Friday 27 October 2017

A Tale of Two Prams

Hello, thank you for dropping in, it's good to see you here.  We are still floating on a happy baby cloud here.  Tom Kitten arrived rather late and, in the end, rather dramatically, but mother and baby are both doing well.  Postnatal care has changed a lot since she was born in 1989: mums and babies stayed in the hospital for eight days for a first baby, four days for subsequent babies and at least ten days for babies born by Caesarean section.  I wasn't allowed to bring her home until feeding was established and I had shown the midwives that I could bath her on my own.  After returning home, the midwife made daily visits until the baby was ten days old, at which point we were discharged into the care of the health visitor.  The Teacher's experience was quite different: after two days in the hospital under consultant care she and Tom Kitten moved to the midwife-led unit for one night before coming home.  The midwife visited on days four, six and eleven.  The health visitor came on day fourteen and, having given The Teacher a verbal list of things she must and must not do, will visit again in four weeks' time.  Thank goodness for grandmothers who can show nervous parents how to bath a baby, dress a baby, wind a baby, launder baby clothes and generally help to build up their confidence.  We are all losing track of time and dates but Tom Kitten is absolutely adorable and we are all smitten.
When I was expecting The Teacher my parents-in-law said that they would like to buy a pram for us.  We went to the County Sleep Shop in Shrewsbury and, after much deliberation, chose a Silver Cross pram which, with its metal shopping tray, cost £158.  Of course, we didn't bring it home with us because that was thought to bring bad luck, to have a pram in the house before a baby was born; no, the shop owner suggested that he should keep it in his store room until we rang him to let him know that the baby had arrived, so that's exactly what we did.  It wasn't a coach built pram, the carry cot detached from the frame so that we could fit it into the boot of the car, but it had large wheels and springs and it was wonderful to push.  The springs meant that I could bounce it up and down the eight steps to my front door with ease and without disturbing either The Teacher or the shopping which was on the tray underneath the carry cot. 
Early this summer, we returned to the County Sleep Shop with The Teacher and bought a pram, this time from the daughter-in-law of the man who owned the shop the first time we visited.  She told me that her mother had bought a pushchair there from him in 1958. The Teacher also chose Silver Cross, but this contraption is so much more than a pram: it's a complete travel system.  There is a frame into which fits a carry cot, a car seat or a pushchair seat, which can be angled anywhere between upright and recline and face backwards or forwards.  There is a change bag for baby paraphernalia, a parasol for sunny days and there are various covers for wintry days.  It doesn't sing, dance or make the tea but it is definitely a multipurpose vehicle.  The wheels are small, but the woman in the shop assured us that they think these are "the best for our county".  There are no springs to cushion Tom Kitten's ride.  No springs and small wheels, and yet Silver Cross describe this affair as having "a multi terrain off road chassis" and being "robust and built for adventure".  Pish pshaw!  I think that would be a rather uncomfortable adventure.  Would you like to know how much this marvellous contraption cost?  £795, and that was a special offer as apparently the list price is £1,000+.  When I told her that we paid £158 in 1989, the woman in the shop said, in all seriousness, "The cost of living has rocketed since then."  I looked her in the eye and said, deadpan, "The cost of prams has rocketed since then."  


See you soon.
Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle x

22 comments:

  1. I had a Restmor pram for ours and only gave it to a young girl last year after all these years. That's so expensive. Baby things are much more colourful now aren't they.x

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    1. That young girl is very lucky - those old prams were so well-made. I am whispering this quietly - I still have my pram, and The Teacher was keen to have it but it wouldn't fit in her car boot. Her lifestyle is very different to the way mine was when she was born, I didn't drive and walked everywhere. She loves colourful clothes for the baby - whereas I like new babies in white! x

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    1. Isn't it! You can buy a used car here for less than the price of that pram. I don't know how people on low incomes are supposed to manage. x

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  3. It really should make a cup of tea and cook dinner for that price. Enjoy pushing it :). B x

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    1. Oh I do, Barbara, I really do! The handle is adjustable to make it comfortable for people of differing heights - and I should think so too at that price! x

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  4. Congrats on the newest addition to the family. I only ever had a simple stroller for my boys once they were able to sit up. When they were infants, I always used a baby carrier. That pram is definitely way too pricey.

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    1. Thanks Tammy. I agree, I think it's a shocking price. I used a baby carrier too when I was going somewhere on the bus but a pram suited my lifestyle - my babies would sleep in it during the daytime and when they were older, they would sit up in it and play with their toys, safely strapped in, but this pram is too small for that, it's just a transport vehicle. x

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  5. Whew I bet that hurt, the bonus is a system like that grows with them no adds on later. It is a beautiful pram.

