Which travel system do you recommend??!!

[MissusC]

I'm pregnant with our first, so DH and I are entering a totally new world of baby gadgetry - and we're confused by so much choice!!
We live in the country, so the travel system needs to be robust and we probably won't use it much in town, so I'm not too fussed about the weight/size. (Think I'll get a cheap and cheerful buggy for town - again, any ideas?)
So far we like the Quinny Speedi and the Quinny Freestyle, both rugged 3 wheelers, but are they any good??
All opinions on all systems, good and bad, gladly and thankfully received!!
MissusC (aka Confused of Wiltshire!!)

I have the Graco mirage which is cheap and cheerful.

When you buy and use your travel system please bare in mind that a car seat (and therefore travelsystem) is only suitable for short periods of time for the first few months. Not only does sitting in a carseat have an impact on the back and muscle development but there have been studies which have shown an increased risk of 'cot death' for babies left in carseats for prolonged periods. This is thought to be because a small baby can't support their upper body weight properly and this risks them 'squishing' their lungs and potentially crushing their windpipe.

I have seen my daughter go blue whilst sitting in a carseat - its terrifying. I just wanted to raise awareness of this issue, so you can consider how you plan to use your travel system and how this may impact on the design you choose.

BTW I went for cheap and cheerful cos I knew that bye the time baby is 12m I will use a stroller more than anything else...

ooh am glad someone has started this cause i have lots of questions too, but am only 15 weeks so feel its maybe a wee bit early to make these decisions.

we also liked the look of the quinny - probably the buzz - but have read quite a few reviews and a lot of people seem to think they only last for about a year before the wheels get really worn. They do have the carry cot bit though for lying flat to avoid using the car seat too much.

does anyone have a quinny that can give us another review? i also live in the country, and so drive a fair amount, but dont want to be limited to the car so want one that will fold enough to take it on public transport without too much difficulty. but will also be doing lots of walking so if the quinny wheels are not so good, that would be an important factor.

Hi MissusC, you're not the only one. I'm also expecting our first, and the choice is pretty daunting. We live in Oxfordshire, and are trying to balance

a) something I can use to go to the shops etc on foot/public transport when DH is at work (I am very keen not to get a second car)
b) something I can take "off-road" a bit. Last year I did loads of walking and really enjoyed it and would like to be able to keep some up after having the baby
c) being able to get it in the car fairly easily

Started having a look at toys r us, but I then got an inferiority complex as all the other mums were MUCH more pregnant than I was at that point and I felt like an imposter, so we've given up looking for a little while.

When are you due by the way?

I got a Graco one, secondhand from ebay. Three wheeler and chunky enough to cope with the real world. BUT it does take up a fair ammount of room, and the wheels are fixed not swivel which meant manhandling it around corners...

The car seat was designed for use from birth, so none of the problems with young babies being unable to support upper body weight...as the seat is designed to let them lie at an angle rather than sit upright. Likewise, once atatched to the pushchair the seat allows the baby to lie flat, and if you just use the pushchair, that seat lies flat too.

Bear in mind the car seat bit will be too small for them soon enough.

I have a cheap and cheerful - 30 pounds from ToysRus - umbrella fold now ds is over 12 months, takes up very little room, swivelly wheels and SO light compare dto the big chunky one!

right, i would cross travel system off your list. find a car seat that fits your car first of all, as not all car seats will fit.

THEN look at buggies for your lifestyle. My personal favourite is the bugaboo cameleon (compatable with maxi cosi car seat if that on fits), as it is one of the lightest rear facing 2 piece system around. i even managed to get out in the snow qwith it today, where most buggies have failed. however i know that most peoples budget wont stretch to a bug.

i personally dont like travel systems, i prefer my babies to lie flat facing me.

I know what you mean jamantha about feeling like an imposter, but at the same time I was thinking I'd rather have done the ground work before I get really big and maybe dont have so much energy. Cause dh and I will take forever to decide. I'm due 1st August so ages away but still - would like to get a short list at least - what about you?

