Tips for new parents (like my little sister!) from Mellow Mummy and Britax for how to choose a pushchair

Today I'd like to introduce you to my brand new niece, baby Luna who made a slightly early arrival into the world yesterday.  She simply couldn't wait for Christmas.  I'm so proud of my little sister for having entered into the exciting realms of motherhood and I'm sure I will have lots of words of wisdom to offer her in the coming days, weeks and months.

As a Britax Ambassador, I thought hard about what tips I would offer my own sister for choosing their first pushchair.  In fact, earlier this year she and her husband specifically asked for my advice on how on earth to negotiate the enormous level of choice when it comes to pushchairs.  So what did I recommend?

Well...choosing a pushchair is a tricky business. Britax have a list of ideas to help you go through the thought process:

Think comfort. If you have a newborn baby, your pushchair should have a full lie-back seat unit. Not only is this the most comfortable position for your new arrival, it is also much safer and will help protect the soft bones in their neck whilst you’re on the move.

Think practically. Don’t forget, the needs of a baby and toddler are very different and they soon grow so think hard about whether you need or want to invest in a model that specifically caters for a younger baby.

Think quality. A boisterous toddler (and tired mum) can be heavy handed and you need to look for a pushchair that has good quality features that can stand a good deal of wear and tear.  Will the pushchair be handed down to a new sibling in a couple of year’s time? If so, you should look for a hardwearing fabric that will work for both boys and girls.

Think about your lifestyle. Do you need something lightweight that you can easily get on and off buses? fold up quickly to put in the boot of your car? Carry up a flight of stairs? Do you need a heavy weight pram that you can pound the pavements with? with a large shopping basket for all your food shopping? Everyone's exact combinations of parenting needs different.

Think budget. Can you afford to buy a new buggy as your baby gets older?  Or do you need to make sure you buy a good all-rounder?  If you are planning on passing it down to siblings then you may want to spend a little more the first time to make sure it lasts.

Think storage.  My NUMBER one tip for new parents is to make sure before you buy that the pushchair you choose with fit through your front door (if you want it to!) and fit into the boot of your car with ease.

Earlier this autumn my sister came over from France for a visit and I gave her a whirlwind tour of the main features of a pushchair.  I showed her the Britax B-Motion 4.and told her all the reasons why it suits my lifestyle.  More recently we've had a chance to try the Britax B-Motion 3 which will be going to live with her and lovely Luna when I go to visit them.  I just KNOW the B-Motion 3 is going to be perfect for her too as it is suitable from birth, practical, hard-wearing and compact.

Britax B-Motion 4 Pushchair Review

The day that I had to pack our Britax double buggy away (because Lara grew out of it) was a sad day!  So i was REALLY excited to be asked to review the new Britax B-Motion 4 pushchair which is described as Britax's lightweight pushchair with air-filled rubber wheels.

I've recently got on my high horse about pushchairs that claim to be compact so the VERY first thing I did when the B-Motion 4 arrived was test it out in the back of our car and I'm happy to say that it is by far the most compact non-umbrella pushchair I've tried.  The folding system is brilliant - to unfold you simply undo the clip and then woosh, it pops open in one swift movement.  To fold, you have to release a catch and then pull hard of a single strap on the seat base and woosh, it folds in half.

But despite being compact when  folded, the Britax B-Motion is not a small pushchair by anyone's standards.  It is huuuge and really spacious.  Holly looks tiny in it!  I can see that the B-Motion 4 really can be suitable upto 4 years old as Lara can still sit in it (which she only does when she is being a minx).  I think I would probably contest Britax's claim that the B-Motion 4 is 'lightweight'... OK, at 10.5kg it probably is lighter than many others on the market, and certainly lighter than many travel systems... but to me it does feel chunky and bulky (and relatively heavy when I lift it into the car boot).

I like the adjustable handlebar which offers enough height for me, but is easily folded down for my slightly shorter husband.  I also think the fastening is one of the best I've tried in terms of ease of use and ease of adjustment (funny... because I remember the Britax B-Agile Double being much harder to adjust!)

The Britax B-Motion 4 is one of the only pushchairs in the Britax range that has air-filled tyres - the benefit here being that it makes the buggy suitable for lots of different terrains and I've certainly put it to the test both walking around town and also out in the woods... it took me a while to work out that I needed to lock the wheels in place if I was planning a bumpy ride but once I worked that out, it became MUCH easier to travel even over roots and branches while out for a walk in our local woodlands.  When the wheels are unlocked and I'm pushing the B-Motion 4 through town, I find it (as I did our double Britax buggy) extremely manoeuvrable for such a large buggy.

The B-Motion 4 is suitable from birth because the seat is reclinable all the way to a lie-flat position.  I find the recline really easy to use and great for when I'm trying to get Holly to sleep.  I also like the large sun hood but wish there wasn't a mesh part in the middle as this limits the protection I can give Holly from the sun tright now.  The B-Motion 4 can be used as a travel system for Britax BABY-SAFE infant carriers too with clip-in adapters (which I found tricky the first time I used them but once I knew the mechanism, I found it easy to replace them with the bumper bar).

The basket underneath the B-Motion 4 is reasonably sized and reasonably accessible (not the best but certainly not the worst in recent experience!)

To me, the nice compact fold and ease of fold makes the B-Motion 4 the most appealing general use pushchair that I've tried with Holly.  The Britax B-Motion 4 is available exclusively at Kiddicare for around £249.99.