When I found out I was pregnant, my husband and I were over the moon and wanted to buy everything possible for our new arrival! It's so easy to pick out cute little outfits etc but the first time we went looking for Prams we were both at a complete loss - The choice is unreal. Do you choose a travel system? A carry cot? A standard Pram? A lie-flat push chair? Do you want it to face backwards? Forward? both??? Crikey! Most Prams we looked at however just didn't do it for us. We knew that we would like a proper pram, that faced us, but we also knew that in time our little one would want to be in a pushchair facing outwards and looking out on the world.
When we first saw an advert for The Silver Cross Sleepover in "Pregnancy and Birth" Magazine, we set about finding out what we could about this modern version of a classic.
First stop was their website www.silvercross.co.uk, where we found a list of local dealers. Armed with that information, we went to our nearest (Only 1
in our town) tot have a look.
WOW!!
And that, as they say, was that!
Some months later we received our Pram (4 weeks before baby Lily Jasmine arrived) and we have not been disappointed!
The Pram itself comes in 3 different parts
1. The Body + Cosy Toes 2. The chassis - or wheels to us normal folk! 3. bedside stand
You can also purchase (which we did) 4. Ventura Car Seat (up to 22lbs) 5. Climate pack (rain and sun shields)
Colour ~~~~~~ The pram comes in various colourways, which can all be found on the website. We bought "Sienna" which is a mid-brown and brown/cream check with faux-leather piping. The bedside stand and chassis and chrome and dark grey plastic.
Assembly ~~~~~~~~ My husband tells me that it is all very easy to assemble (I was still in hospital when he did that bit!) as the instructions are a doddle to follow, complete with pictures of every step.
The Product ~~~~~~~~~
As a Bed ======= The idea behind the sleepover is that you use the Pram Body on the Bedside stand as baby's first bed. It clips and unclips easily from the Chassis and Bedside stand, meaning that it is simple to use, even if you had a caesarian like me!
Lily Jasmine is now 11 weeks old and is still sleeping in the Carrycot part by our bed - which means we didn't have to buy a moses basket or crib for her. She is sleeping through the night already (wakes up at 6.30am), I don't know if itanything to do with her bed, but it can't hurt!
Bedside Stand =========== Is a simplified version of the chassis (obviously minus the wheels and axels!) and folds away very neatly for easy storage. It is also in chrome and dark grey plastic
The Chassis ========== The Classic Chassis has bigger wheels that the linear chassis, but we choose it as we do not go into town much (the linear chassis with smaller wheels is better for that) and we do alot of walking. It has a good strong metal basket underneath, which is great for all our shopping. You could probably fit 3 full shopping bags underneath. The handle has 5 different positions, which is great for us as my husband is slightly taller than me, so needs them higher up than I do. The handle is made of a tough foam, which is comfortable to grip and doesn't get slippy in wet weather or too hot in the sun. It folds away quite neatly when not in use, although it is bulkier than other prams we have seen. Again the linear chassis does fold away smaller and is lighter than the classic chassis. we have had a couple of problems with the release catch being too tight, but Silver Cross have been more than happy to sort this out quickly and effortlessly.
The Pram ======= well, what can I say? Clip the body onto the Chassis and away you go! Once you have set the chassis up, the body clips onto the chassis easily (via handles on either side of the body). You can clip it on either facing you or facing out. It has a large hood and is quite deep, so the baby must feel fairly safe and secure in there. The body is lined with a 100% cotton liner in white and comes with a lovely Silver Cross embossed matress of it's own. The matress cover is fully washable (40 degrees),although you can't tumble dry it. There is also a carry cot cover for over the pram, which is fixed with poppers and has a zip up each side. Once on the chassis, it must be such a comfy ride for baby, and is a dream to push.
Climate Pack ========== This consists of a rain cover for the pram, in clear plastic, which covers the whole pram and can be tied underneath the pram for excellent coverage. The first time we used it we were a little unsure of which way round to put it, but once you get it right (zip end up by baby's head) it's fits perfectly. The other part is the sun shield, which I have only used once so far. This is a brown (for the Sienna colourway) canvas type material, rectangular shield, which clips onto the chassis for excellent coverage. I hope to use it a bit more come the summer!!
Once Baby has grown out of the pram, you can convert the body into a lovely big pushchair, which obviously still fits onto the chassis in the same way. The hood still provides excellent sun coverage and you can still use the rain and sun shields. The cosy toes fits onto the pushchair to keep baby warm, especially around the leg area.
We also bought the ventura car seat, which straps into our car (check that it fits your car before you buy one) using the seat belt. I must admit I was a little wary of this to begin with, but the seatbelt holds it in place really well and Lily looks really secure in it. This also clips straight onto the chassis (and bedside stand), which is perfect if you are out shopping in the car. You can just undo the seatbelt, open up the chassis and clip the car seat straight onto it. The Ventura car seat comes with it's own hood and apron (little cover which fixes on with velcro. It has a three way buckle to strap Baby in. It must not be used in a seat with an airbag and can only be used for babies up to 22lbs. It is rear facing only.
Dimensions ~~~~~~~~~ The Chassis: 10.8kg Folded: 81cm x 48cm x 60cm Body: 7kg Internal Bed: 75cm x 33cm x 19cm Bedside Stand: 3kg
Prices ~~~~~ We paid about £320 for the System, plus £65 for the Ventura Car seat. The Climate pack was another £40. Making a total of £425. It does make it an expensive piece of kit, but you are saving money not having to buy a moses basket and it does look the business.
For full details of where to buy: www.silvercross.co.uk, where you can also watch a video of how the chassis etc folds.
One last point to add, I heard this week from our local dealer that demand is outstripping supply and Silver Cross just can't keep up! So if you are thinking of buying this make, do make sure you get your order in nice and early, and make sure that if it is delayed your dealer can help you out with a temporary fix just in case! lx
Pictures of Silver Cross Buugy
Chassis and Ventura Car Seat
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May 24th, 2006
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