Overwhelmed by travel systems... recommendations please!

[charlotteshouse2008]

Hello everyone,

I am a first time mum to be and finding the huge array of travel systems really overwhelming. I would really appreciate any recommendations, tips or pointers on which systems have worked well for you and why.

Things we are looking for:

A small, compact system. We live in the city and would like something we can easily take to the shops, get into coffee shops, on the tube, etc.
Something that folds down small and ideally fits in the boot of our teeny, tiny Peuguot 107.
The ability to clip in a car seat.
Practical, sturdy, easy to clean.
A large basket for shopping.
My lovely mum is buying it for us so we are lucky enough to have quite a flexible budget.

Thank you all so much for your help! :)

We live in a second floor flat, and bought a city mini. In my eyes, it's perfect. It is compact, suitable from birth on its own, although you can buy a bassinet if preferred. You can fold it one handed which is perfect for buses, trains etc. DS is now 2, and when others have moved to Maclarens or umbrella strollers, I am still getting use of my city mini.

My sister who lives in London, and doesn't drive bought a bugaboo bee which she swears by, however it's much more pricey.

I bought a second pushchair when DS was 6 months which is a city versa GT. It's a bit more sturdy, huge basket, enough to carry a hold-all and changing bag. It also folds all in one, but much heavier.

Overall, my favourite which I would recommend to anyone is the city mini.

Hope that helps! Good luck pram hunting, it's mind boggling at times!

I had the same requirements as you. A lot of carrycot systems didn't fit the bill. The Bugaboo bee just looked ridiculous with my tall frame (like i was pushing a play pram!) and is no good on uneven ground only smooth pavements (according to reviews).

After much research, we just purchased a City Mini GT from Baby Jogger, with the Deluxe baby jogger carrycot. Purchased online (from a shop in Glasgow) as very few places stock the Deluxe carrycot (£310+£160).

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pushchair_chat/2229857-Babyjogger-Deluxe-Carrycot-2014

We just need to buy the car seat adaptors now to attach the carrycot and car seat (Maxi Cosi Cabriofix).

I went for the GT version because the tyres are better for off-road walking, but the City Mini normal version is much lighter.

The main benefit of both is the one hand fold and large hood. Also it will last until age 2/3 unlike a lot of travel systems which people seem to ditch for an umbrella fold around 10 months.

Have fun looking!

Babyzen Yoyo 0+ has a tiny fold (small enough to be hand luggage on a plane!) one handed fold, small footprint when being used, and significantly cheaper than the bugaboo bee.

I don't have it yet but having done a lot of research and speaking to friends I've gone with the Bugaboo Bee. I think it covers all your requirements - my main need was flexibility and being able to get on/ off London buses, in and out of coffee shops easily etc.

I don't know about your exact car but it folds very small very easily and is car seat compatible too. We got ours second hand

X

PS it all drove me mad!!!

Bugaboo bee.

Hiya, we had the same needs out of a pushchair, so we went for Bugaboo Bee, with the bassinet. Using it nearly 4 months now and baby still in bassinet.

Pros:
Easy to unfold, takes up very little room in boot
Small enough to take on public transport, again takes up little space
Baby faces me, something I don't think the City Mini does
Gorgeous colours, everyone remarks on!
Brake at bottom and not on side like Cameleon
Will be used with buggy attachment on holiday, one fold so no need to bring umbrella stroller or pay for additional luggage

Cons:
Not crazy about new fabrics, looks good now, but not sure it will hold up as well as old hood fabric( same as Cameleon now)
Basket not huge, but I've just attached a buggy clip, which I attach all shopping to.
Not great on gravel, but fine on grass and pavements, but definitely a City pushchair, I use sling for beach/country walks.

Overall, I love the buggy and how compact it is. I spent a huge amount of time deliberating on this, so know how confusing it is!

Joie chrome folds tiny and has a huge shopping basket x

I've just taken delivery of our Mamas & Papas Armadillo Flip XT, which we chose for much the same reasons you state. OK, the carrycot doesn't fold, but the rest does and it's a doddle to use and can face either way. I'm due in June so no practical experience with it yet, but we did just fall in love with it. The best thing I can recommend is to go and have a play with some. If there's a baby show near you, go to it as most brands will be there and you can do it all in one go. There's nothing like having a go on them in the flesh, so to speak. A lot of things that look good online turn out to be less than brilliant IRL. Happy hunting!

