When my eldest son was 18 months old, I had my second child, and I was keen for him to start walking a little bit more when out and about and acting in a more gentle and caring manner with his little brother. We bought him a little soft bodied dolly with a bottle, and my mother in law bought him the stroller from the early learning centre alongside a soft bodied doll for learning to dress that she thought was a good size to push in the stroller. He was 2 years and 2 months when he received this, and although this is less than the recommended age of 3, he was steady on his feet as he had been walking for 14 months already and was also tall for his age, so it was a good size for him.

The stroller a few years ago cost only £6, but nowadays it is £9. It is still available in a girly pink and a blue colour. The cover we got with it was a navy blue and yellow check pattern. Like adult buggy's the cover has been updated with new colours, but the basic frame of this umbrella style buggy has remained the same.

Because it is umbrella style, this buggy folds down to quite a narrow size for storage and transporting about if you want to chuck it in the boot of your car to take somewhere. It is very compact, measuring about 26 inches in length and 6 in width and height when folded. The buggy is hinged so it is easy to unfold, though my children always struggled aged 2 and 3 to put this up themselves. The reason being, to stabilise the frame, there are plastic caps on either side at the front which go over poles attached to the front wheel. This is easy for an adult to do, but my kids always seemed to struggle. There is then a plastic upside down V shaped bar at the back of the buggy like real umbrella buggies have, and pushing this down to a straight position then makes sure the wheels don't bow in on the buggy. Each of the buggy wheels are double wheels, which gives the whole structure a lot of strength.

The fabric seat then hooks over the handles of the buggy at the top with loops before slotting on poles at the front. This is the only weak point to the design in my eyes, as the pole on ours ripped the fabric on one of the front corners of the seat, though this is probably from the kids overloading it, and would tack back in if I could be bothered to sew it. The seat is finished off with a T bar style strap to hold the toy in. Pretty essential when my two are driving this thing. The straps fasten with velcro.

With its double wheels, I did feel that this looked rather like my Mclaren buggy, and my sons have both been willing to push this round both inside and outside when they were smaller. The handles when assembled are at a height of 23 inches, so nowadays my 4 year old is the only one who does play with this, and he is now far too tall and ends up stooping quite badly when trying to push his cuddly toys round the house.

The frame is very hard wearing and has withstood many hours of play without any of the metal or plastic parts breaking or bending. I would say this was a brilliant toy when my kids were the right height to push it. It shouldn't be given to a child who is just walking as it would tip if they leaned on it and they would fall over pulling it on to themselves, but for a child who is confidently walking they like having this to push around. Not many dolls toys are particularly aimed at boys, so it was nice that this one was blue for them and didn't look horrendously girly, otherwise it would have been abandoned a while ago. The plastic handles have always been comfortable for them to push, and it is so lightweight they have never had trouble pushing it on carpet, laminate flooring, pavements and grass surfaces. It is also fairly easy to clean the wheels if you find they manage to run it through something yucky outside.

I think for boys who will play with it sometimes but perhaps not as frequently as a little girl would play with it, the price is very reasonable for what you get. It is quite basic, and I am sure if I had a little girl there are better buggies out there with accessories, but for a first buggy, this is pretty good.