Bugaboo Bee

Had one of these which lasted through two children from birth to three/ four. Looks great, kids loved it, folds up nicely and has a great buggy board option if you have two kids. Quite light and compact for shopping etc. definitely recommend.

Today I was getting on a bus and only one of the front wheels managed to land firmly on the bus, because the wheels are like industrial 360 degree castors the wheel shot off to the right and the buggy nearly completely flipped over and threw my baby out of the pram, a problem even if both wheels have a footing. If I had not had a firm grasp with both hands at that moment my baby may have been killed. The wheels are wider apart at the front than at the back meaning I am always annoying people by bashing their ankles and running over people's feet. You have to firmly grasp the buggy at all times to keep it safe because it tends to run away from you unpredictably (why is it necessary for the makers to add a nylon strap to strap the buggy to your wrist ? because it shoots all over the place without warning). In my opinion it is dangerous, not just awkward to use or uncomfortable to push or just really unnecessarily expensive but DANGEROUS. If you value the safety of your child avoid this buggy. It may look good but it is not safe. This is more a warning than a review but please take heed.

The great things about my Bugaboo Bee are its relatively small size, making it easy to push around, and easy to get in the car boot. Works well with the clips with a MaxiCosi car seat too. It looks good and the lie flat (well almost flat) is good for new borns. The not so good bits are the high price, not just for the bee but also for the bits and pieces, and I also find the removal of the seat from the frame really really hard - the seat has to be in exactly the right position and I have jammed my fingers a few times now. I think it will work a lot better when in the forward facing position and you don't have to remove the seat to put the MaxiCosi in. It's not so easy to put up and down as I'd like - at this price I expected some snazzy mechanism - it is tricky to get your foot on the bit you need to press when the seat is in place in the back-facing position - you need to be a bit of a gymnast. If youre thinking of buying one, I suggest you try it out in a shop and in particular with the seat back facing and try to remove the seat. It's quite a disappointment for me on what is otherwise a lovely pushchair. If you have trouble in the shop, then imagine what it will be like in the rain outside when you have your baby in tow.

I bought the all black "limited" edition and it had faults all over. The frame was bent, swerved into the road when you push, the chair lifting handle was stiff, and recently discovered the seat belt shorter by more the two inches than model on display. BB fought hard and in the end admitted frame bent so sent a new frame but not a new chair. Went mothercare yesterday to admitted the belt shorter then display model and just swapped it. No apology no reference to going to BB to report the problem. DO NOT BUY. Nadia aziz

My experience with the bugaboo bee has been disappointing. The wheels are faulty and jam constantly. They can't go forward or backward without jamming. Bugaboo's solution was to send me some washers, which are basically some stickers to improve the quality of the driving experience. This is simply a ridiculous low cost solution which has only undermined the bugaboo brand and wasted my time in trying to get the faulty product fixed. I have now been without a stroller since the child was born. Initially, I didn't have time to resolve the problem - most newborns don't leave their mothers with much free time! The child is now 3 months and I still don't have a stroller that is safe to use and I have been trying to resolve the problem with bugaboo for over a month. My husband and I have to carry our child everywhere, which has resulted in back pain. I will never purchase a bugaboo product again.

Be careful,

If you get a faulty buggy like I did, you get questioned about your motive of a refund - told they will investigate the pushchair thouroughly after you return it as to why it should still be faulty even though they release a press publication stating such and I have had the wheels replaced 3 times, and then when you ask for another bugaboo product to restore your faith in bugaboo you get told that the RRP is alot more for the Cameleon and their policy is not to upgrade (but the bugaboo has downgraded my experience of sharing moments with the little one for the last 5 months?). I spent several months trying to find the right pushchair before my little one was born and now due to the shimmy problems, and random haulting problems I walk into people, cars, doorways - noone in my family knows how to control the buggy! I was initially told this was not a safety risk to my child even though I insisted, then several months later told that now it may potentially be a risk - had wheels changed 3 times.

Feel insulted, my judgement questioned, and left looking for another buggy after 5 months of agnoising with the bugaboo bee plus - so that I can return the bugaboo bee as it is not fit for purpose!

