Out'n'About Little Nipper Parent Review

My name is Trish. I'm mum of 2 (very) grown up boys and Nana to 2 Grandsons and 2 Granddaughters, who have had me wrapped firmly round their little fingers forever, even little fingers that aren't so little any more (oldest Grandson has just turned 14 and is almost 6 foot!). My youngest Granddaughter, Robyn, is now 4 months old and already well practiced in the art of finger wrapping round ;). We all love being out and about in our local forest, our very handy local park which is at the end of my road, and the hills of the Peak District, which we are so lucky to live near, and can't wait to put the Little Nipper through its paces. Little Robyn is looking forward to lots of adventures as we introduce her to our beautiful countryside, and thanks to Pushchair Expert she'll be riding in style.

Quick Summary: We've had the Out n About Little Nipper for 6 months now, & we've loved it, & thank you for giving us the opportunity to test it. It's compact, sporty, lightweight, easy to fold, comfortable & handles brilliantly, thanks to it's rear wheel suspension & 360 swivel front wheel, & of course it looks fabulous.

Whats good?

• Robust yet lightweight with excellent manoeuvrability
• Innovative added extras
• Multi position recline
• Adjustable handle height
• Easy to store

Whats not so good?

• No parent facing option
• Hood is a bit slouchy
• Handle maybe not quite high enough for anyone over 6ft 3
• Easy to kick brake bar if you have longer than average legs

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First Impressions

I found a card through my door &, very excited, off I went to pick up a very special parcel… Out n About Little Nipper. Managed to carry it to my car, no problem, & it fit in easily.

Couldn’t wait to get home & get it unpacked. I’d noticed straight away that I’d received my first colour choice, Poppy Red, so was extra pleased, as Robyn loves the colour red…YAY!

I spread out the contents, but couldn’t find the user manual, although it looked easy enough to assemble without instructions. But it was there, sort of tucked right inside the main body of the pram. Happy to see the rain cover was included too, as I know that this isn’t always the case with some prams.

All I had to do was click the wheels into place, (solid wheels so I won’t have to worry about punctures), & the front wheel can be locked into a fixed position or set to swivel, fit the seat liner, & attach the bumper bar, & that was basically it.

Easy to use foot brake, height adjustable handle, operated by locking buttons on the inside of the handle hinge, lovely big poppy red canopy with a peek-a-boo window & a pull down sun visor (for the sun, when it’s back, & it’ll be here quicker than we think now the winter solstice is behind us & sunset is 2 minutes later each day), but for now there’s a large rain cover which covers everything & secures quickly & neatly.

Brilliant addition of a wrist strap to avoid it running away, or even blowing away in the current high winds!. There’s a good sized basket, & the back of the buggy is ventilated mesh with a full cover, & in the warmer months simply pull down the zips & roll up the cover, which then fits into a pocket located above the mesh. The seat fully reclines by adjusting the strap on the back of the seat unit, by squeezing the clasp & pulling down on the straps, & the recline position adjusts by using the clasp to change the length of the strap. Full recline option too.

Simple to fold. Apply the brake, unlock the latches at the lower front of the frame, & there’s a handle at the back of the seat which you pull upwards & the buggy automatically folds & the catch engages & clicks into place, even with the rain cover in the under seat basket, check the catch has located & the handle you pulled upwards can now be used to trundle the buggy along in the folded position, & also stores in this freestanding position so takes up very little room. A dream to push, robust, sturdy, yet lightweight. Oh Robyn what fun we’re going to have 🙂

January 11th 2015

Happy New Year…! & happy new pram 🙂

Robyn seemed quite comfy, if a little bemused by it all. Great that the back rest can be reclined at any angle, including completely flat, by the simple adjustment of the straps behind the seat, unlike some pushchairs, which only have a choice of maybe three positions. There’s also a new born insert available. I love the big poppy red hood, but unfortunately the seat & liner only come in black for the Little Nipper, making it a bit dark in there, although there’s a peek-a-boo window in the top of the hood, which can be opened when required. The bumper bar is really easy to get on & off too, it simply pushes on with a click & to remove it, slide the release button up. A robust 5 point harness, with padded shoulder straps, ensures a secure ride, & there are several position options, depending on the size of the occupant. A cold day today, so, having pushed her up & down the lounge for a while, we went for a trial run ’round the block’ a few times, with our ‘L’ plates on. A smooth ride, over the kerbs, flagstones & cobbles, & effortless to handle. So far so good.

