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Silver Cross Pop
by milliesmum123
Silver cross is a well known brand in the baby world. When we were looking for a pushchair for our baby lots of people told us that Silver Cross is the best and so we were swayed by these opinions and we bought this pushchair. It was around 3 years ago now and it cost us £120 since then I have seen it for as low as £80 so you can ... probably find it cheaper if you shop around. I am glad that we bought it because it has stood the test of time and been very useful.
Opening and collapsing it
One of the difficulties with pushchairs is trying to open them and close them. When you have a child waiting for you in the car and it's raining you just want to try and get the pushchair collapsed down as quickly as you can. This pushchair is very easy to fold down luckily! It involves just pressing a button with your foot and then folding it forwards and it's done! Opening it up I find easily, you just pull out a lever and the frame of the pushchair unfolds and you use your foot to snap it into place. My mother who is in her 60s seems to struggle with it a little bi but I think it is because she makes it more complicated than it really is, I can manage it with one hand. I am really pleased with how easily it can be put up and down.
Comfort
This is not as comfortable as the very expensive pushchair we bought with our travel system but we found that it was so bulky it was difficult to fold down. This is still a comfortable pushchair but it's not very well padded. It is better padded than a very cheap pushchair but it hasn't got much depth really. The seat is slightly bigger than others so there's plenty of bum/leg room and there is a section which you can fold up or down to provide more room too. Your baby can be reclined so they can relax and sleep or it can be in an upright position so they can look around, it can also be positioned at various points in between so their ideal angle can be reached. This is easy enough to do. It has sides too so if your child is asleep it can rest it's head although these are not well padded it's better than nothing.
Pushing
Pushing this pushchair is easy to do because it is rather light weight and the wheels turn 360 degrees so it's easy to go round corners. The wheels are not all that large so it does bump quite a bit so not the smoothest of rides. The handles are good for putting bags over them but they cannot be adjusted height wise which may be more beneficial to some. The brake is hopeless. It really doesn't work at all so do not rely on it! I have got used to this and have learnt how to position the pushchair so it won't roll away but it is a big design flaw and I think other people have mentioned this two.
Storage
Children come with so many things so having storage in a pushchair is very useful. This one has a little shopping basket under the seat. But you can't really get to it if the seat is in reclined position and if you put too much in it will jut up in your babies bum! So it is a little annoying but it's good to have! There is also a very useful little pocket in the back of the seat where I tend to put things like my phone, keys, change. It is really useful to have.
Rain cover
Our pushchiar came with a rain cover. It was rather difficult to put on at first, we really struggled and it was a tight fit but we managed and because it was so difficult we never took it off but folded it back on itself and secured it around the handles so it wouldn't fall down. It worked fine but it would have been useful to have had a flap in it so we could reach into our baby easier if we needed to instead of going round the sides or having to lift it up. We also found if the rain cover didn't dry out properly it would go a bit mouldy which wasn't very nice.
Quality
I was unsure if this was actually great quality as it seemed a bit flimsy when putting it up and down but considering we used this for 3 years I think it has proven that it is good quality as we used it so often. When I look at cheaper pushchairs I can see why this is a better make in terms of quality and I do think it's good that it lasted so long. It just doesn't feel all that luxurious I think.
Do I recommend?
Yes I do. If you want something that is really special and luxurious then this isn't it though! This is quite a normal looking pram although you can buy it in various colours and with patterns on it isn't a great impact on the design world of pushchairs. It is practical, it doesn't take up loads of room in my boot and I like how it's easy to put up and down. We spent £120 and to think that we used it for 3 whole years is really impressive, it has done many, many miles and still is functioning now but does look quite worse for wear! I think it's good but the brake issue is a let down and the shopping basket isn't as good as it good be.
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Bebe Confort Loola Up
by ots1987
I did lots of research before buying this pram. I wanted one that was suitable from birth without the need of a separate carrycot, a small fold to fit in our Ford Fiesta, a parent facing mode and a reasonable price. I eventually chose the Loola Up, and overall I have been very pleased with it.
When it arrived, it did require ... quite a lot of assembling. The instructions were quite clear and it wasn't too difficult to do. Included in the box was the raincover, which I was pleased with, as buying it separately would have added quite a bit to the price.
The seat has 4 recline positions, including completely flat, which is easy to do with a lever on the back of the seat unit. It also can be turned round to face the world, or face parent. The instructions tell you that this is easy to do, but it was far from it! It was extremely stiff, and I have never been able to do it by myself, which is annoying as my husband is out at work all day so not there to help me! Luckily my baby seems to like facing me, and so do I! The handle height also has three positions, although as I like to hang my changing bag on the handle, I rarely use the higher two options as they make the bag slide down the handle. This isn't an issue as I'm only 5"1, although my 6ft husband gets frustrated when he uses it!
We live in a flat and have one flight of steps to get up. As I mentioned before, my husband is at work all day so I have to manage it by myself. The buggy weighs 15 kilos, which is quite heavy when you factor in a baby's weight and all the gear that comes with it! I found I had to take my baby indoors and lay him in his cot, and then go back out to get the buggy.
