Anyone heard of Esprit Vegas Travel System Trio Set ??

[irismom]

I just started shopping around for a travel system, and read somewhere about the "precious little ones" website. It is my first time around there and seen a good bargain on this -Esprit Vegas- one. I dont think i have seen this pushchair anywhere. was trying to get reviews online, with no luck. please, please let me know if anyone have one or know anyone who uses/had one.
also any suggestions on good/ durable/ not very expensive pushchairs??
Thanks in advance

[Ihateparties]

It's a Hauck Malibu, have a look at the reviews of those?

I had one a couple of years back, good bits were it's a very small pram with the carrycot on, only 54cm wide and fairly nice to push. The wheels on mine were uneven though and it irritated me a lot, you could see the baby's face wobbling! They would have worn down eventually over time but I didn't wait it out :-)

I love having a carrycot etc so I can see how it's appealing but now, with all the options out there I would rather spend the same money or slightly more on a baby jogger city mini and carrycot or a britax b agile and carrycot (the latter I had for my last baby and liked it a lot for the carrycot stage).

[irismom]

Thank you for your comment. I almost bought that one. thank God!! I have seen Hauck Malibu review on mums net and it is not good.But i have seen other Hauck(shopper6.. or something like that) reviews on some other community and it looks good. I am now confused. I just wanted something good and not much expensive:(

[Ihateparties]

Don't get me wrong it wasn't completely awful, just the little annoying bits. I really liked the look and having the carrycot for such a low price. There are better pushchairs for similar money though and i seem to recall some people had problems with frames breaking too? I will have a think and price up some good by reputation prams for very similar money...

[irismom]

Thank you so much for your reply. Couldn't get back to you sooner :(
Could you please tell me the BrAnds do you have in mind when you say--"There are better pushchairs for similar money". Sorry, I am doing my best, but All I have managed to find is Graco tour something, other than Hauck Malibu on the same or similar price change (£190-230). And The reviews are awful, as u said, it looks good with 4.5 star with 95 reviews and all but when you look into the least star ones, all of them got into awful situations of breaking the handle/chasis/wheels on the go!! which is what I am worried most about.
and now I am looking into Britax B smart, which is the next in price list, looks good and has got good reviews, but much expensive. Like almost £300 for carseat n pram and no carrycot :( Is there anything I am missing ? like a bargain website or a bargain buggy?? I have looked so far into kiddicare, PrLitlOnes and all other dept store webites.

sorry about the long mail, but Please do reply. I am lost in this now , and feels like it is the most difficult thing to decide on !!

[Ihateparties]

Sorry, i meant to write on this thread again but i forgot. Do you need to get the car seat and pushchair and or carrycot for the 230ish? If so that's a harder brief, will have another think and reply again tonight when the short people are in bed :-)

[irismom]

thank you. Waiting for ur detailed reply :)
the figure £230 came only coz, we have seen that for a Hauck malibu and Graco in toysrus.. Now i know, there isnt anyother in that range. But isnt there anything in between this and the £300(only pushchair and car seat - Britax ones?).. Another thing is Britax- AGILE/MOBILE/B-Smart?? looks similar to me and only difference is the price:) #
as of now, U may have an Idea about my knowledge in this area. my dd was with my parents till she was two, and just bought a maclearen stroller for her when she came. So it is my first time around this..
I have no words to thank you enough for this!!!

[peanutMD]

Hi Irismom :)

Can I ask if you need a carrycot or if its just personal preference?

I only ask because babies don't need a carrycot as long as your pushchair lies completely flat. Some pushchairs have a seat that turns around to face you so its the same as a carrycot in a way.

The Britax B Smart is one example, the seat can be turned to face you and is suitable from birth.

Between the 3 Britax you have mentioned I would go for the B Smart although this depends on what you will use it for:

B Smart is good if you do lots of walking as it has big wheels and the rear facing seat is a bonus but the bulky fold is not so good if you have storage issues in house or car.

B Mobile is good if you use public transport or just need something small and light to put in and out of the car and for around town as it has small wheels and is a compact fold.

B Agile is a good all rounder as it has decent wheels for town walking, a more luxurious look and feel about it than the B Mobile but not quite as substantial as the B Smart. It does have a fab one hand fold which again is handy for public transport and is not too large when collapsed.

[peanutMD]

Oh and just to add the Britax babysafe car seat in black/red is available at Boots for £56 (£66 in clearance but discount code MOBILE gets £10 off) and this us compatible with all the Britax pushchairs mentioned above :)

[Ihateparties]

As above, i looked for the babysafe first, peanut has found it 7 cheaper than i did.. :-) and was also thinking you can get a b mobile for 165, i think that was kiddicare, they have 5% off using the code morrisons taking you down to 156.75. The reversible lie flat seat is suitable from birth, it's a fairly big pushchair but i haven't heard anything bad about them. I had a b agile which was great with a carrycot on, i haven't had time to search and price that set up yet. More to come later, i haven't forgotten :- D

[peanutMD]

I think parties may mean the B Smart?

