Travel systems

[socktastic]

Going demented now! Honestly no idea what's good, what's reasonable and what's just out to steal my money!!

On a budget of no more than £500-£550 and we want a 3 way system, carry cot, car seat and pushchair. So far looking at the Jane Matrix, Graco (can't remember the model) or a Hauck (which I've never heard of in my puff)

Can someone please please give me some advice? Or just tell me what to do?

Then we'll repeat the process with nursery furniture!!

[Hippahippahey]

Stay away from hauck, gracos are clunky. I would look at the uppa baby vista which may be in your budget. If not I would look at a second hand bugaboo chameleon or Icandy peach.

Ikea all the way with nursery furniture it lasts much longer than specific nursery furniture. Although I wouldn't buy a cot from there as their odd sizes.

[Dixiechick17]

I bought a graco travel system and wasn't happy with it for a newborn, the buggy itself is great now my DD is older as it's lightweight and easy to collapse. Instead I bought a Quinny Buzz second hand which came with a carrycot that had not been used, maxi cosi car seat and buggy attachment. I really like it, although it's not the easiest thing to collapse, was a good buy for us as we got the whole lot for 200 on eBay. Worth looking second hand.

[Junosmum]

Second hand bugaboo cameleon here and then we bought a new maxi cosi car seat (don't but second hand car seats). It was on fab condition and came with loads of accessories, would have been over £1100 new with everything we got with it, pram was £160 and car seat was £109.

[Junosmum]

And we bought Ikea wardrobe and drawers for the nursery and cot off eBay, new mattress.

[Whosthemummy16]

We went for the venicci was £500 for the carry cot, pushchair, chassis and car seat.
Lovely pram, suspension is great on it !

[5hell]

It's so hard isn't it?!...too many to choose from!!

We've just taken delivery of a joie chrome plus travel system ...pram, car seat, Base, carrycot etc for £550

[BasinHaircut]

Hauck travel system here and after 2.5years of use I've just passed it on to a pregnant friend. I loved it.

It's lightweight, folds small-ish and is so so simple to use. It's fairly no frills and the seat for older babies isn't the best (bit hard) but I thought it was great value for money and would recommend it to anyone, especially if you are on a budget. We got ours in the kiddicare sale for £280 so was a bargain.

[Izzy82]

Second the Uppababy vista. It's amazing for any stage, the basket is huge, it's good for off roading, you can run with it and , if needs be, it converts into a double in a year or two.

[delilabell]

We've gone for the cossato giggle 2.
It was on offer for carrycot, pushchair, chassis,carseat and bag for £420.
It folds really well (I don't drive) but is sturdy too.

[StrawberryQuik]

I liked the cossato as well but the lady in John Lewis said the car seats weren't as safe as the maxi cosi ones. In the end we went for an armadillo flip (because it was the only one that would fit in our car boot) with some clips so we could attach the maxi cosi.

My advice especially if you have a smaller/older car would be to go to the shop and get them to try some out for you.

[Quickchangeup]

OP really consider what you need the travel system to do and how you will use it. Do you walk lots? What's the terrain like? Do you use public transport? How big is your boot? Do you mind if it needs to be completely disassembled to get into car? Which car seat safely fits your car/cars?
It's easy to just buy any system but you will end up hating it if it doesn't suit your needs!

[Quickchangeup]

Also I think it really is a case of buy cheap but twice. It's something you use everyday and well built good quality stands the test of time unlike cheaper ones which often don't last as well.

[Thurlow]

What do you need the pram for, on a daily basis? Will you be doing lots of walking? Or will you be in the car, and so need a good car seat adaptor? Or do you need something you can fold quickly on the bus, or carry on the Tube?

We bought an all singing, all dancing travel system at the start but traded it in very quickly. We've been through a ridiculous number of pushchairs as DC grew up and our needs changed - pushchair that folded for nursery, lighter pushchair for heavier child etc).

Buying good quality means it will obviously last but I know lots of people who bought an Uppavista or iCandy and found that the pushchair part of it wasn't great when the DC got bigger, or when DC wanted to walk more.