Do you actually mean a travel system ie a pushchair with a compatible infant car seat ? Choose the pushchair you want and then worry about whether it can be part of a travel system - they outgrow the car seat part long before the pushchair . The travel systems are most useful if you plan to use them around the shops before they are ready for a stroller, so you cna transfer from car to pushchair without taking them out, but for walking etc you need one with better suspension and which lies flat for a newborn or has a carrycot part. I had a Quinny 3 wheeler for dd and liked it.

Tee hee conkertree, I know just what you mean about taking ages to make a decision. That's us all over. So we tried to get organised at 13 weeks, thinking we might then make a decision in time, but like I said I bottled it. I'm 17 weeks now (due July 15th so just ahead of you) so maybe will feel up to it again in another couple of weeks. We've got the 20w scan on March 1st, and have the day off work so may try to have a look afterwards.

I know DH has looked at car seats and I think he is keen on the maxi cosi misdee, so I think we'll probably go for that. But still got to decide on buggy or whatever.

Jane Matrix Pro. Does everything, but bloomin' well should for what it costs. Flat carrycot/pram thingy converts to car seat and also stroller is suitable from about 6 months I think.Just check it fits in your car.

I nearly bought the Quinny Buzz, I am still secretly hampering after one, but after talking to my sister (who works in a baby shop that sells them) she has that many problems with the Buzz that she managed to some how talk me out of it.

I eventually went for the Micralite, it isn't to everyones taste, but, you can get the carrycot which is lovely, in fact it is my babys favourite place to sleep! The maxi-cosi cabrio, and cabrio-fix (which when brought with the easi-fix base is Iso-fix) baby seats fit the micralite frame, and both the car seats I believe have done extremely well in crash tests. Most of the rain covers are included with it, all you need is a foot muff (some shops have offers with this included in the price) and a changing bag.

For practicality, the buggy is great round town and in the country, it is so light you do have to be careful about loading it with bags on the handle bars, but you can get a fair amount on, and the shopping basket on the bottom is pretty useless, even if it was big enough, you just can't get things in and out of it, the buggy folds very easily but it is quite long, we recently got a new car and when we were looking at what car to choose we tried it in a few different boots, it wouldn't fit in an Astra, but if you have a wide car boot once it is in it takes up minimal space. Once the baby is too big for the carrycot, it turns into an exceptionally lightweight stroller, it is really easy to move and turn one handed, and it is quite compact.

I am really pleased with it, and even more pleased that we won't have to change it when DS2 is out of the carry cot. It does everything we need it to.

Off the top of my head, when we bought it the best places to look price wise for most buggys were here , here or here but be careful with the last one, they have something of a reputation when it comes to delivery times and refunds, if you live anywhere near Bedford where they are based it is probably better to go in and see them and take your buggy home that day.

Sorry for the essay! Hope it helps

hi - we also live in Wltshire. If you are anywhere near Melksham I would recommend a small shop called "Babyworld" which sells second hand reconditions pushchairs and other baby stuff. Its brilliant and has just saved us a fortune on a double buggy for our second child.
We brought an urban detour three wheeler for our first. Comes with car seat, changing bag, rain cover and cosy toes. It has been brililant for going shopping and for use off road. I have pushed it through ploughed fields and snow and it always cleans up beautifully. Very easy to push and manouver just check it will fit in your car doesn't fold down that small.

The key is the car seat - I found the maxi cosi to be excellent and that goes with the Quinny range you mentioned. I have a Quinny 3 wheeler (a few years old now), I used it with the pram thingy, the car seat and now as a pushchair and I love it. Its not the easiest to put up and down in its pushchair form but I keep it up all the time. I keep a Quinny Zapp in the boot for trips out (did have a cheapy but didn't like it as it was fine in the City but rubbish on country walks - I live in the country so do more of the latter).

A trip to Halfords or Mothercare would be a good start, they have staff to test the seats in your car, then you can be sure which will fit. I would be tempted to buy on line though, Kiddicare and Glasgow pram centre are great (cheap and brilliant service).

Happy shopping!

JessaJam - to protect a babies chest and lungs a baby should be at an angle no greater than 150degrees - which to all intents and purposes is completely flat. The graco carseat most certainly isn't flat. It is the one I have and there are other carseats which are much flatter. They are suitable from birth - as a car seat - but I wouldn't (and didn't) use any carseat for longer than 20mins before 3m except in an emergency. You can buy some that go totally flat but there are questions over their crash safety.