January 18th 2015

First time in the car. I have a Toyota Yaris, so only a small car really. I had to move the back seat forward a bit & then the Little Nipper fit in easily, & there was still room in the boot for a bit of shopping…bonus! The Little Nipper is very light, weighing only 8kg, so I had no problem at all lifting it in & out of the car, yet it’s so robust, very impressed. So easy to fold too & love the trundle handle. It’s actually so light I can easily carry it one handed.

So off Robyn & Nana went to try out some of our local country lanes.

We had to negotiate a few slopes, so I felt extra secure using the wrist strap which comes ready fitted on the Little Nipper, a great addition, especially when it’s slippery underfoot. Also note the adjustable handle bar, operated by pressing the buttons on the inside, very user friendly, & very useful, as Mummy is 5ft 9″ & Daddy is nearly 6ft 5″ (!). Nana, on the other hand, is 5ft 6″, so we can all find our own comfortable handle height.

I wonder who lives in this field?

It was great fun trundling through all the leaves. The lanes were quite uneven in places, but no match for the Little Nipper & it’s brilliant manoeuvrability & suspension (& my hiking shoes)! I love the large hood, which offers lots of protection from the elements, with no little gaps anywhere for icy draughts to blow in. Very cosy. The basket underneath is big enough to carry the rain cover (just in case), plus a few other essentials, & the Little Nipper folds with the rain cover in the basket, which makes it easier to remember to take it with you. The sun visor dropped down a couple of times, as you can see by this picture, but I think you have to sort of tuck it behind the rim of the hood. Hoods these days don’t seem to have the locking bars, or whatever they’re called, one on each side which you press down to keep the hood taught. (They all had them in the ‘olden days’). I have seen a few prams with them, but I think it’s rare now, so hoods generally have a ‘caved in look’.

January 24th 2015

We walked into town this afternoon, as it’s only a short walk. I wanted to try it out on our uneven flagstones, kerbs & cobbles. We live in a fairly hilly area, or at least there are quite a few inclines, but I didn’t encounter any issues at all, & with it being so light I had no problems getting up our hills, & I always use the wrist strap. Up to now I have kept the front wheel in swivel mode & have found that to be excellent in all situations, you could turn the Little Nipper on a sixpence, if anyone remembers what a sixpence is (!), if not, what I mean is I found it easy to turn even in small spaces. I found the Little Nipper to be an easy drive round the shopping streets, in & out of shop doorways, & in our local indoor market & didn’t encounter many difficulties getting around as the Little Nipper has a normal sized seat in a smaller frame, although I didn’t venture into any very small shops.

February 6th 2015

Today we went to feed the ducks….lots of country lanes again & no problem for the Little Nipper. Puddles, mud, kerbs, potholes in the uneven roads, (as seen in the background of this pic) no match for this all terrain vehicle. We glided along easily, managing to avoid any obstacles with a flick of the wrist, & the excellent manoeuvrability of the Little Nipper. Incidentally, I do have slightly ‘dodgy’ wrists, but have found pushing the Out n About Little Nipper to be a breeze, & my wrists have survived. It really is comfortable & easy to push. I’ve not used gloves yet either, despite the time of year, & find the construction of the handle, which is a very dense foam, to be quite warm to the touch. I think Out n About have thought of everything (not forgetting the aforementioned handy wrist strap).

The Little Nipper hood did a great job of the very important task of looking after the duck food…..

and Great Auntie Val did a good job of bread launching to the great relief of the wildlife!

February 15th 2015

We didn’t do much this weekend, all avoiding each other & staying in quarantine & keeping warm, due to various cough & cold bugs. I used this time to spruce up the Out n About Little Nipper, & cleaned up the wheels, much needed after their various trips through muddy puddles & leaves, & goodness knows what else. We’re yet to try out the rain cover, as so far the weather has been fairly kind to us, but I’m sure there’ll be plenty of chances to whip out the cover, which is kept permanently in the basket, ready for action, & stays happily in there even when the pushchair is folded for storage, with lots of room for other essentials. I’m almost regretting not having tried it out in the rain, but am sure there’ll be lots of opportunities & I’ll be taking that statement back!

