Travel systems... Any recomendations?

[KitKat1985]

Hello. :)

Me and DH are expecting DD #1 in September and we're a bit clueless (and not on an enormous budget). A lot of stuff we are planning on getting second hand to save money (cot etc), however our very nice parents are giving us some money to put towards something for baby (about £3-400 between both sets of parents). After quite a lot of thought we felt probably the most sensible thing to invest the money in was a new travel system (one of those pram, buggy, car seat combos that all connect together), as firstly I'm a bit wary of buying a car seat etc second hand as will never really know it's history, and secondly I'm hoping if we buy well then hopefully the travel system will last this baby to toddlerhood, and possibly any other children that we may choose to have. I also like the idea of having a car seat that connects to pram base so we don't have to wake baby up when getting her out of the car if she's asleep. The question is which one? I've spent ages looking on websites and on review pages and I'm still clueless, and so was wondering if anyone had any recommendations?

Our criteria are:

1. Cost wise no more than £3-400. Would love to be able to spend more but just can't afford it at the mo.
2. My fiesta is a 55 plate and therefore too old to have any isofix points, so car seat will need to be able to attach via seat belt without being too faffy, (although DH's car does have isofix points, so ideally a car seat that could be fitted both ways).
3. The pram / buggy will need to have adjustable height handles as I'm 5'5 and DH is nearly a foot taller than me (!), so it needs to be adjustable so we can both use it comfortably.
4. Will need to be useable from birth until DD is a toddler so that we can get a decent amount of use from it.
5. Not be too fiddly to use.

We're not too bothered about designer names or anything, as long as it'll be comfortable for DD and have a decent safety rating.

Any ideas?

Just wanted to add another recommendation for Frills All Round in Uckfield. I went in there a couple of months back to look at prams and they were really helpful. Also, the chap mentioned they run a special 'end of season' event around the end of May when the reps for each brand come in to sell off all the old models of stock, so it might be worth you taking advantage of that.

Don't get the silver cross 3D (mentioned above). It's heavy, difficult to steer and impossible with an older child! I bought it for DS1 and had given up entirely by 2.5 months - the carry cot is tiny too and he outgrew it at les than 2 months. Used it as a one off when he was about 18 months and could barely push it.

I know it's been mentioned before but...
My joie chrome is amazing! Was 330 with everything - including car seat, carry cot, isofix base and the pushchair bit! From mothercare
I also have a very small car - seat mii - but it fit in there perfectly!

i had a similar list to you but with one more criteria, had to be light as i hurt my back a few years ago. lifting in and out of the boot would be difficult if my back got sore again.

We looked at loads
gravo quattro but it was to heavy, but within price range, big basket, lay flat
beep elegance had a tiny basket which put me off. a friend has one and said it isnt great and doesnt think he will get more then two children through it so will have to probably buy another at some point.
uppababy vista: was nice but expensive and doesn't include the car seat which is an extra cost too.

we eventually went for a Chicco urban, large basket, lays flat, parent and forward facing, car seat/base/ adapter included. very good price. a colour pack is included red/pink/cream/green to customize it.

i havent used it yet as i am also due in sept. but will be taking it out fro a test drive with my friends 7 month old tonight

Cannot recommend the mutsy 4 rider light enough.

I love the Quinny Buzz.
Not good for cafe's/ shopping as shopping basket small and it's a wide buggy but any maxi cosi carseat fits on it, it's ridiculously simple to put up and down, drives like a dream and is good on all terrain... though we did get a puncture. But it seems to drive better than all the otehr prmas!

Honestly, you need a car seat that best fits your car anda buggy/pram/stroller that best fits your needs (andhas a lie flat option). If the two are compatable, that is a bonus, but they are both separately very important bits of kit (carseat for safety and buggy because it will get so so much use) so that shouldnt be compromised so that they can jon together.

I really wouldnt recommend a second hand carseat, but you can get some excellent second hand Bugaboo Bees or Maclaren XLRs or any of the ones mentioned above that if you need to save in any area make it that one.

We have an oyster and it's brilliant. Can't recommend it highly enough. Easy to use, light, adjustable handle etc... It also fold up pretty small which is great for getting into carboot etc. We bought it at Frills All Round too, having been there initially then to kiddicare. We also got the besafe izi go car seat as loved they the good is seperately to the handle and also it has magnets in the straps to hold them out of the way when you are lifting baby in and out. Definitely get the cot bit as well. I found some good deals online, but frills all round were doing a deal so brought main pram from them but then car seat from kiddicare and isofix base from John Lewis as they were the cheapest.

Hey kitkat your on the sept board same as me :) we've gone for the expedior from Mothecare, two of my friends thoroughly recommended it so me and DH went down to try it out, and it is so light to push and easy to collapse/add the car seat on etc. we've gone for it in red but they have about 3 other colours :) it is a really good price too for £299 for 3 in 1! Deffo recommend going down to kiddicare too if your DH is up for driving there! As I've known them to be really helpful, and if you've still got few bits to get their prices seem reasonable on most things.

Mamas and papas zoom you can get the full travel system for £300, including car seat. This is the one we went for. I did my research first and it's got really good reviews. We initally were looking at spending around £800, not including car seat, but couldn't justify spending the cost of a nursery on a pram.

Offside how small does the zoom fold down? I drive a focus (DH drives nothing at the moment but is going to buy a new-style Micra we think): will the boots cope?

Hello all. Thank you for all of your replies - sorry I haven't checked in for a couple of days. Work has been mental! Had 2nd anomaly scan on Wednesday (then 22 weeks) as baby was badly positioned at the first attempt, and she behaved herself really well this time and so sonographer was able to complete all her measurements. Apparently baby is growing well and no abnormalities detected so obviously very happy. Decided to pop into Mothercare on way home (was thinking about maybe buying a celebratory baby outfit or similar) when stumbled across a ex-display Joie chrome travel system that they had just put on sale that day. Apparently they no longer wanted to display the travel system in the colour jade as it's always out of stock in that colour, so they were selling off their display model in that colour to avoid having to keep annoying all their customers. Normally the whole travel system would have been £480 (buggy, pram and car seat, plus all the covers etc) but because it was ex-display it was £200!! Obviously we spent some time 'playing' with it and tested it fitted into my little fiesta etc, but we were really pleased and it fitted all of our requirements so we snapped it up! It's got a couple of small scuff marks on the wheels where it's obviously been for a few 'test-runs', but ultimately brand new. Just got everything else still to buy now! Am planning on hitting one of the NCT 'Nearly New' sales at some point to try and grab some other bargains! Thanks for all of your replies though. Will definitely looks at Frills all round in Uckfield though as it's not too far from where I live, so thanks for the tips. xxx

Brilliant! Now you have £100-200 left to add onto other budgets. Always handy.

Seemingly completely random point right now but the joie infant car seat (the gemm I think? comes with the chrome) fits onto maxi cosi adapters, so if you ever need a double or tandem pram you would be able to put it on anything that had maxi cosi adapters

Bugaboo bee is overrated. V expensive and full of faults, especially the wheels.