I agree with misdee. Choose a carseat that fits your needs and a pushchair that fits your needs - and if they don't match - so what? TBH the only reason I have a travel system is that it was a cheap way of buying pushchair with the carseat I wanted.

Oh - and iof you are test driving pushchairs and carseats I would recommend loading them with a bag of potatoes to push. It is amazing how much heavier a pushchair is with a 8kg baby or 18kg toddler in.

am in a rush and promise I will come back later, but I'm with Misdee on this - get a carseat that fits your car properly and let them lie flat when they're not in it.

I can guarantee you'll buy an umbrella stroller for easy travelling / folding / chucking in car once they're past 6mo so don't kid yourself you'll only need one pushchair to do the lot.

Personally I'm looking at a Proper Pram (Silver Cross Sleepover type) to use as moses basket, carrycot, lie-flat pram and, later, as a comfy faces-both-directions pushchair for long walks and offroad, and then getting a Maclaren Triumph or similar for holidays / chucking in the car.

No one pram does it all.

yes, i leant my dd in the bug out for a couple test driving round john lewis the other week. i told them that having a toddler in the buggy gives them a better idea of how it steers.

We've got an icandy apple which is Fab, only intending to use the carseat for the short in and out of the car and sprint to (older) dd's nursery, to avoid disturbing baby too much.
It comes with the maxi cosi car seat which is a pretty good one
We do also have a Ziko Alfie which we will use for when baby is older.

I loved my JAne. The flatseat car seat (MAtrix) is superb. We drove down to southern Spain with it. The three wheers is rugged and will go through / over anything and fodls dowen smaller than many three wheelers.

Only downside was that the car seat is heavy and not suitable for slinging over one arm and carrry8ng places. Mine went from car to pushchair base only (and easily once I'd got the hang of it!)

Fogot to mention really easy to put the baby in and out as simply a velcro band across the waist. Buckles in the dark are a nightmare

Thanks for lots of advice everyone. I take it all on board and will think it over. I think the use of the words 'travel system' seem to have thrown my question, I should have said 'buggy' really as I'm not too fussed about the fact that Quinny is compatible with the Cabriofix - we are definitely going to get that (have done the tests MissDee, and it's fine in our car, good advice thanks), but I'm not leaving the bambino in it for any longer than I have to, so doubt very much I'll be clipping it in to the wheels (good advice SexyMadScientist - good name too!!). But I do like that fact that you can clip in the pram and buggy on the Quinny and they can be rear-facing or front... definitely want to be able to see the little angel (hopefully an angel, probably more likely to be devilish!!) as I walk along.

By the way Jamantha I'm due on the 19th July, so we might be twins!! And I've got my scan on 2nd Mar - let me know how yours goes!

ClarinsGirl what Quinny 3 wheeler do you have??

TY - tis my valentines name .

Sorry for getting so irate but I rate prople using travel sytems just so they can face their LO rearwards in the same vane as people giving toddler orange squash (or fruit shoots!!!) in a bottle with a teat.

Travel systems do have uses - as other said for popping into nursery etc. but should primarily be used as a carseat or a proper pushchair.

sexymadscientist: 'I wouldn't (and didn't) use any carseat for longer than 20mins before 3m except in an emergency. You can buy some that go totally flat but there are questions over their crash safety.'

So did you not take your LO anywhere that required travelling for more than 20 mins before they were 3m?

That would barely get me to the shops.

SexyMad - I'm not going to be using the pushchair for ages. The other part of the travel system is a carrycot, ie the baby is lying flat as a pancake, which is what i will be using when I am not using a sling/babycarrier. Did I miss something?!

No MissussC - I was just making a final point before shutting up on the subject - for all those lurkers (by pushchair I meant in the recline position).

sazzybee - no I didn't travel for more than 20 mins at a time (and all my family live at least an hour away - they had to come to us).There was 1 exception (the emergency)when DD3 was 11wks old, my dad died and I had to make an hours journey to be with family.