Now to find a baby sitter

FORGET, if you will, Cabinet Ministers, overworked NHS staff, racing drivers, or financial tycoons. The most stressful, physically and psychologically draining job in the world is the mothering of small children.

In babyhood they wake hungrily through the night and howl inexplicably by day even when they are dry, well-fed, and winded. As they grow, they tempt the fates daily, rolling, crawling, then toddling with uncanny speed towards sharp corners, cupboards full of poisonous cleaning fluids, fragile china vases, and electric wires and plugs. Their early attempts at walking involve stumbles and tumbles, tears and tantrums, and, during every second they're awake, they need watched with hawk-like concentration.

No longer can they be popped into a pram and left in the fresh air of the back garden the way my children could in those days when we didn't dread baby thieves. How strange now to think I and my contemporaries happily left our babies in their prams outside the shops while we bought our groceries.

I recall, too, that prams - once splendid big coach-built jobs seldom seen on city pavements today unless they are family heirlooms - used to be sturdy affairs with proofed fabric covers which were considered enough protection from the elements.

Today's prams are not called prams. They are called ''travel systems'', or they are categorised as 2-in-1 pushchairs, combining the sleeping, sloping, and sitting positions of both yesteryear's pram and the humble buggy, while even the simple ''stroller'' comes in versions which can tip back and provide a cuddly cocoon for newborn tots.

To compare a modern ''travel system'' with granny's high, heavy large-wheeled perambulator is like comparing a zippy little modern city car with a 1954 Humber. You may secretly yearn for that solid old mode of transport but you bow your head to fashion and technology.

Mariama Seck, aged one year and three weeks, took her first steps around the week of her first birthday and is now at that dare-devil stage of staggering the whole width of a room yet still prepared to crawl when she's in a hurry. She has a tendency to grab hold of pot plants, CD players, the cat, or today's newspaper, smiling widely as she creates havoc. I can vouch for that since, yes, she is my granddaughter.

Her mum, Carol, a mature student teacher at Strathclyde University, needed a buggy which was light enough and easily enough folded for jumping on and off buses and trains, neat enough to fit into the boot of a small car, and cheap enough not to break her modest budget, after her old Silver Cross was passed on to the newest baby in the family. She bought a Maclaren Day Tripper stroller.

But during our survey of the latest prams on the market, she began to wonder if she would have been wiser, a year ago, to buy a ''five-position stroller'' which can hold a newborn baby but do efficient duty as a buggy for a growing toddler.

''It's important for us to ask questions when mums come in looking for a pram,'' said Linda Porch at Mothercare's Anniesland store. ''Some, understandably, have no idea what to look for. Do they live in a top flat? Do they have storage space? Do they want a pushchair for occasional visits to the shops or for taking baby to the nursery, or do they like to explore the countryside? Do they want something granny can handle easily? Have they a car and what size is the boot? Or is all their travelling done by bus?''

All these things are relevant, as anyone (like me) who has hauled a pram up four flights of tenement stairs can testify. As for clambering on to a bus or negotiating the escalators in the underground while holding a wriggling baby under one arm and trying to fold the pram at the same time, it seems to me remarkable - and obviously a matter of strength, stamina, and dexterity - that so many young mothers manage to do it so competently.

There are scores of models on the market, ranging from the 3-in-1 pushchair-and-carrycot with forward or rear-facing multi-position lie-flat seat unit and a host of fashion and safety features, selling at near enough #500 (for example, Mothercare's Ravenna at #499, or Mamas and Papas's Carlotta at #484 including cover) to the basic stroller for under #20.

In theory, strollers, with their separate ''shooting stick'' handles, all fold, umbrella or telescope-style, with a twitch of the side pieces and a nudge of the foot, but, says Carol, no-one has yet devised one which can be easily folded with one hand while the other holds the child.

In fact it's marginally easier to fold a pushchair (which goes down flat when you trigger the clips at the side) but can also be heavier to handle. What we looked for was easy handling, lightness, durability, and value for money, starting with basic strollers and casting our eyes over a couple of more elaborate systems.

