Helen Skelton's 1st time mum buggy buying mistakes

Countryfile presenter and mum of 2 Helen Skelton knows this all too well. She's got the BabyStyle Egg and now the BabyJogger City Select LUX Stroller for her sons Ernie, 2, and Louis, 8 months.

But picking the perfect pram(s) wasn't rocket science. And like many first time mums, she ran into a few roadblocks along the way. Here's what she's learned:

Don’t just go with the trends – or what your friends have

“All of my friends who are first time mums get what they think is trendy,” Helen told MFM. "Don't go with the trends. You have to test it first."

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"It's not gonna be any good [if it doesn't work] for your kids, their specific age, or in your flat.

"I had a friend who had a pushchair and it didn’t fit into her house. She had to leave it in her car.

"But it gets more ridiculous - when she went shopping, she had to meet up with her husband so she could put the shopping in the work van. The pushchair never came out of the car. She bought that one because her friend had it."

Eeeeep. Noted ?

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Test every aspect of your buggy before buying

“You need to go and drive it... I went to a big buggy shop where you can basically road test them around the shop.”

(Baby Show fans, you can also do that at our MFM Buggy Testing Track ?)

“The first time I went pushchair shopping was so overwhelming, I felt completely baffled. I left the shop for the first time and said ‘I need to come back with an adult’ 'cos I didn’t get it.

“[You have to] be honest – you don’t have a clue how they work, you don’t have a clue what's happening.

"So, you just wanna put them up, put them down, fold them away, pack them up, spend time with them. Invest time in it."

Make sure everyone in your child’s life can use it

"Let your partner or the grandparents, or whoever's in your child's life, fold it up and down," Helen advises.

"That was my first baby meltdown, putting the pushchair together when I was outside of the house for the first time.

"Practice doing it and get other people to practice doing it because it does become second nature. Click click click, done."

Choose a practical buggy that suits your lifestyle

“The first time round I had an all-terrain, all-mountainous pram which was brilliant, but with 2 kids under 2 I'm probably not gonna be doing any ultra marathon running.

"So, what works for me now is a buggy that folds down really small so I can get it in the boot and then I can also get the shopping in.

“It might seems insignificant [before your kids come along] but it really does affect your day to day.”

And if you’re buying a double, research ALL possible configurations…

“My children are 2 and a half and 8 months, and to be honest the pushchair situation has been a lot of stress,” Helen confessed.

“My eldest doesn’t wanna be in a buggy, he wants to be in a scooter, but I knew when the new baby came along I couldn’t not have a [pushchair for him as well]. I need him in it, I can’t have him next to a busy road.

"Before I had kids I thought, 'Oh, of course he’ll do what I tell him because he's a little person and I'm in charge' but that is very naïve. Hypothetical parenting is a lot easier.

“I think it’s really hard to find a double pushchair for different ages. A lot are side by side, which is no good [for me] because I'm gonna be pushing an empty seat around when he grows out of it."

Helen Skelton is the spokesperson for the Baby Jogger City Select LUX Stroller

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Elizabeth Atkin