February 28th 2015

Finally all recovered from various ailments we went for a stroll into town today with Mummy & Daddy. This particular road is on a slope, with very old flagstones & cobbles, so very uneven, but we wanted to try out a good variation of surfaces. Once again the Little Nipper coped very well with whatever our hilly, cobbly, sloping, uneven streets could throw at it. Robyn didn’t seem too impressed though, I guess she really isn’t into shopping just yet.

One slight problem we did encounter though was the ‘leg room’. Mummy & Daddy are very tall (5’9″ & almost 6’5″), & they both have very long legs (which Robyn has inherited). To get the handle at it’s highest level you press the buttons on each side & the handle clicks up & towards the pram, bringing the ‘operator’ at a closer proximity to the pram. When moved down (for the shorter people amongst us) this moves the ‘operator’ further away from the pram. This probably wouldn’t be a problem even for tall people with average leg lengths, but both Mummy & Daddy, with their extra long legs, found that they were kicking the brake bar. I’m 5’6″ so not particularly short, & found I had plenty of leg room, even though I do ‘stride out’ when walking.

March 6th 2015

Quite a nice Sunday, but a bit chilly, so we wrapped up warm & went off to feed the ducks, one our favourite pastimes just lately. The Little Nipper easily negotiated the kerbs & it’s great manoeuvrability made for a stress free experience for both passenger & driver. Added to this, of course, was the excellent suspension of the Little Nipper, very important when you don’t want your little nipper to be woken by uneven paths & kerbs of varying heights.

Quite a few ‘obstacles’ around these country lanes frequented by, amongst other things, horses – but we managed to avoid most things, even one handed, & the wheels didn’t require too much attention on our return..!

March 15th 2015

We went off for a stroll today, as I wanted to try out the recline positions. As you’ll see from the following photo, the angle of recline is wherever you choose, operated by sliding a plastic clip up & down the strap, which fastens round the back of the seat. Maybe not the easiest thing in the world to do, but the benefit is that you choose whichever recline position you like, from sitting completely upright to lying completely flat, unlike some pushchairs which have pre-determined positions, which aren’t always to your liking. Once you’ve operated it a few times it really does become easier.

You’ll notice a length of strap dangling, which I could have tucked in, & I could also have tucked the fabric in behind the strap, which would have looked much neater, but it didn’t really matter & we weren’t on a fashion parade. When fully reclined there is no excess fabric. Also of note is the angle of the handlebar. Again this can be set at any angle, to suit any height. Plenty of leg room for my height of 5ft 6inch, but as you raise the height it does move the operator closer to the back of the pushchair, unlike some pushchairs with handles which slide up to a new height. I wanted to say ‘higher height’, but it sounded like a line from a musical!

March 22nd 2015

For a change this weekend we decided to go to the park at the end of my road (sorry ducks, you’ll have to manage without us this week). A cold morning, but it didn’t look like there was going to be any rain any time soon. (When am I going to be able to get that rain cover out !). So we made sure little Robyn was well snuggled up & set off on the short stroll to our local park.

It was a very cold morning, & one of the things I like about the Out’n’About Little Nipper is that the occupant is well protected at the sides. Some pushchairs don’t seem to be like that, & I think that leaves the baby somewhat exposed, so on a cold & windy day there is some protection by slightly reclining the seat. I do like the side protection offered by the Little Nipper. We didn’t stay out too long, as Robyn was getting a little bit unhappy with the cold wind, & in the photo she is telling her big brother Bradley all about it 🙂 As you can see from the side of the pushchair, it is slightly reclined, so she can see what’s going on, but still has some protection. Very trendy in the hat department these two.

March 29th 2015

Yes … at last we have rain & I get a chance to try out the rain cover. One sleeping baby all ready to go out on a wet morning. The cover fits very neatly, & fastens with long strips of Velcro down the adjoining edges, so all draughts are kept out. Quick & easy to do, especially if you’re trying to get it on in a hurry amidst a sudden downpour – you’ll find this much easier if you apply the brake, as I soon found out! The only fiddly bit is the fastening at the back of the front wheel. There are 2 elasticated straps & one press studs to the other, fairly easily. You obviously can’t see what you’re doing, because it’s behind the wheel, but not too problematic, except maybe for your fingers getting slightly wet & cold.

It probably would have been a good idea to somehow be able to unfasten the front of the rain cover, or the top, for access to baby, as once the cover is in place, & rained on, it’s not easy to see in there, especially when reclined, but it’s fairly easy to open quickly from the back, as it is held in place with the aforementioned Velcro.