Mothercare Basic Stroller (reduced from #19.99 to #14.99)

This isn't suitable for babies under six months and, although recommended for short trips to the shops or for taking on holiday (it weighs just 4.5kg), Carol wasn't too impressed. ''The seat is short and narrow and it wouldn't stand up to much hard use. The price is excellent but it might be wiser to pay #29.99 for the Basic 'plus'.'' Neither has swivel wheels, which can shorten the stroller's life if it has to do a lot of cornering. ''Cheap, OK as a standby, or to leave at gran's, but not a long-lasting investment,'' was the verdict.

Maclaren Stroller (#49.99)

Very light, with two positions, suitable for six months upwards, with swivel wheels. Durable,despite its lightness. But Carol thought the Mothercare version, at the same price but with a mesh shopping basket, might be a better buy, or the smart Maclaren Panache with basket, weighing just 4.4kg, at #59.99.

Mothercare Vision Complete stroller (#99.99 reduced to #89.99)

Now this was Carol's favourite, the one she wished she'd had from Christmas 1997. It is suitable from birth onwards, has a well-padded five-position seat, zip-off cozytoe cover, hood, and PVC rain cover, adjustable leg rest, lockable swivel wheels, and a weight of 7kg. The inclusion of the covers in the price is well worth noting as when you have to buy a cozytoe and a rain cover each sets you back #30. This is a neat, elegant little machine which will, nevertheless, cope with a toddler.

There's also a Mothercare three-position stroller at #69.99 which is safe for babies of three months upwards and has lots of extras, weighing just 4.8kg, but Carol felt that the extra #20 for the Vision-Complete was most worth while.

Chicco Trekking Stroller (#179)

This is for parents who use their prams for long, hard country walks as well as visits to the shopping mall. It can be used from birth, is well padded, with a removable front bumper bar, large shopping basket, rotating handles, a hood, a PVC rain cover, washable seat cover, and off-road lockable swivel wheels. ''It would be good for tramping through the hills,'' I admit, says Carol, but at #179 it wasn't cheap and it weighed more than 8kg.

Colorado Travel System (#179)

For the same price as the Chicco Trekking Stroller, Carol thought this was a chunky and versatile piece of apparatus. Suitable from birth, what you get is the pushchair itself, with a forward-facing, three-position, lie-flat seat, lockable swivel front wheels, apron and hood included, washable padded seat liner, detachable tray (very useful if you stop in somewhere from lunch and a high chair isn't available), and a ''group 0'' car seat which, when it's fixed inside the pushchair, acts as a pram for a baby from birth to 10kg. The idea is that you use it until baby reaches that weight, so that you can lift a sleeping infant straight from its wheels into your wheels . . . then pass the car seat on to the newest baby in the family and make full use of the remaining pushchair for many months to follow. ''I like this. It has heavy tread wheels and feels very sturdy. Good value. But it would be

pretty bulky and not very handy for using public transport,'' said Carol.

Mamas and Papas Pliko Sportivo (#199)

This, we reckoned, was ideal for a winter baby, with a rain cover which zips cleverly on to the hood (which has a transparent peek-a-boo panel so that you can see what's going on inside), a big shopping basket underneath, suits new babies to toddlers, folds swiftly and has a carrying handle. In a very ''country life'' dark green and check and with heavy tread wheels, it is a rugged piece of equipment that leaves no gaps for drafts. It can also be pulled along like a golf trolley,

These are just a few of the

models available, ranging through 2-in-1 pushchairs, 2-in-1-plus pushchairs which switch from carrycots to seat units, or the 3-in-1 pushchair combination.

Mamas and Papas, in fact, can pretty well design your own personal pram for you, with choice of wheels and fittings. Our only complaint is that the whole thing has become so elaborate, expensive, and style-conscious. I wonder if it's more of a status symbol for the parents than a means of getting junior from A to B.

And don't forget the accessories, if they are not included - canopies and rain shields, cozytoes, safety harnesses, changing bags, insect nets for summer, capes that fit over the pushchair, and shopping trays.

Oh yes, you could easily spend more than #500 on wheeling your baby around - about the same as Mariama's mum paid for her little second-hand car.

But, as bargains go, the Vision Complete at #89.99 in the sale is her winner for value. She's still waiting, though, for someone to invent one which can fold with one hand.