You would have thought the cost of inconvenience and agony with the current buggy would have been enough for bugaboo to upgrade to the cameleon, so that I do not have to spend hours looking for a new buggy after spending nights up with my little one!

Bugaboo Bee Plus purchased in May 2011 in Belgium - ordered by the manufacturer in Holland. Looks nice however front wheels are not operating well - it it extremely hard to navigate it's like if they have a mind of their own - if you want to turn right you have to push very hard and force stroller to turn and it only works in 10% of the time, if you want to go straight wheels tend to turn right of left - anything but go straight! Wheels also turn (sideways) and you're stuck completely and can't move forrward unless you stop and manually turn the wheels straight with your hands - extremely inconvenient and has to be done very often. So I have to stop often and fix the wheels - what a ightmare! My husband is an engineer and he said something about those wheels not aligned. For money paid I wish I went for a different stroller.

I've had this buggy for 2 and a half years now and I love it so much. There have been times where I've fancied a new one but haven't ever been able to find another that ticked all the boxes that my Bee does!

After over 2 years and 2 children using it, the only damage is cosmetic. I've had the seat facing both ways and had a MaxiCosi on for my daughter when she was newborn. It is awkward to fold with the seat facing the parent so I'll be changing that soon now she's 6 months but that is literally the only problem I have with it.

It pushed like a dream. Other mum's say their buggy pushes nice and then push mine and say 'oh no yours is much better'. You never need two hands to push, you can push and turn even in a tight circle while holding a bag, umbrella or other child's hand in your other hand.

It folds flat with the seat attached, which I needed for my small boot. Hardly any buggys do that these days and you have to faff with taking the seat off, putting it on the wet floor while you fold the chassis and then dumping it on top in your boot. No thanks! The Bee folds all in one like a stroller, but with the support of a regular, sturdy pushchair.

It's quite narrow and looks like it won't support a larger child, but my 3 year old still gets in it from time to time now. It is harder to push then though. We changed the hood when my daughter was born to a pink one, and everybody remarked on our lovely new buggy. I had to say actually it's the old one, it's over 2 years old!

I love the Bee so much, it does everything I want it to do. Folds tiny, no removable parts to faff around with, you can adjust the handle height in seconds, the raincover fits well and always stays in the large shopping basket underneath just incase, it puts up and folds easily (after a month or so of wearing in) and it looks great! I love the envious looks I get when I push it, even still, and I love that after I got it I noticed 4 or 5 others round town too and was very proud that I started a trend :) It is well worth the money, we've had far more use out of it than other buggys would have given us before breaking.

We bought the bee as it seemed just perfect. Within a week the fron wheels would not swivel and then we discovered that it is a very common problem with this model. It looks great and is light but the front wheels are so often faulty. There is a facebook page about this and numerous clips on youtube with people with the same problem. So stay away from this style. we are now shopping for a new one. Plus all the accessories are pricey.

I previously had a Loola pushchair because of the parent facing & lie flat & folding with the seat on.

Now, only 2 years later it is completely worn out. Turning is heavy, the brakes don't work anymore, one of the wheel locks is broken and the seat no longer clicks into the middle position between lying down and sitting up.

This in spite of me taking care of this pushchair, cleaning out dirt from nooks & crannies etc.

Then we found the bugaboo bee. I didn't want to spend that kind of money on an item only to change my mind so we have opted for a pre-owned one. We managed to find a used one for only £100 and what a great spend that was. I will certainly replace this with a new one if it should ever let me down.

Simple fact though, I don't believe it ever will.

Being a pre-owned pushchair, the information we received was that it was bought 3 years ago and it being the first generation bee, I have no reason to doubt this.

In spite of the fact that this is a year older than our old pushchair, it steers like a dream, the breaks work well, it folds well, the hood has held up much better than our old one, the recline positions still work as they should, and the seat fabric seems to have held up very well. It hasn't gotten all bobbly like some seat materials tend to do on the sides where our little one's hips are.

All aspects considered, I LOVE MY BEE.