Silver Cross POP Butterfly Stroller - Review

I've been using this stroller for a couple of months or so now and when you're someone who either has to get the bus everywhere or walk, it's more than enough time to draw up a good opinion of it! So after we'd finished with our travel system (the mothercare xpedior) and decided to get something more lightweight, I first bought the 'My Babiie' Lightweight Stroller from Mothercare. I'll be honest, I thought oh I don't want to spend as much at all on one of these type of prams and ended up buying this one at £65! It ended up been AWFUL! It looked dirty really quickly and the strap that went between Poppy's legs was so thin and tight that it was digging into her and I had to keep pushing her upwards, even when she was asleep! I'd had enough of how bad it was so I took it back to Mothercare and they said it was a design flaw so let me put the money I paid towards another! I decided I was going to have to pay a bit more for something better quality so I went for the POP stroller!

First impressions of it were great. The butterfly design on it was pretty, the wheels looked quite sturdy, the seat looked padded enough and the straps were a lot wider and had more room for adjustment! However, the main selling point for me was the sun canopy! I'm about as paranoid as mums get when it comes to Poppy getting burnt in the sun. The canopy covers the whole pram to her legs, that was it, the extra £55 was worth every bit of piece of mind I would get! Even though I try to only fold it all the way down when the sun's very very strong, my protectiveness does get the better of me sometimes! It isn't the cheapest at £120 but it sure isn't the most expensive either! Along with the stroller, I got:

Raincover, cupholder and a handle that attaches for easy carrying!

So while I've been using it, I've found the good points are:

- It's a lovely pram to push. It steers corners lovely without having to put too much effort into it. 

- It still looks brand new and not really dirty even though we've been using it for a while! It's also seen us through a week in Newquay! Suncream, icecream .. Yep, it's still looking great!

- It's sturdy, well built and has a lovely design/colour scheme.

- The seat is very padded and comfortable for Poppy.

- It reclines really far back so a bloody good sleep can be had!

- The cupholder that came with it is rather handy! Even though my mum felt it necessary to remind me not to put hot drinks in it incase they spilt on Poppy. Yep, thanks for that Mum.

The not so good points that I've found are:

- It's not very easy to collapse and expand. I've found collapsing it to be particularly difficult. This is a little disappointing as the main reason I got a more lightweight stroller was to make public transport easier if I need to fold the pram down! It has 2 catches, as do most strollers of this type and it can take a minute or so to actually get them to work. Whether it's still slightly stiff or just how the stroller is, I don't know!

- It isn't lightweight at all when lifting and carrying. Again, defeating the object of why I swapped from the travel system originally! If I'm carrying it out to the car (when I get a lift somewhere) I find it really heavy. I haven't yet had to fold it down on the bus, I'm always lucky that there's a space. However when I do have to, I'm not looking forward to having to juggle it with a rather heavy toddler, the change bag and most likely shopping bags! *insert stressed out face here*

- The raincover that came with it. What the hell am I supposed to even do with that stupid thing? The first time I had to use it we had just come out of toddler group and down came the rain. It was still in the packaging so as stressed out as I always am, I was there ripping it open and trying to figure out which way it went on (while Poppy tried to kick it off). Not forgetting the other mums standing there saying "Have you done it yet?" I ended up just throwing it on in any old fashion that kept her dry enough. I've not used it very much since that and haven't really took the time to look at it properly. Maybe I've judged it based on using it in a situation that was always going to be impossible? Probably. 

Even though the pram does carry a few bad points (in my opinion), I would still recommend it. Poppy been comfy, safe and protected from the sun are very important things to me, as I'm sure are to most if not all mums. The pram certainly checks all those points for me! It will hopefully carry on to serve us well and last a good while!

Thanks for reading!

Laura & Poppy xx