The best pram for urban life

Best pram for urban life

Having a baby teaches you just how much ‘stuff’ they need.

Despite being so little, the list of baby essentials is endless.

For many families, city life also means that space and storage is at a premium. This means that finding the right baby equipment to suit an urban lifestyle is an important step.

Urban parents will therefore have very different criteria for a pushchair designed for life about town. It will vary hugely from a pushchair for offroading or a pram for country walks.

Criteria for an urban pushchair

The key want for an urban parent is for the stroller to be compact and lightweight. This is an important factor both at home, on the streets, and whilst jumping on and off public transport.

Lightweight buggies that city dwellers choose often collapse to the size of a suitcase, meaning that space at home is not compromised. This is ideal for smaller living spaces, but also allows ultra compact pushchairs to fit inside overhead compartments on planes and trains to make travelling a breeze.

A city pushchair needs to be easy-to-manoeuvre around the challenges of busy public streets too. Sharp corners, high curbs, and tight doorways in shops or train stations are all key considerations.

With a city pushchair replacing a car for a lot of journeys, an urban pushchair should also have good storage. A larger than usual basket under the seat will be invaluable for shopping, wellies, and lunchboxes on the nursery commute, food shopping, or trips to the park.

And of course, without the luxury of a garage or shed, the urban pushchair needs to be able to grow and adapt with a child. So being suitable from birth right through to toddlerhood (with or without attachments) is a must.

Style matters

It’s worth remembering too that city slickers are known for enjoying a more stylish lifestyle. Whether that’s long and lazy brunches, or sundowner cocktails, looks often really matter.

When the tides change and children join the party, many urban parents still want to retain their designer lifestyle, and so look for baby equipment to suit.

From a style perspective, dark and matte colours continue to be popular with design-conscious parents. Many urban strollers feature black, navy, slate grey and stone colours as the base palettes, with accents such as a rose gold, bronze or aluminium finish for a subtle customised look.