I ♥ my vintage coachbuilt pram - 10 reasons to have a traditional pram

What will I do when Joseff grows out of his coachbuilt pram?!  

"Easter Bunnies"

I didn't have a 'big pram' for my first baby, instead I had a pramette travel system that, although looked stylish and modern, I was never really completely happy with.  Mostly, it was the fact that my baby, a healthy 7lbs 14 1/2 always looked 'scrunched' in it!  When I was pregnant with my second baby, my mum started a new hobby - restoring silvercross dolls prams.  Which got me thinking... when I was little, I always assumed I'd get a 'proper pram'.  Admittedly, the travel systems weren't really around then but seeing these relics from my child hood (and probably a good mix of pregnancy hormones) made me pine! 

The obvious place to start was Ebay, spoilt for choice and almost too much to decipher to I began to ask around. Silvercross was the obvious choice, of course everyone refer to these prams as 'Silvercross' but there are many other makes and models around that do not carry the Silvercross price tag. I hadn't heard of Marmet before, but the name came up quite often in conversation.  Apparently, the brown version was the 'must-have' of the 70's!  One came up on Ebay with sun canopy, shopping tray and toddler seat for £200 - sold!  So excited when it arrived.  The chrome was completely rust free and only one tiny scratch on the body work.  Also, there was a date stamp on the inside from 1988 and therefore conformed to safety standards of the day.  The really old prams are padded out with horse hair and lord know's what else.  So the pram was carefully cleaned with 'showroom shine' waterless cleaner normally reserved for my dad's pride and joy, his car.  

So this is what I have learned about owning a coachbuilt pram - 

• Home from Home - When we bought the pram, we didn't envision taking it on holiday!  However, when Joseff was 12 weeks we went on a family break to Bluestone park in Wales.  Rather than use a rented cot or take a travel cot with us (not a very comfortable mattress) we took the pram.  Not only did Joseff safely sleep in it all night (being wheeled from room to room undisturbed when we visited friends) but he was safe and comfortable in restaurants where he could be parked in a corner, high enough to see and not too low that there was a danger of hot things being spilt on him.

• Fresh Air is Good For You - ok, not usually do we get the weather we have had this summer, but boy, what a good summer! Joseff sat for hours out in the garden, sun canopy up, watching the world go by.  With the back rest up, he could watch his big brother playing and plan all the things he could do when he was a big boy too.

"Lazy Sunday Afternoon"

• Flat Out - Comfort, pure comfort.  The baby is able to sleep with his back completely flat.  There is space for them to move their arms and legs.  I bought a square end cradle mattress from BabiesRus but you can buy specialist matress that fold where the back rest lifts.  I prefer the completely flat one though, so there are no creases in the mattress.  

"Mummy's Little Helper"

• Play Pen on Wheels - ok, so I have mentioned the space before, but really, they are so roomy!  I have used this pram outside and inside the house in equal measures.  My pram lives in the kitchen and it has almost become routine that Jojo sits and watches me make the dinner while surrounded by his favourite toys.  Yes, the toys inevitably end up on the floor, but he is happy and so am I.  It's lovely having company and listening to the coos and chirps but I'm still getting stuff done too (I once considered buying a baby sling purely to polish and hoover as my little cherub was going through a clingy stage).  Even now, aged 16 months he'll point to his pram and want to go in although that may be due to the fact he has learnt how to rock it all by himself!

• Why Walk When You Can Cruise? Hopefully by now I have put across how comfy it is for the baby - and I haven't even got to the gentle rocking motion yet!  The coachbuilt suspension gently glides as you walk and certainly doesn't rattle around like the buggy type wheels.  Having large wheels also means that it does not bounce on every little pebble.   Being high up, the baby can see the world around them as well as having complete eye contact with you!  This also means that the baby is also out of the exhaust fumes of passing traffic, and on one occasion, a very excited doggy!

• “But the beauty is in the walking -- we are betrayed by destinations.” ― Gwyn Thomas.  There's nothing like pushing your baby in a coachbuilt pram!  At a slight disadvantage as my village has only one pavement, we have still covered miles.  The high handle bar allows you to walk elegantly upright with a straight back.  You can chatter away to your little prince while out having to bend or crouch. 

• Away for the Day! Another advantage I didn't foresee before I bought the pram but this pram can carry more than a pack horse! A whole day at the seaside and we didn't have to go back to the car once.  The shopping tray underneath was large enough to carry a picnic cooler bag, buckets, spades, toy tractor and diggers, bathing clothes, jelly shoes and towels for a family of four (ok, so the littlest didn't need any of those but impressive none the less).  The nappy bag clipped onto the pram body and carried all the baby supplies.  Joseff had a day in comfort, cool in the spacious pram safely protected under the hood from the mid day sun.  The pram even doubled up as a changing unit after one particularly gruesome nappy explosion...

• Babies should look like babies! Dressing a vintage coachbuilt pram is the perfect excuse for dusting off the knitting needles and oiling up the sewing machine.  Surrounding your little lord or princess in lovingly handmade luxury will keep the mind ticking over during the 'baby brain' months. 

• Get Your Moneys Worth! It does depend on the make and model of your pram of course, but these prams are built to last!  Ask your mother, aunts, grandmothers and see how many times a family heirloom was passed around before the travel systems became the vogue.  My pram dates from 1988 and still looks as good as new.  It will still be ok in another quarter century providing it is carefully stored.  My pramette system disintegrated outside the doctors surgery at my babies 8 week check (this was a designer high street brand too, with an expensive price tag).  It had only been used for a year before it was carefully stored away.  So as well as doubling up as a cot, travel cot, play pen, change unit and trolley it will last for generations too. 

• Retail Therapy! I never got to 'browse' with my first baby, one foot into Monsoon and there was a complete meltdown.  But with this pram, Joseff is so comfortable and surrounded by an abundance of toys, that he will quiet happily allow me to shop even around the most girly of department stores.  Of course, having admiring grannies entertain him at every turn helps, even if they do admire the pram more than my baby!  You might expect it to be a difficult pram to use but in fact, most stores now have disabled access and wide aisle which is ample space for the pram.  Being high up, Joseff isn't constantly flicked in the face but merchandise and jabbed by shopping bags.  The large shopping tray is large enough for the most die hard shopper, without any danger of the pram tipping over like a buck-a-roo just tipped past the limit.  

And of course, they are beautiful.  Elegant styling with timeless charm, 'a thing of beauty is a joy for ever' ❤

"Watching the World Go By"

See my instagram page for more photographs of my pram http://instagram.com/jacpwca