Mothercare MyChoice 3 Pushchair

Choose your style, your seat position and buggy colour with Mothercare’s MyChoice 3-wheeler buggy. With a premium feel (but only half the cost of a high-end buggy), it’s superb value. Just a shame you have to take the seat off to fold it.

The MyChoice buggy system was launched in January 2009 and the great thing about it is that you can customise your buggy to suit your own style preferences. First choose the chassis (3 or 4 wheels), then choose the seat colour, and then you can also choose a Maxi-Cosi CabrioFix or Pebble car seat in order to convert it into a travel system.

The version tested was a 3-wheeler in classic black. It won a Best Buy award from Practical Parenting magazine, and has fast become a Mothercare bestseller.

What we love

This buggy manages to achieve what is, for me, the Holy Grail of buggy features: I can push it really easily with one hand. The pneumatic wheels give it fabulous suspension and consequently, give Isla a really comfortable ride.

The seat unit converts very easily from a newborn carrycot to a comfortable seat unit for an older baby, so no need for a separate bulky carrycot with a limited shelf life. Depending on whether you’ve got a nosey parker or a toddler who needs a little more reassurance, the seat unit can be in either forward or parent-facing mode. The handle is height adjustable and the seat unit also comes with a plush cosytoes and easy-to-fit raincover.

The fold mechanism is a four-step one (once you’ve removed the seat unit), and very helpfully labelled with numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 to indicate the order in which you fold the buggy – handy for a sleep-deprived new mum!

What to watch out for

I only have a couple of bugbears with this buggy. Firstly, in order to fold the MyChoice buggy, you do have to separate the seat unit from the chassis, and unclip the wheels if you want to make it as compact as possible.

The continuous bar handle also makes it tricky to hang shopping bags from, but purchasing bag clips would solve this problem. At its tallest setting, the handlebar can feel a little unstable when going up and down steps and kerbs. The shopping basket feels rather small and is difficult to access if the seat unit is parent-facing.

Lastly, and this is a common problem for 3-wheelers, is that sometimes when you try and mount a kerb, the single front wheel swivels sideways and stops you moving forwards. This won’t happen if you’ve locked the front wheel, but this then makes it tricky to steer. Over time this could be annoying.

Who is the Mothercare MyChoice 3-wheeler buggy best for?

Mums after the look and comfort of a high-end buggy without the high-end price tag, who don’t need to collapse it regularly.

MadeForMums verdict

A stylish, great value buggy, suitable from birth. It has all the features you could want in a buggy but the multiple step collapse process might grate after a while.

First reviewed 2009. Updated 24/02/2012.