Do we need a travek system???

[SuzanneSays]

Argh, so much choice out there, and some are so much money! Not even sure that we need a travel system do we? How long realistically will baby use car seat and carrycot?

This will be our first born, we live in a remote area along a bumpy track so do use the car quite a lot, but generally not for really long journeys. We have a dog, so would like to be able to take pushchair out on bumpy track in the future.

Any ideas/recommendations/do we need a travel system?

[Artandco]

I wouldn't get one in your case

Car seat - should be used minimal time. Time in car enough so no need To have to take out car

Carrycot - nice but usually you have to take carrycot off to fold pram which is a pain if in and out the car

You just need a pushchair that lays flat so suitable for newborn plus has large wheels so suitable for tough track, plus fold in ine piece so easy in and out car

I recommend the nipper v3. Good price, suitable from birth right up until bit needed, spacious, folds in on piece, good on dirt track.
Buy a boba 4g sling also so you can just sling baby ( front or back) sometimes when walking instead of pram of road, and easier if your just poping out car quick to shop or somewhere not that pram friendly

[Artandco]

Oh and sling easier with dog as lead can get in the way of pram

[Artandco]

If you look on website you will see a newborn support is an option to buy which would be better than carrycot and add footmuff and will super comfy and warm in winter. Pram will fold with these on. You can add car seat and carrycot as extras also but I don't think you need

[evertonmint]

I'd also recommend good sling for walks - I'm using a stretchy wrap (Hana Baby) with my 2wo then will transition to my trusty Ergo when he's bigger (used this until my older 2 were 2.5) - and then a lie flat buggy. I have had Maclaren Techno XT and now a City Mini and have never felt the need for a carrycot and like them not taking up huge amounts of boot space, but the wheels might not be so robust if you want to use it for country walks. You'd probably need one with blow up wheels for that.

A Phil & Teds might be worth looking at if you think you'll have more DC. You can use it as a single and I found ours robust enough for country walks and it lies flat too.

[purplemurple1]

I've got a graco mirage - lie flat pram and car seat quite cheap and a yr in its holding up quite well.
I'm also remote on a non tarmac rd with a couple of dogs to walk.

Personally I found the sling a waste of money as the baby doesn't really like it and by 5 months ds was about 10kgs ans really to big and heavy to carry around too much, esp with a dog.

[SuzanneSays]

Thank you - this is really helpful - I will look into the recommendations. we don't have a huge amount of storage space, so not having to have the three parts of a travel system would be handy!

[JessMcL]

Personally I wouldn't use the big seat for a newborn even if it was suitable to do so- they just look so lost and uncomfortable. And I certainly wouldn't rely on using a carseat instead of a carrycot- they aren't suitable for us for more than an hour or so apart from the odd one off.

We have a Baby jogger Elite- great in the city (we live 20 mins from London and go there quite a bit) and great off road- we live in the countryside and do lots of "off road" walking with the dogs. We have a Maxi Cosi Cabriofix (which is compatible) that is left in the car and we used the carrycot until DD3 was 5 months. We used it as her moses basket in the bedroom too so more than got it's money worth out of it.

Slings are great- but DD3 hates being in hers for long periods and it's a lot easier to put her in the pram and get going.

[Ihateparties]

In your situation I would buy a birth to 4 car seat that stays in the car (a joie one, hauck varioguard, britax dualfix, cybex sirona etc.. There are a good few at different budget levels). Then a good terrain suitable pushchair. If you're in and out of the car a lot then something that folds in one is useful. If you want it to also parent face (I would) then it might be heavier to lift or only fold in one piece with the seat facing forwards. It might be a case of balancing your needs - lie flat/terrain/weight/folding style etc. What works best for you is quite specific to your lifestyle.

I too would get a good sling, which can involve trying quite a few out as again different things suit different people.

[JessMcL]

Oooh yes- def look for a convertible (to double) single if your planning on having more DC sooner rather than later- if it happens in the next 2 years or so chances are you will end up buying one anyway.