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    1. Thank you! Yes, it did hurt, although the price was split between the grandparents and parents so we only paid 40%. Still, we could have bought a used car with that 40%! x

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  6. Congratulations on Tom Kitten (love that!) and it's good to hear that mother and baby are doing well. Here, baby is born and the very next day you are booted out the door. My first baby was a month early, but I was sent home the day after she was born. Didn't have anything ready at home, and had to borrow a terrible car seat from the hospital to get her home. I didn't receive one visit from any nurses or anyone. To say I was a bit overwhelmed is an understatement. It was all too sudden. Yes, thank goodness for mothers and friends ... and books! I read a book on caring for babies while I was pregnant and was so thankful that I did.
    Your own pram sounds beautiful (what, no photo?), and the new pram looks good too. But that price tag is crazy! Baby paraphernalia, weddings and funerals are all overpriced because they get that emotional grip over us knowing we'll pay to get the best for our loved ones. My mil bought our first stroller and it was a shocking $200. I still use strollers for my daycare kids, but buy them second hand and they've lasted years. Surprisingly, I have a tiny umbrella stroller that I bought for my son about 18 years ago, and that stroller has been my lifesaver so many times ... $15. No fancy stuff on it, just four wheels and a cotton sling-type seat with a safety buckle.

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    1. I agree with every word you've written, Wendy. I think investing in good postnatal care and support builds a very good foundation for a new family. After The Teacher was born I was told off by a midwife in the hospital for having too many babycare books - I only had two! I can't find any photos of my lovely pram, I am missing an album and it's the one which covers that time. Grr! It's very frustrating. Then again, I can always go and look at the pram as I still have it, stored away in my garage! It's too big for The Teacher's car but it might come in useful when Tom Kitten is here. xx

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  7. Glad you are enjoying being with your new grandson, times have changed haven't they? Gosh, the pram was expensive wasn't it, rather makes your eyes water:)

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    1. It made EVERYTHING water, Rosie! Yes, there's no halting progress, but I reckon pram manufacturers make a very tidy living. x

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  8. Always lovely to read your blogposts, however this one is an extra special element x

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  9. In 2971 we bought a silver cross coach built and top of the range pram for our future son - cost £46.00. In 1980 we bought a silver cross coach built dolls pram for our daughter and it cost £48.00 plus and extra £14 for the shopping tray (which her aunt bought for her). I eventually sold my pram in the early 80's and was paid the princely sum of £60.00. I had made a huge profit and the buyer was thrilled with her bargain lol.

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    1. Well done you! I think the Silver Cross coach-built pram is £1,600 now. I think they are wonderful if you have a walking lifestyle but not so useful if you need to use a car. My friend had twins and put them both in a coach-built together for months, an ordinary one not a twin pram, but so roomy nevertheless. x

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  10. Oh, congratulations on your new little grandson! How exciting and such a blessing that Mother and baby are doing well! The pram is beautiful - a real classic. I remember when I was a very little girl, seeing babies sunning in their prams with netting over them, on nearly everyone's front walkways. How times have changed.....Now Mother's are so fit and healthy and babies are actually walked in their prams! I can't imagine leaving a baby alone on the front walkway these days. It is good that you are there to help the new parents with getting settled. Not everyone has that luxury. Such a happy time! xx Karen

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    1. Thanks Karen, it certainly is a VERY happy time. I used to put my babies out in the back yard in their prams while they were asleep, even The Mathematician, who was born in the winter, we thought the fresh air was good for them. I'm not sure Tom Kitten will be doing that, though, although he did go out on the bus in his pram yesterday. x

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  11. The cost of baby equipment is shocking - the most shocking of all is the cost of prams! When you think that these days, most babies travel in cars, safely strapped into their car seats, I can’t imagine most families getting much use out of these ‘multi-purpose, off-road vehicles’. No doubt his proud grandmother will be out and about taking Tom Kitten for walks....enjoy! Marie x

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    1. I most certainly have been, Marie! The health visitor has told The Teacher that Tom Kitten must not be in his car seat for more than half an hour at a time - which is daft because if we had stuck to that, we wouldn't even have been able to register his birth or do a supermarket shop - so the pram is essential really, but I am well aware that carrycots are so small that they won't be useful for very long, making the price quite ridiculous. xx

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