This is great because it allows parents to save money and provides a range of compatible products. However, parents do not often analyse the features of the stroller adequately when they select a travel system.

The stroller – the chassis specifically, which will carry the carrycot and, when the baby can sit up, a seat - is what you will use most. That is why you should read all the specifications carefully, focusing on the features that usually people only browse through and do not fully understand until months after they bought the travel system.

‘Free-standing’ is a feature of all Peg Perego strollers. It is clearly stated in brochures and retailers never forget to mention it. How can a first-time mum, with no experience of this kind, understand how useful that is?

Free-standing is but one of the features that can change your life and that you should  stop to think about. If you can’t think of how it could be such an asset, we have listed some situations in which it is a life-saver.

• You live in a block of flats with a small entrance hall or landing
• You have to keep the stroller in your flat
• You are putting the child into the car and you don’t want to push the stroller to the ground
• You can get on a bus or train and have the stroller next to you
• You want to go into a shop in which the stroller must be folded and cannot be left lying on the floor
• You collapse the stroller outside nursery school but do not have to worry about it getting ruined as it lies on the floor all day, squashed by loads of other strollers
• As above, applied to crowded waiting rooms in general

As your child grows older and wants to walk, a stroller will be crucial when your little one is tired of walking, you are late or, after a long day, a nap is really necessary.

Although having a stroller is the only way to avoid carrying a whining toddler, these useful items are often ‘abandoned’ in front halls, usually in the company of many others.

A free-standing stroller makes life easier by sparing you the bother of bending down the whole time to pick it up. It protects your investment, because the (washable) fabric wears less and does not get so dirty.

Only a really good stroller has these features… You have been warned!