By the time my son was 7 months, it was getting cold and we needed to buy a footmuff. We went for the Maxi Cosi one as it was a perfect fit for the buggy. However once the footmuff was on the buggy, we found the straps would only just do up, and this was on a 7 month baby. The write up on it says up to age three, so I knew there must be a problem somewhere. I looked into it, and it is a common problem with the Loola and Loola Up! I emailed the company and they were fantastic. They sent out an extended harness within a couple of days of my email.
Over the summer we didn't tend to use the buggy as much, and used a lightweight stroller instead. Then when winter came round again, we needed a buggy with a decent raincover that my son (now 20 months) could not pull off easily. The raincover that comes with the buggy is perfect. It zips around the hood, which is a bit stiff and fiddly the first few times you use it, and poppers up underneath. There is no way my son (who is very strong!) can get out of it.
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Silver Cross Pop
by Coffeetiere
We bought the Silver Cross "Pop Sport" when my daughter, recently five was about a year old, as it was lighter the much more portable than the pushchair/pram we bought when she was born.
One of the reasons I went for a Silver Cross pushchair was they are known to be very sturdy, plus, my parents had a Silver Cross ... pushchair we lasted for me, then my younger sister and then I played with it as a dolls pushchair and I remember it would take my weight when I was around 8 and was still in very good condition.
~About the Pushchair~
It's a four-wheeled buggy with swivel front wheels (which can also be fixed) and is suitable from birth, although the seat does not recline fully to flat, although it can be used in multiple positions between upright and declined. My daughter used the pushchair until she was about 3 1/2, but only occasionally and only if we went out as a family with my husband as usually she would travel on the buggy board of my son's pushchair.
Ours is black and the sport also came in red, but I have seen the ordinary "pop" buggies in many colours and recently have seen several people pushing a black one with bright pink butterflies on, which definitely wouldn't be my choose!
The seat has a five point harness, which is good for babies which can then be used as a three point harness when the child is a bit older. The harness all clips into a central point which is released by clicking down on the button and my daughter never managed to get herself out, so it seems to be quite child proof! I seem to remember it came with a head cushion for small babies, but we never used that.
The pushchair has a matching hood with a clear visor on the front and a parent viewing window on the top. I found the hood really useful for keeping the sun out, if I remember correctly it has sun protection but also to make the environment darker for when my daughter went to sleep. The hood also fits around the back of the seat, even when it is reclined. There is also a raincover which goes over the whole pushchair and is a thick durable plastic.
The pushchair also has a foot rest, which can be adjusted up or down with a push button on each side. When the child is older the foot rest can be down so they can put their feet on the foot rest.
~Using the Pushchair~
In some ways I prefer four-wheeled buggies for use on the London Underground as its easier to get them on and off escalators than three wheeled ones. I found this one really good for getting around on the underground and it's quite compact, light - its only about 7.5kg as it has an aluminium frame and easy to navigate.
It has two handles padded foam and I did really useful for hanging bags on and unlike some pushchairs which seem to tip up very easily if shopping is put on the handles, this one remains sturdy and upright. There is a basket under the chair which is quite small and a little awkward to get shopping in or out if the seat is reclined.
There is a cup holder on one of the handles which is really useful as I always carry water around with me for the kids. Obviously it comes with a warning not to put hot drinks in it.
The pushchair is very quick and easy to fold up and collapses into quite a small package which is long and thin therefore it packs nicely into cupboards and the car boot. We very rarely use it now as we bought a three-wheeled buggy for my son, but we did take it on holiday last year when we flew.
The pushchair is very cosy for the child with its multiple seat angles, hood and footrest and nice to push. It is easier to push buggies with big wheels up small curbs and over grass etc. but for town/city use this was very practical and I could easily weave in and out of crowds.
~Extras~
There are various extras you can get with the pushchair including a parasol, the matching nappy bag and the foot muff. We got the foot muff which we used a lot and it's quite roomy as my daughter fitted into it until she was nearly three.
~Washing the Pushchair~
I would regularly Hoover out the seat as crumbs would get into the corners, if it needed more, ie. a potty training accident I would get soapy water with a bit of detol and sponge it out, but then it would need time to dry, or occasionally I had to get the hair dryer on it, although it is wipe clean fabic so it does dry quite quickly. Being black it didn't show the stains which was very helpful. The foot muff is machine washable, which was very handy and I have continued to use the same foot muff for my son.
~Wear and Tear and Issues~
The buggy itself is is till in really good condition, what didn't fair so well was the back wheels which wore and got squashed. It is possible to buy new wheels, but they are not cheap, the back one cost about £40, which is considerable seeing as the buggy only cost about £110 in the first place. The only other grip I had was with the brakes it was great at breaking plus was a bit difficult to get off.
~Summary~
This is a good sturdy pushchair which I belie is really comfortable for the child and easy for the parent to push. It's good value, the only criticism I would have after the wheels don't wear we'll, which wouldn't be such a problem if they were cheap to replace, but they are not. All in all I will give it 4/5 stars, losing a point for the wheel issues.
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