up and looks oh so pretty. I just can't wait to unpack it and pretend to wheel Baby J around (we're all little girls at heart) when the house is in order and it's not going to get smashed up by builders!!!

Next on the list: the crib, the changing table, the car seat, the bath and on and on the list goes! My theory is do things one by one to (seemingly) break up the cost!!

And that's before I even start thinking about bottles, clothes and other equipment (that I can't even name as I'm still new to this and haven't got there in my research yet!!!)

I knew there was a reason they gave us nine months!!