[Ihateparties]

Noooo I wrote a really long post and then lost it all!

Paraphrased:

When I said a better quality pushchair for the price I'm afraid I was thinking of just the pushchair, not really considering car seat etc. Ie you can get a Baby Jogger City Mini from £200, a Jane Solo R for £200, a Jane Muum for £250 etc. So it was a bit misleading as I was purely thinking of the pushchair bit. Sorry.

3 options imho when sticking to the £230 budget for buggy, carseat and carrycot (or not):

1. Buy Carrycot, Carseat and Pushchair together, new for budget circa £230. Basically it looks like this will be a Hauck of some kind, condor, shopper, viper, eagle triosets etc. Some seem more reliable than the Malibu going on the reviews.
   

1. Buy car seat separately then pram to go with it. eg a babysafe as mentioned above, then pair this with cheaper but perhaps more reliable pram, so a babysafe £65ish and B Smart £165, B Agile £160 or B Mobile £100. At Kiddicare saving 5% using the morrisons code you can get the B Mobile in blue atoll, Babysafe in black and Carrycot in chili for £235.52. It doesn't all match but gets you everything you want so can maybe be thrown in with the above Hauck options? With the B Smart you don't need a carrycot as it lies flat and parent faces. You could also go with something like a Graco Swiftfold and car seat from Babies R Us for £160 but there is no carrycot option.
   

1. Buy new carseat of your choice (for safety reasons I would always buy a new one) then take remaining money and scour ebay for a used bargain on a pushchair with the particular features you want.
   

It is a hard decision, if you have any particular things that you need from what you buy, like must it be brand new or would you consider used, do you REALLY want a carrycot, does it need to be light to lift, or have bigger wheels to go over rough ground etc. Then it's always a good idea to figure that stuff out so you have a list of priorities and know what you can compromise on and what you can't.

Hope that helps a bit. There will definitely be quite a lot of other specific models to add to these lists that I just haven't thought of, hopefully more people will be along to fill in the gaps and offer different ideas and experiences

[Ihateparties]

peanut I did indeed mean the b smart... ^ up there

[peanutMD]

I would agree with Parties (again :o) that perhaps your best option would be to buy a new car seat and look out for a used pushchair.

I bought all new for my first and this time round with DC2 I managed to pick up a proper traditional pram that suits our lifestyle with chassis, reversible seat unit, raincover, footmuff and proper carrycot for £80 on our local FB selling page so it's definitely worth a look!

Also agree that it would be an idea to think about your needs with the pushchair, the main questions you have to ask yourself are:

1. What is your maximum budget?
   

Once this is sorted it helps you to narrow down your options a bit but remember you don't have to spend a fortune if you can't afford to, your baby will be fine in a £50 forward facing pushchair if that's all you can buy!

1. Do you have storage in the car boot/house to keep a large pushchair or would small be better?
   

There is no point in buying a massive pushchair if you have nowhere to keep it!

1. Do you walk lots or will car/public transport be your main mode of getting about?
   

Big air wheels are good for walking lots on any terrain but pushchairs with smaller wheels generally have a smaller footprint which is ideal for buses or chucking in the car boot equally something easy to fold is a must.

1. What type of access do you have to your home, will you need to get up stairs with pushchair or are you able to walk straight in?
   

Again something lightweight and easy to fold is handy if you have to lug it up stairs unless you want to bump it up on wheels.

1. A lie flat seat/carrycot is definitely better for baby but a car seat that clips on can be handy every now and again, will you use this function?
   

Please do remember though that babies should not be left in a car seat for longer than a few hours as it is not good for their spinal development and can cause breathing issues if they are left too long.

Sorry that seemed so epic but it really is something that if you do your research and sort out what you need then you will spend less in the long run :)

[irismom]

hi peanut n parties..
Thank you somuch for the detailed description. It is my first ever experience with any forum(by that i mean getting proper answers :)) and am so grateful that u two helped me to make a decision.
Yes, Carry cot was a personal choice, half of it coz it looks so bed like and cozy, and then I read about the car seat not good for long hours. SO that was it.
Other than that, my needs are simple n pretty much common. I will be walking around with this more, as i need to go uphill 15 minutes one side to do school run. So wanted something sturdy and durable. My husband is working far from home, so dint want to stuck in the middle of the road with broken chasis and not knowing what to do.
I do have a outside shed which is big enough, in which my friend can put her side by side buggy wo folding. So I dont think storing will be a prob. And about the car. I hope it fits in too .
I have seen some of them yest in shops and happy to go with Britax B Smart. (though money is tight as always, I just dont wanted to risk it with a second hand pram/car seat.) So ordered that from PLO, got for £189 (5% off for liking their fb page). there were some black ones for £165 but was out of stock. so went for the dessert sand one :)
And I have ordered Car seat £56, with the coupon code Peanut has given from boots .Thanks again.
All in all good deal, and will not get better than this. I would have never come to a conclusion this fast, u ppl werent there for me!!
sending u ///emo/te/thanks.png