Our bjcm fits into the 107 boot with one wheel off or both wheels and no parcel shelf. It has a bit more off road ability that the bugaboo bee which is strictly a town pram, it struggles on cobbles

i was so relieved when i finally just bought one and was done with it! best to go to somewhere like kiddicare and try them all out obviously but in the end i found the best one for me was to buy the kiddicare tate pushchair which had everything i wanted including the pramette and then it came with maxi cosi carseat adapters so just bought a maxi cosi carseat to clip on

We have small house, small car but are tall people - got a baby jogger city mini gt and as pp have said, so happy with it. Massively versatile. Can clip on a car seat or bassinet but can also use from birth as-is. Folds really easily and v small - can't see why we would need to move to an umbrella style one so hoping to get lots of use out of it. Have also just discovered can take the fabric of the buggy bit off the frame and just use frame w car seat or carry cot initially - looks a lot neater when you do this and even lighter too. Good luck, I know what you mean about it being overwhelming! Try lots out :-)

We had a 107- got a babystyle oyster- great!

We opted for the Cosatto Ooba after having played with one in the shop. I wouldn't have paid full ticket price for it, as it would've been very expensive but we got the 2013 model which has been discontinued, so got it half price. We have seen it folded up and it's very small (we have a Fiesta) with lots of great features that others didn't have, which is what swayed us.

Definitely a Bugaboo Bee! I love mine. The best thing to do is go to somewhere like Mothercare and have a play with all the prams.

Hi Charlotte, definitely the Bugaboo Bee or Cameleon.
I've opted for the Cameleon as I prefer the carrycot to the Bees bassinet.
I went in to mothercare recently and folding it is a dream and I can carry the chassis easily when folded.
This is good for me as we currently live in a flat and I will be travelling by plane a lot with pfb.
We also have a 207 and live in a city and I feel this will be good for us!

I got a streety and the foldable carrycot by maxi cosi- whole lot fitted in my Suzuki splash and the car seat just clips on too- take the car to an actual shop, you'll probably be amazed at what will fit and therefore not be restricted. Good luck :-)

I have a baby jogger city mini and love it, you really can't go wrong . I have owned a lot of prams/buggies over the years and this is my favourite.

The new Bee has a carrycot option as well as a cocoon. We have the cocoon and both DS's have been perfectly snug in it, especially DS1 being a winter baby!

Babyzen yoyo 0+. Doesn't take a car seat, but you don't really want that on tubes etc anyway. It folds tiny so of busy tubes and buses you can put baby in arms or sling and bag over shoulder with the strap

The Stokke Scoot might be worth a look. We've been really impressed with the classic version but it needs a huge boot. We bought a maclaren at 6 months and left it in the car.

Most of my friends with your requirements bought a Bugaboo Bee which have worked well but also take a toddler attachment (wheely stand thingy - I have brain freeze) which puts the older child inside the handlebars and makes it easier to push without standing on the back of the wheels.
The Bee is v low down though so if you are v tall it does look like you are pushing a toy pram Amazingly practical for small hallways, light etc though.

It will be miles from your thoughts but if you plan two children under 3, I'd go straight to a small P&T. They do a compact model which is excellent.

Tread - not necessarily, we have 15 month gap and never used a double pram. Way too heavy and cumbersome for London living in flats/ going on tubes

philandteds.com/uk/Products/Push/DOT#.VSvJ99JzQlI
This is the one I was thinking of. Definitely has drawbacks, I just thought it was worth pointing out that a second child within a short space of time can make a rather pricey Stokke/Bugaboo redundant very quickly depending on your personal circumstances. The resale pages on ebay/facebook etc tell their own story and for many people, all the fuss about parent facing mode for your child etc has to go out the window when the practical reality of getting somewhere quickly with two small children hits home.

Art - yes its doable to do without a double buggy but imo [and we didn't get one] it made life v difficult at times and in retrospect probably made our nanny's life much more difficult than it needed to be. Weirdly it was all fine up to nursery when DD would happily walk everywhere but she was shattered post nursery and suddenly we had a newborn and a sleepwalking 3yo to carry [or sit at the side of a London road with a comatose pre-schooler for 30 mins in reality]

We had similar needs when ds was born (2011) and went for a bugaboo bee. It was fab, used until ds was two when switched to very cheap stroller for occasional use. Now 31/40 with ds2 and am lookin forward to my bee again!

I've got my eye on a Quinny Buzz Xtra, any experience with this anyone? Looks a nice buggy