[Artandco]

I think baby doesn't look lost with a nice footmuff, sheepskin liner/ newborn insert

A 5 month old shouldn't be too heavy for a sling unless babybjorn type. These kill your back and not great for babies legs so I would avoid. Take a look at what's called a soft structured sling ie ergo, beco etc. I can easily have eldest at 4 years on my back still unborn if needed ( haven't but tried for size)

[evertonmint]

Re slings, don't buy in a shop. The range is limited and mainly baby Bjorns which are rubbish for heavy/long term use.

Google slingmeet for your nearest or try to find a local sling library both of which will give you good advice and have slings you can try.

[JenSmith1508]

I was just going to use a car seat but the shop assistant recommended a carrycot as it meant my baby could lie flat - bought the carrycot which is expensive but was great because you can use it for overnight sleeping.

Tried a sling but it was too uncomfortable!

[SuzanneSays]

I have seen some where the carry cot doubles as a flat lying car seat - are these safe though? Seems like there is a lot of room for baby to move about in the horrible event of a crash?

I definitely want to get a sling- interesting that people are not recommending he babybjorn ones - our friend loved theirs and have offered it to us. We live abroad so will prob buy sling on line.

[JenSmith1508]

When I bought my pram I looked at the carrycot / car seat in one but the lady said it's better to get both a car seat and a carrycot for safety reasons - i've got the maxicosi pebble and it fits onto my pram perfectly (with adaptors). She was probably just getting me to buy both lol

[Artandco]

I think the only carrycot suitable for overnight sleeping is the icandy one. The rest aren't due to lack of ventilation

The car seat/ carrycots combo are fine but baby can only fit in laying down so fairly expensive as grow out quickly and then you end up buying another suitable from birth anyway

Def look at a 0-4 year car seat. Doesn't come out car but great safely wise until 4 years as always rear face, plus cheaper in long rung as no need to buy a baby car seat, then small toddler , then next one.

[AwesomeSuperTasty]

We also didn't bother with a carry cot, as the pram we bought (Mamas and Papas Sola), lies flat and you can get various foot muffs to 'enclose' the baby if you want (my son was born in the winter so this was necessary; there are also summer versions I think).

The M&P had a promotion that you get £100 off or something if you buy a pram and a matching carseat so we did that and ended up with a travel 'system'. I have to say though, the option to put the car seat into the pram chassis is so helpful - really great for eg shopping, or anywhere you won't have your baby sitting in the car seat for hours on end. You don't have to faff about taking the baby out of the seat, then into the pram. This is also helpful when they happen to fall asleep in the car!

Also, since my son was about 6 months, I found that he much prefers pram trips in the car seat option rather than the pram - he's at a phase where he wants to sit but can't, so spends most of the time in the pram trying to get out, lean over, undo his seat belt etc, whereas he is quite content in the car seat! So it is useful for that too.

[AwesomeSuperTasty]

Slings - we bought a Manduca (similar to ergo, but has an in built newborn seat) after having one of those cloth wrap ones which never seemed to hold the baby properly. It was great when my son was a newborn but he soon started to hate it and now I'm lucky if I can get him to sit in it for longer than two minutes (he's seven months). However, it's an amazing sling, very sturdy (but soft), lots of features, snug, lots of support. If you do it up properly you hardly feel the weight of the baby at all.

If you are buying online - check YouTube first. Lots of video reviews of slings (and prams too) which I found very helpful.

[Chachah]

another vote for slings on walks, the babies absolutely love it and you can walk on all sorts of paths, step of branches, etc.

if an easy-to-get high street option feels easier, then the new version of BabyBjörn (BabyBjörn One) is actually good, built similarly to ergo/manduca/etc.

[Equimum]

We bought the full travel system but only used the car seat on the buggy once, as it's so limited. We did use the carrycot for about five months. In hindsight, would have bought a 0+1 car seat which turns round. We bough this to replace our Pebble and DS seems so much more comfy/ well positioned in the car.

For good off-road buggy, can't recommend Mohntain Buggy enough. Not exactly light to lift, but amazing to push over rough ground, and really comfy for little one.