BabyStyle Oyster Review

I have had my BabyStyle Oyster with black chassis now for a year and still love it. I think it’s a great all rounder and at a very reasonable price. It’s one of the narrowest parent facing pushchairs available, at just 56cm wide. This makes it great for going on the bus or train, or for shopping.

The pushchair seat is stated as being suitable from 6 months but has a very good recline on it, although it doesn’t sit up quite vertically which I know many children prefer. The seat unit is a decent size but when the hood is folded back this takes up some room at the top of the seat, which may mean a tall child would find it a bit annoying. My daughter is only 15 months and not tall so this hasn’t been an issue so far. The seat faces in either direction and is easy to turn around.

There are colour packs available for the seat unit and carrycot. The hoods come with the rods attached and are extremely easy to take on and off the seat, making it very easy to change the look of the pushchair whenever you want to. Also in the stroller colour pack is a seat liner. You can unzip the hood to remove the rods making it easy to throw in the washing machine. There is also a zip part in the front of the hood where the UV/insect net is stored. I found this extremely useful in the summer months when a parasol can sometimes get a bit fiddly and annoying.

The pushchair is easy to fold, although it is a two step, two hand fold. To get a more compact fold, you need to either flip the bumper bar down, or remove it altogether. The folded picture published by BabyStyle are with the seat unit forward facing and with the bumper bar removed. The pushchair folds best with the seat forward facing. It will also fold in one piece with the seat parent facing, however, it’s a long fold which doesn’t work in a smallish boot. If your boot isn’t long enough, you will either have to turn the seat forward facing or just remove it and put the two parts in separately.

I have had problems with my front wheels buckling gown down curbs. Apparently this is due to the very soft suspension. However, this has apparently been rectified since mine was manufactured in 2010.

The silver and black chassis versions come with the standard foam tyres. These are fine for walking around the shops and the park etc. I have purchased the air tyres which come with the Plush version. The RRP for these separately us £25. I am really pleased I bought them as they make it feel much nicer to push and help when on bumpy ground. There is also an Oyster pump available (RRP £7.50) which is small and easy to store in your shopping basket.

The shopping basket is a decent size and I find it easy to access whichever way round the seat is.

We bought this with the additional footmuff, although it does come with an apron anyway. The apron literally just covers the seat so as soon as your child’s feet go past the bottom of the footrest, you won’t be able to use it anymore. The footmuff is only a little bit longer than that, and at 15 months my daughter is just about too big for it.

I have also found that when using the footmuff, the harness is extremely short. I know I will be able to keep my daughter in the harness until she’s around two as I won’t need the footmuff through the summer, but after that I’m not sure what we will do. The harness can be removed so it may be possible to swap it for a larger harness at that point.

I have never used it with the carrycot, I just put my daughter into the seat at 3 and a half months. However, I have used it with the Britax Babysafe car seat. It has been great for occasional short trips, and means there’s tonnes of room left in the boot when using just the chassis. You can also use it with the Oyster car seat or Maxi Cosi car seats. These all use different adapters but all can be used with the height increasers. These are great for taller parents and are around £10. They can’t be used with the seat unit as I believe they haven’t been safety tested.

All in all, I think it’s a fantastic pushchair, offering many of the features of a more expensive pushchair at a great price. I would recommend it to anyone who needs a pushchair great for almost any situation except serious off-roading.