So with a budget of £500, I'd buy a really good £350-£400 pram, and leave a bit aside to buy a pushchair layer (even if it's just left aside in your head, so to speak) in case you do need to change it later. You can get a decent Maclaren for £100ish, for example.

Basically don't blow your budget on something that you expect to last 3 years and then not be able to change at all if you need something you can carry easier etc.

[MunchyMunchkin]

Ive got a cosatto giggle 2 as well. Great price (380 on offer including car seat). Car seat base was £100. So all in for under £500. It's been excellent, quite light, easy to fold and lots of compliments on the jazzy pattern.
I have no concerns on the safety of the car seat combined with the isofix base.

[BunloafAndCrumpets]

We've got a baby jogger city mini gt. Is really good - I got the pushchair and car seat new for about £350, then the bassinet bit second hand for £25 and got a new mattress for it. It's so easy to fold and store and manoeuvre. It will also probably last until little one's 3 or so. Really pleased with it so far (she's about 9mo now).

One thing I didn't realise at first is you can take all the fabric off the frame until you need to use the forward facing seat. So I've just had the frame (v small) and bassinet /car seat adaptors until recently.

[Sezramum]

Another one here for the Baby Jogger City Mini although we did not go for the GT.

We wanted a pushchair that would see us through without needing another lighter weight/compact pushchair in 6 - 12 months time. So we did lots of research, went to lots of pram shops and then settled on this. It ticked so many boxes. It folds up small, it is light weight and you have all of the travel options such as carry cot and car seat.

We bought ours from here www.babybabyonline.co.uk/ and they gave us a great deal plus free delivery. The only thing we didn't go for was the carrycot due to our budget but I have been looking at them on ebay.

It arrived last week and it looks fab. Although I haven't tried it with the baby (not here yet!), my sister had the double version and loved it, and the reviews online are also very good.

[cudbywestrangers]

We have an uppababy vista which has been great for us, ds1 is now nearly 3.

Good points: height adjustable handle, big basket, can go off road , can use carrycot for overnight sleeping, nice to push, can fold with buggy seat attached, can convert to double

Negatives: quite wide wheel base, doesn't fold particularly small unless you remove wheels

It really depends what you need it to be able to do and your budget... i would go and have a look at as many as you can. Happy shopping!

[socktastic]

Thanks for all the replies... So much to wrap my head around
To answer some questions, I intend on doing a lot of walking round town. I live at the top of a pretty steep hill (my parents are at the bottom) so will do that as much as possible.
I have a Toyota auris which has isofix compatibility and a pretty decent sized boot. I think I will need a system that does the cot and the car seat - I've heard you shouldn't use the car seat on the chassis for long periods of time due to the posture the baby is in.

Also, my dh is 6'3" and I've been told we need to watch for sizes so he can be comfortable when pushing the pram too. Mothercare are having an expectant parent event next week so will have the opportunity to 'road test' some of the prams.

[MrsZumbaDancer]

If your Dh is tall consider the uppababy-it was too big for me but my 5'10 friend and her 6'3 husband found it perfect :)

[Sparklycat]

I really don't rate Graco car seats so I'd stay away from their travel systems because of that. Mamas and Papas urbo was good for us.

[PennyHasNoSurname]

Have a look at the Armadillo Flip from Mamas and Papas. Amazing pushchair generally and also is carrycot and carseat compatable. I was incredibly impressed with it when I saw it recently.

[Quickchangeup]

Definitely consider the uppababy vista given your husbands height. Really good adjustment on the handle height meant it worked brilliant for 6'1 husband and 5'3 me! It's compatible with maxi cosi car seat and the carrycot was so plush!

[Hippahippahey]

Whichever you go for I would choose one that is either maxi cosi or cybex compatible.

I found the ability to put the car seat on the frame brilliant for short shopping trips.

Most of the prams mentioned above have adjustable handle height so shouldnt be a problem for height.

Joolz day and stokke have high seat positions which are also helpful if your taller.

[socktastic]

Is the size thing going to be an issue then do you think? Dh is tall but I'm only 4'11"!!!

[Hippahippahey]

I'm not much taller than you and have never had a problem as long as the handle is adjustable which most are.

It's best to go somewhere and have a look at them all in real life. I found independent shops sometimes had more of a range than the chains.