If you’re anything like us – you purchased a big ol’ sturdy pram for your precious little bundle – the one with the bassinet attachment and all the bells and whistles. It’s great to push around, but once it’s in the car, it takes up the whole boot (trunk). Don’t kid yourself – there is now no room for groceries or anything else. It shouldn’t even called a boot (trunk) anymore; it is now dubbed – the stroller transporter.

Now that you’re travelling overseas, you need a simple and small pram. Thankfully the choices are plentiful, and I’m sure you’ll be able to read about 20 different comparison blogs and watch 15 different YouTube review videos that will help you choose the the one that suits you.

We don’t want to tell you exactly what brand and model is better than another, but we do want to point out a few considerations which might help you make your own decision.

1. Don’t think that every airline will accept the pram as carry-on just because it’s advertised as a travel pram. Each model will still be a different size and shape, which may be compliant with some airlines and not others, unfortunately, it’s really up to the crews discretion at the time of check-in. This brings us to the first point – buy a well-fitted pram bag – as placing your pram into a bag during transit is a requirement by every airline. We stress a ‘well-fitted’ pram bag as this will avoid check-in issues, whereby a loose-fitting bag will make the pram look larger than it is. We had an issue like this on a flight where we were told by an attendant that the pram was all good to be taken on as carry-on, so we decided to load the pram into the pram bag. We were then ushered onto another attendant to check-in our checked luggage and upon seeing the stroller in the loose-fitting bag, we were told that it needed to be checked-in because it was too big. We were using a universal-sized pram bag, but if the manufacturer sells a specific bag for the pram, we suggest buying one of them.
2. Don’t spend too much money on the stroller, just in case it breaks. There are some premium brands out there, but if it gets stowed, it may break and the airlines won’t cover it. When we had to stow our stroller (as mentioned above in point 1), we eventually got it back with a busted button – the important button that folds the stroller down. Thankfully, it was still useable, however, if you spent a lot of money only to have it break whilst travelling, you might find yourself spending even more money for a replacement.
3. When travelling, the speed of the fold out and fold-down of your pram is super important. Imagine this, you’re on a train in Europe, and you need to put baby into the pram as quickly as possible because you’ve arrived at your stop. You only have one hand free and this isn’t the time to be messing around, you need to be able to open up that pram as swiftly as possible and ideally, with one hand. In a similar situation, whilst traversing city streets with many stairs, the lack of elevators and unfamiliar terrain means that you really need to be able to fold down the pram as easily as possible, whilst holding your baby. For these moments, we recommend any stroller that opens with a quick flick of the arm and collapses in one simple motion.
4. In our opinion, basket size is crucial. The bigger the basket, the better. This might sound like a contradiction when talking about travel strollers, but just because you’re travelling doesn’t mean you’re not going to have a baby bag to store in the undercarriage. We found with our pram – we were able to fit a full nappy bag, plus a blanket, which made for comfortable days exploring the streets of Europe. Whilst being compact is key for travel, do yourself a service by really considering how much storage space you can get with each different model travel pram.
5. Once you’ve completed your trip, this travel pram will be your forever pram. It’s lightweight, easy to load in and out of the car, and you probably won’t go back to your old pram because it’s so much easier to manage. This is a big consideration when hunting for your travel pram, as the choice is going to impact far beyond your time on the road.

Hopefully these points have given you something to consider when purchasing a travel pram and it will help you to pick the right mode of transport for your little one.

If you already own a travel pram, let us know what your favourite one is and it’s best feature.

If you’re still looking for your first travel pram and need some more guidance, let us know.

Don’t forget to subscribe for more travel tips that will help you on your adventures with your family.

See you on the road!