While some parents seem to steadfastly refuse to allow their children to be pushed around in a pram when they are perfectly capable of toddling, we (like many others) believe that there are plenty of reasons why you might want to keep one in use. For one thing, if you’re doing a lot of walking around, a three year old dragging his or her feet behind them is not going to get you anywhere particularly quickly…
Toddlers get tired out easily – walking about is pretty strenuous when it’s still new! That is probably the main reason as to how a reliable pushchair can make life easier for both of you.
When you’re choosing the perfect pram or pushchair, there are a few important things that bear thinking about. You should consider the weight and height, as well as the handle height, how easily you can carry it around and put it away, and how much seat space it offers.
Lightweight
As you’re using the pushchair for a toddler, you really do want it to be nice and light. Your little one shouldn’t be in it all the time, so you’ll end up having to carry it around a lot. Thus, being lightweight is the number one priority!
The Maclaren Volo is a good choice for this, as it’s sturdy but only weighs in at 8lbs. It should be able to handle your kid as well as a few heavy bags of shopping!
Compact
Similar to the above point, compactness is also important due to the fact that your toddler might want to get up and running at a moment’s notice. It’s going to be difficult keeping up with the little tyke if you find the pram difficult to fold away.
Also, if it folds nice and compactly, it will make life so much easier for you if you need to take it on the bus or the train, or if you just need to chuck the pushchair into the car boot.
We quite like the Silver Cross Micro V2, but for all-round performance (including sturdiness and ease of use), we would recommend you take a look at the pushchairs from Cosatto.
Other Hints and Tips
One of the other important things you should think about is how high the handles on the pram are. Though it’s easily overlooked and forgotten about, if the handles are too low, it’s going to put a lot of strain on your back.
A toddler is significantly heavier than a little baby, so you don’t want to make your poor back work any harder than it has to. No stooping to push!
Also, make sure you think about how big your not-so-little one is getting now. You can’t just go and buy any old stroller – you’ll need something a bit larger. Look for something with a higher weight tolerance, as well as perhaps a model with extra leg room.
