Do you know what my most talked about subject was pre-mama days? No it’s not baby clothes. It’s the pram!
In many ways, having ‘the right’ pram is like driving the ‘right car’. As a new mom, I totally appreciate what a good pram does as it is one essential purchase that could alleviate a lot of the pressures when taking baby out. It’s also one of those purchases that I kept putting in the backburner as I didn’t know where to start. There’s a myriad of options and price points out there and although I could roughly tell which brands were the more popular ones through observation, I didn’t want to jump into any conclusion without first doing some research. If you absolutely don’t know where to start, googling would be a good idea as it gives you a rough idea of what’s in the market. Reading customer reviews may also be beneficial as they help you to form an initial opinion on the product. Having said that I think it’s important to exercise discernment because customer reviews are generally unverified. If you live in Australia though, choice is a good resource to consult. After you’re more comfortable with the idea of purchasing a pram, it’s probably time to pay baby stores a visit just so that you could get a feel for the prams that you have shortlisted. Seeing beautiful pictures online generally isn’t enough if you want to form a good opinion of a product. A tip is to go on a day when you’re not in a rush because you want to ask lots of questions and play with the prams on offer.
The top 3 most important factors that drove our decision to purchase a Redsbaby Jive are looks, price and functionality.
#1. Looks Since we’ll be using the pram A LOT, we want to be happy with the way it looks. We want to be able to enjoy the pram. I did consider getting a second hand one at the initial stages of research but after witnessing some pretty dirty looking prams on the streets, I toss that idea out of the window.
#2. Price Redsbaby is VERY affordable if you compare it with popular brands like Bugaboo, Stokke and the likes. I was momentarily smitten with the ‘egg’ but my left brain managed to put a stop to my mommy fantasy. I do consider the pram as an investment but I’m also not keen on spending a fortune on it as I know that it would be chucked around hastily most of the time. At the time of purchase, we were also unsure of how many baby expenses we were going to make so we just erred on the side of caution.
#3. Functionality The Jive comes with a bassinet and a seat for when the baby is big enough or has had enough of the bassinet. Most importantly, we were sold by the Jive because it can be converted into a double pram just with the addition of a seat. I know we were ahead of ourselves but you just never know. Being the stereotypical Asian, I love getting 2 things for the price of 1 (LOL). Once the baby goes on the seat, it can be adjusted to 3 settings, from an upright sitting position to a very reasonable recline position for when the baby snoozes, which happens almost 100% of the time while they are in the pram. The seat can also be orientated to face in or out, which is a huge plus. I also love that Redsbaby has made it so easy for parents to clean the pram. Based on personal experience and a complete klutz who spilled coffee into the bassinet, I can attest that the bassinet is as good as new after throwing all the affected bits into the washing machine. Crisis averted.
Now, nothing is perfect and there’s certainly a few things that I couldn’t entirely warm up to with the Jive. They are things that I noticed once I started using the pram but they are not complete deal breakers.
Con #1. The basket Man, the basket is simply non-existent. It basically consists of a small netted section that one could stuff a few things into. Before having the baby, I couldn’t see the value of the basket but mamas-to-be out there, your pram basket is your lifeline (note slight exaggeration) especially when you need to do a bit of shopping weekly. It’s just so much more convenient when the pram could do more not only for the baby but for the parents as well. **Update** I just saw their new release Jive 2 and it looks like Redsbaby has made their Jive baskets larger. I am officially jealous.
Con #2. The joints I have to say that the joints and mechanisms are not the smoothest to operate, which can be very frustrating at times. The pram has become that piece of equipment that I use on a daily basis and it’s stressful if I have to wrestle with it.
Con #3. The brake The brake is in an awkward position. Having said that, I’ve kinda gotten use to it.
Con #4. A wonky smallish canopy I’m not sure whether it’s just our pram but the structure of the canopy couldn’t hold up properly if the seat is being placed in the recline position. It would just collapse mid-walk which is quite annoying especially when the baby is snoozing (we do not want to wake an irritable snoozing baby). Once again, we might have gotten the dud canopy so just be sure to double check yours. Also, as one of my mommy friends pointed out, why would users need to fork out extra money to get an extension canopy when Australia has one of the hottest summers on earth? If the pram is an Australian designed, wouldn’t it make more sense to cater for the locals?
Despite drawing up 4 cons, I still think that the Redsbaby Jive is a well-made pram for what it’s worth. It is able to provide lots of freedom to the parents as there isn’t a need to be ultra precious with it. Mini M seems quite comfortable in it and that’s all that really matters by the end of the day. Please also take my opinions with a grain of salt. Rather just take them as things that you might want to take note of when making a pram purchase. Ultimately, you need to choose what works for you.
I’m not sure when my next post will be but hopefully I’m back on the blogging roll again. I’ve lost that many brain cells ever since becoming a mom and I just couldn’t motivate myself to blog. Mini M is a terrible napper during the day and that completely threw me off my fantasy of “having loads of time to myself”. Now that he’s slightly bigger and starting solids soon, I’m sure he would be even more demanding.
Whatever it is, I hope you continue to come back for more mommy and fashion posts!
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