An idea I had was to keep the hood down, & the rain cover pretty much kept it’s shape. I still couldn’t really see her properly, as she was all tucked up & asleep, but I think it was much better. In my opinion a very neat rain cover, & baby was well protected.

Off to the shops today with Mummy & Nana, & lots of room in the boot for shopping too.

As you can see from the photo we’d taken the bumper bar off, but it would have fit easily with the bumper bar still on, but it clicks on & off very easily. I love being able to fold up the pushchair without having to half dismantle it first, as experienced with some other pushchairs. The last thing I’d want to do is struggle to put a pushchair together every time I took it out of the boot, especially if baby was getting impatient!
It was quite a sunny morning so great to have the added bonus of the drop down sun visor.

April 11th 2015

Another great bonus of the Little Nipper is the seat size. Although a compact pushchair, there’s lots of room for Robyn’s long legs, inherited from her very tall Mummy & Daddy (5ft 10 & 6ft 5) Due to the seat size the Little Nipper is great for older toddlers too. As the seat liner for the Little Nipper is only available in black we bought a red liner, just to brighten it up a bit, as it seemed a little bit dark, especially when the seat is reclined, apart from the lovely red hood of course, & because it’s Robyn’s favourite colour. Hopefully coloured seat liners will become available for the Little Nipper.

As the Little Nipper is world facing, & doesn’t have the option to changing to parent facing, the viewing window comes in very useful. Great to check on a sleeping baby, or for baby to be able to see you.

April 19th 2015

Another day, another park, & we tried some “off roading” on the grass… (shh don’t tell the Park Keeper!) We set the front wheel to swivel & off we went, gliding over the bumps & humps. It’s quite easy to switch from locked to swivel. The Little Nipper is easy to manoeuvre, even one handed, & the great suspension ensured a smooth ride (you can see one of the springs on the left hand side of the photo).

Notice the good size of the basket underneath the pushchair too, very handy for those park essentials, such as food for the ducks, & even though we were off the paths the basket stayed clear of the ground. Notice also the wrist strap dangling from the pram handle – this is a great idea & ensures there are no run away prams. It looks like Robyn’s ready for a nap, must be all the fresh air.

April 26th 2015

We are off to the shops again (for a change – hope you like shopping Robyn!) Nana’s playing peek-a-boo through the viewing window. The Little Nipper is really easy to control, up & down the aisles, from one end of the shop to the other. As it’s a fairly narrow pushchair even those aisles where you find a display inconveniently placed were no match for it’s manoeuvrability, so luckily we didn’t knock anything over!

Time to head for home, so we’d better put this sun visor down just one more time. We don’t want the sun in our eyes do we, even if we are only going as far as the car. As you can probably tell, I love the sun visor. What a great addition, and you can see from this photograph just how big the basket is underneath the pushchair.

May 9th 2015

Another trip to the shops. Bit sunny, bit blustery, a few grew clouds, so we’re ready for any eventuality with the sun visor & rain cover at the ready, & a good sized basket under the pushchair. Handy peek a boo window to keep an eye on our little nipper in the Little Nipper. Great in the shops as this compact pushchair has a fairly small turning circle, & is narrower than some pushchairs I’ve come across. In the event we didn’t have any rain, but better to be prepared, & lots of room in the boot. The Little Nipper is so easy to fold, even with one hand, & so light (less than 8kg), thanks to the aluminium frame.

May 16th 2015

We’re all wrapped up for another walk. Notice the wrist strap, so no chance of losing contact with the pushchair. Love this safety feature & think all pushchairs should have this.

It was easy to recline when baba nodded off, simply by squeezing together the crocodile clips on the reclining strap at the back of the pushchair & sliding them downwards. It’s great that it can recline to completely flat if you need it to, but a bit fiddly to move back up to an upright position while baby is still in it. As the seat will recline at any angle to suit you, rather than a choice of pre-determined positions it’s a small price to pay, & it does get easier with practice.

May 23rd 2015

We’re off to the park today, & it’s nice to be out in the sunshine. Get that sun visor down Nana! Very handy. Nothing worse than the sun in your eyes, & less fiddly than attaching a parasol to the pushchair. The hood is really large anyway, but the pull down visor keeps even more of the sun off baby.

