Luxury Pram Crisis. Shire Grandparents Abandon $2K+ Prams in

Harper Vale | Investigative Journalist | Sutherland Shire Gazette

3 March 2025

The Sutherland Shire is facing an unexpected crisis—not a shortage of parking at Miranda Fair or a new gym-to-café ratio debate, but a surge in abandoned luxury prams as baffled grandparents struggle to fold them down.

With more parents working, local Nans and Pops have stepped up to the childcare plate, proudly pushing around their grandkids in prams worth more than their first cars. But while these high-tech, shock-absorbing, all-terrain chariots look impressive, there’s just one problem: no one over 60 can figure out how to collapse them.

“I spent 40 minutes in a Bunnings car park trying to fold the bloody thing,” admitted local grandfather Barry Simmons, 68. “I pressed all the buttons, pulled every lever, even tried swearing at it. Nothing. In the end, I just walked away and left it next to the sausage sizzle.”

The trend has become so widespread that playgrounds, shopping centres, and even bus stops are littered with abandoned $2,000+ prams, left behind by bewildered grandparents who simply gave up.

Westfield Miranda security reports a 300% increase in "suspicious unattended prams" in the last month alone. “They’re everywhere,” said security officer Linda Clarke. “Some are still in pristine condition, others have been stripped down for parts by rogue mums’ groups.”

Despite countless YouTube tutorials and desperate phone calls to their adult children, many grandparents remain defeated. "Back in my day, a pram was two wheels and a handle,” sighed local Nan, Janine Carter, 72. “Now they have Wi-Fi and 18 hidden latches. It’s a conspiracy.”

Meanwhile, local second-hand stores are thriving as savvy parents snap up these discarded designer prams at bargain prices.

Authorities warn that if this trend continues, the Shire may soon have more abandoned prams than actual children.