[irismom]

[Ihateparties]

I think you won't get better for the price. The car seat is good too because it has a tall back, if you have a bigger baby you can keep them rear facing in the car for longer, which is safer. Really hope you like your b smart :- D

[irismom]

hi..I got the pushchair delivered yest (was waiting for that to reply). and it looks good and sturdy. And it is huge( in a good way!!) :) Thanks again for ur suggestions!! Now waiting for the car seat. (may come tmrw)
Again, i have to order car seat adapter and foot muff/ cosy toes to go with it, dont I ?? any idea where to look?? Britax cosy toes are out of stock every where. there isnt anyone in ebay either. Is footmuff any different from cosy toes other than the shape?? have seen some oyster ones(they call it apron or something).. can they go together??
really sorry that I am here again with zillion qns. I have never thought shopping for something will be this difficult :(

[irismom]

is this ok?? (not the colour, as in use?)
www.kiddisave.co.uk/store/product/15162/Graco-Cocoon-Footmuff-Biscuit-2012/

Bsmart seat is paded enough but there isnt anything to support the hear, if i want to use wo carseat. is that where cosy toes comes instead of foot muffs??
sorry again for my ignorance :(

[Ihateparties]

I meant to reply this morning but life got in the way.. i would wait and see if your baby safe comes with adaptors before ordering some.

Do you want the footmuff for the car seat or the pushchair seat? The pushchair seat one, I assume they call that the footmuff, is nice and snug with the enclosed head bit. I haven't seen the thing with the hood and arms in real life.

[irismom]

hi..Got the car seat, and it came with adapters, though I dint check wthr it will fit into the pram, as i had already put that back in the big box :( but hopefully it will.
Car seat looks good and fab for that money I have paid (£56), it is padded enough and got head support too. and light wt.
I was thinking about the Foot muff for the pram. In some pics of B smart, they show the pram with the foormuff, but actually we need to buy it seperatly. i have read some threads about buggy snuggly or something and other universal ones (most of them are 6 months or above). So may hav to go for those. ??? but it looks more like a footmuff for stroller, rather than something I can use when the baby lies flat.. there came the graco thing( Link in my prev post ) which looks more like it.please let me know if u know anything about it..

FTFE, thank you. looked there and they only have other brands..

thanks again

[Ihateparties]

The one I was thinking of is this Don't know if that will have worked... but perhaps this is the one that is out of stock everywhere?

[peanutMD]

Glad you like your pushchair :)

The BSafe should click right on to the BSmart so don't worry about buying adapters.

The footmuff/cosytoes are basically the same thing but some are thicker and cosier than others, personally I'm not keen on Buggysnuggles as they are not remotely padded so not comfy on the seat to lie on and they're not very warm. I loved the Jane nest plus footmuff (about £70 new) as it was really thick and padded and it was long so fit a big toddler as well as a little baby :)

[irismom]

Ihateparties .. yes it is the same one. it is out of stock everywhere. and the carrycot is too expensive..
I think my basic need is to have a padded head rest, rather than something to cover the body(a snow suit kind of thing will do that job, or a blanket!)
peanutMD I am on ur side about buggysnuggles, n I dnt knw what the fuss is all about, when it is just an alternative to blanket. the one u mentioned is out of my budget right now!! but, are u sure that will work with Bsmart? so in that case, graco will work too, wont it? Ideally, I want something likethis to support the head, or this . basically, this is what i am looking for but with frills(foot muff/ covered ones).. if u knw what i mean.
thanks again. please let me know if u come across anything. Now that the pushchair n Car seat is sorted, am in a relaxed mood.. thanks to u! this is kind of slow going, can buy any time.. so plz take ur time to reply.. I will check once in a while when i am upto it :)

[Ihateparties]

What do you think of something like this slightly more money but looks nice for a newborn. Or this?

I think the graco one you linked to would probably be fine although I have never actually seen one. I have had one of those tesco head huggers and it would be fine inside. If you want something to last longer then I suppose a bigger footmuff and something to put inside would be better, if you're less bothered then something more like a cocoon type thing is possibly more supportive?

I've got one of these in black that I got used off ebay for very little, which is nice and enclosed and works well in a lie flat pushchair. The only problem was I had to cut and sew new holes for the waist straps as for some reason it only had holes for a 3 point harness.

Anything there you think will work? TBH for the money I think the Graco one would be fine too