The hood is also shower proof, handy in case those sudden spring showers catch us out before we’ve had chance to whip the rain cover out from the basket!

May 30th 2015

Spent today giving the Out n About Little Nipper a bit of a spring clean.

Our ‘little nipper’ has cut 2 teeth at the same time, so is a bit off colour at the moment so we’re not out n about today. Love the easy fold of this pushchair, simply by pulling up on the handle in the crease at the back of the seat. It really couldn’t be any easier & so lightweight to trundle along.

Looking forward now to June & more sunshine. Maybe it’ll be time to try out the mesh ventilated back panels.

June 7th 2015

No sign of much summer sun yet, so the ventilated mesh seat back will stay under wraps for a little while longer. Quite a bright day though, so the sun visor came in useful yet again. Brilliant idea, & I like the fact that the drop down visor is mesh, so baby Robyn can see what’s going on without the sun getting in her eyes, & I can sometimes sneak a peep without her noticing. I think it stops insects from flying under the hood too.

June 13th 2015

A Saturday morning stroll into town today, where we nipped around the shops with ease, thanks to the excellent manoeuvrability of the Little Nipper. We trundled backwards into a lift, plenty of room for us, despite there being two other pushchairs in there (not Little Nippers though!) By simply moving the handle to a completely upright position it was easy to squeeze in & the Little Nipper has such a small turning circle we were out of the lift & off while our lift companions appeared to be struggling to get out before the lift doors closed! I’m sure there was a bit of “pram envy” going on in that lift, not that I’m one to gloat 😉 & how handy will that be in the sales!

June 21st 2015

Midsummers Day, Summer Solstice, the longest day & the shortest night, & at last the mesh seat back has been unveiled, turning it from a cosy hideaway from the cooler months of the year to a ride that is a breeze, in more ways than one. The back cover has a zip at each side, & it’s simplicity itself to unzip each side & roll up the cover, which fits very neatly into a handy little pocket just under the handle. So there’s no need to put the winter cover away, then wonder where on earth you put it when you need it again, (in my experience in such matters usually in a “safe place” never to be seen again), & of course as it’s stored neatly at the top of the backrest it’s easy to pull it down & zip it into place, should you get caught in a sudden summer downpour. What a marvellous idea – love it.

Back home from our adventures, & it’s so easy to quickly fold the Little Nipper by a simple pull on the handle, between the back rest & the seat, in the crease line. It folds quickly & automatically locks & being so compact it stores away very neatly in it’s usual place, under my stairs. This photo is a little dark, but that’s because it’s under my stairs 🙂 Takes up almost no room at all.

We’ve had the Out n About Little Nipper for 6 months now, & we’ve loved it, & thank you for giving us the opportunity to test it. It’s compact, sporty, lightweight, easy to fold, comfortable & handles brilliantly, thanks to it’s rear wheel suspension & 360 swivel front wheel, & of course it looks fabulous. The fully recline-able seat is easy to adjust to any desired position, maybe easier to recline than to put back up again, but easy once you get the hang of it. The clear rain cover is quite a soft & supple material, yet keeps it’s shape well & is a really good fit – easy to get on & off, & fits neatly into the storage basket. The handle is easy to adjust to the required height, & as with the seat, adjustable to any angle to suit the users height. At it’s full height it wasn’t quite high enough for my son (Robyn’s Daddy), but he is almost 6 ft 5..!

It’s a robust pushchair, yet lightweight, due to it’s aluminium frame. I love the innovative additions, the pull down visor, the wrist strap, the back cover which rolls up, & stores away in a handy little pocket, to reveal a mesh backrest, ideal for the summer months. It seems Out n About have thought of just about everything for this Little Nipper. Easy to fold by simply pulling on the handle between the seat & the backrest, it then automatically locks & stores away in a small space, & the handle also makes it easy to trundle along. I love the hood colour, Poppy Red, & if I could add anything to this super little pushchair it would be a coloured seat liner. The seat liner is black, so I bought a generic red liner to match.

The good sized hood, when up, is not taught, & can look a bit “slouchy”, so in my opinion the addition of bars, like hoods used to have, would be a good addition & improve it’s overall neat look. Although I had no problem striding out with the Little Nipper, & I’m not exactly short at 5ft 6″, when my son was pushing it (the aforementioned 6ft 5″ one) he found that he was kicking the brake bar, but his legs are longer than most.