When I was pregnant with Mads we spent a long time researching buggies and pushchairs- after all it is the most important purchase you will make for your new squisy newborn. I didn't have many requirements- however the main things that mattered to me was that I could put a car seat on it, it be lightweight and have three wheels.
I don't know why but three wheels have always appealed to me more, when we went to test some, I just found that three wheelers were a lot easier to manouvre and push.
Therefore I was really excited to try out the new Britax Agile 3 Pushchair which promises to make parenting simpler and safer. It is advertised as being lightweight, and easy to put up and down with it's one handed pull fold mechanism.
The pushchair can also be used as a travel system, with a pram and car seat sold separately. We were excited to get it out the box and have a go, here is what we thought.
My First Impressions
My very first impression was about how small the box the pushchair came in! It was tiny and I wondered how on earth it all fitted in there. We soon realised it was because the pushchair does indeed fold up really compactly. Once it was assembled, we got our first proper glance at it. I have to say that I thought it was an attractive looking pushchair. It looked sleek and the black version looks very classy. I like the fact that it isn't too bulky and that the seat looked comfy. The buggy itself was so lightweight and even though I have the muscle tone of a 110 year old I still managed to lift it with one hand- perfect if you have a baby in one hand and the pushchair in the other.
Mads First Impressions
Mads is going through a little stage at the moment where she has a small fit every time you put her in her existing buggy. She doesn't like going in it and gone are the days where we could push her for hours while we shopped/ate lunch etc.
However I was excited when as Mr E was assembling the Agile 3, Mads asked to go in the 'chair'. She jumped straight in and quite happily sat there with her juice while Mr E and I got ready to take it out for a test drive. Wonders will never cease.
Is it Comfy?
I think if I honestly had to say my favourite feature of the Agile 3 it would be the fact that Mads is just so comfy in it. The seat is quite large and roomy, and straight away you could see that she was comfier than her old buggy. She could lie back and sit up, and had lots of room to relax. Both myself and Mr E commented on how much comfier she seemed in it, and within twenty minutes of the walk she had fallen asleep- something which rarely happens anymore. The seat isn't reversable, however this wouldn't put me off as I know that the car seat attachment means it can be and so you could keep a newborn in there until they were a bit older and then they could move up to the seat itself.
The seat reclines right back using a slider method, which is quite easy and we found that Mads was comfy in all the different recline positions.
Is it easy to push?
We took it out for a test drive as a family. As I mentioned before I find it much easier to push a three wheel pushchair, so I was interested to see what it was like to push. I was very impressed, the pushchair was nippy and a joy to manouvre, and I really enjoyed pushing it. You can't adjust the height of the handle, however both myself at 5 ft 6 and my husband at 6 ft 1, found it easy and nice to push. Because of the three wheels it was incredibly easy to push around corners, up kerbs etc. I have absolutely no fault with the way in which the Agile 3 rides.
See how relaxed both of them look!
Putting it and taking it down...
This is again something that I find really important in a pushchair- after all it doesn't matter if it looks funky or whether your child falls asleep the second you put him or her in it, if it is a pain to put up and put down then it just isn't practical at all. I am probably one of the weakest people ever, but I managed to get it up and down with absolutely no troubles.
The pushchair is just so light and after two attempts we could get it both up and down in less than twenty seconds. Here is a video to highlight how easy it is.
Please excuse Mads cheering in the background- she was very excited by what Daddy was doing!
The Other Stuff
The other features of the pushchair that I thought were worth mentioning were firstly the shopping basket. It isn't huge, but it definitely could fit a few bags of groceries under it. I am used to the Quinny Buzz which doesn't have hardly any space, so considering this one is a lot lighter, I was impressed with the basket space.
The pushchair comes with included with a raincover and a canopy which is great as it is large and has a nice big peephole so you can have a look and make sure that your little darling isn't shoving raisins up their nose. Honestly this has never happened to us before.
The carrycot, carseat and other accessories are sold separately but I am already eyeing them up for baby number two as they look lovely.
Our Overall Thoughts.
All in all I can honestly say that I was thoroughly impressed with the Britax Agile 3, and there isn't much I would change about it. The pushchair is light enough for most people to be able to operate, and I love how quick and easy it is to put up and down. It looks great and my main delight about it was just how comfy Mads is when she is in it. Having been giving her pushchair a wide berth for a while due to the fact we have diva like strops whenever we try and put her in it, I was so impressed to see that straight away she jumped in it and appeared to find it a lot comfier than her existing pushchair. Since then we have had no complaints from her at all when we use it.
The price is really reasonable and with an RRP of £229.00, it doesn't cost the earth to buy a safe, practical pushchair. I would most definitely recommend it to anyone looking to buy a new travel system for their child.
For more information about the Agile 3 check out the Britax website.
I was sent a Britax Agile 3 for the purposes of this review, but my opinions are entirely honest and my own.
