Best pram/stroller for newborn for travels and n9 lift flat

[AlmostLondoner]

Hi! We live in flat near London, no lift, narrow stairs and no space downstairs to leave pram. I am searching for some option that would be suitable for newborn. I am planning use sling but I also want some option on wheels. Plus we travel a lot (flights) so it should be quite foldable and small. I have been looking at Babyzen Yoyo but we are so tall with husband and it seems ways too small. Maybe Babyjogger? I want to avoid paying too much just for the brand (no iCandy thank you). Also I don't want to buy 2 different, we don't have space to store it. Do you have any suggestions or experience? Thank you.

Hi,

I have a joie literax 4 at the moment for my toddler and cannot fault it. It's easy to push, quick and easy to fold up and pretty light too (can carry it with one hand) and also suitable from birth. (You can buy carry cot to fit on in but that will make it harder to carry to your flat)

The Mamas and Papas Armadillo is pretty good for travelling but the babyzen yoyo+ is the gold standard. You could ask if the handlebars can be extended.

The handlebar doesn’t extend on the YoYo as it’s an integral part of the tiny fold. That said, I’m 5ft7 and DH is 6ft2 and neither of us have any issues pushing it. It’s great for travel and I don’t think you’ll do better if you’re after something you can take on the plane or easily carry up to a flat- once folded it has a shoulder strap you can swing it over your shoulder like a bag and have both hands free.

I was told that Uppababy Minu is supposed to be also very good.

@expressedways you don't have problems when you bend constantly for baby in Yoyo? That scares me, not the handle but how low is the actual seat (mostly for a newborn).

I am not torn between Yoyo+ and Babyjogger City Tour 2 (both have newborn nests and are very light)

*now torn (no not) :)

The newborn configuration is higher than the seat, DD is now 2 so it’s been a while since we had it set up that way but I don’t remember any issues from bending. It’s not like you’re reaching in there a lot whilst you’re walking, only really to take them in/out. Now I mostly just pass snacks forward and no issues with that either!

I’m not familiar with the Babyjogger but speaking from experience, for flat living and frequent flying you’ll appreciate a newborn nest instead of a separate carrycot and if it’s approved to take as hand luggage on the plane. Maybe go to a shop to try them out? John Lewis is usually pretty good!

@Expressedways thank you, I will have to, it's so hard to find something suitable!

I have the babyjogger city tour (not sure whether the tour 2 is any different?) and I really wouldn't recommend it either for a newborn or as a main pram.

We use it for a short walk daily as we leave it at nursery and so need something that folds small. But even that ten minutes is uncomfortable for 6'2" DH.

Plus, because it's so lightweight it does sometimes feel a little flimsy going up and down kerbs etc.

It's great for short distances or traveling, and with an older child, but I don't think it'll work for you. Look at the city mini maybe, it gets rave reviews.

My main pram is an uppababy vista and it's excellent so the minui is probably worth a look but I don't know anything about it.

@MindyStClaire thank you for your comment. Now I am even more confused! :) Minu is very similar to Yoyo. I really want to avoid buying big pram, just something I can use for occasional walks when I don't want to use sling or parents visit and want to walk with pram.

Might have to consider Yoyo after all.

The problem with the really small ones that are designed as carry on is that to make them small they have to sacrifice other things - the feel of sturdiness, adjustable handles, big shopping basket. And those are the things you need day to day.

But then I live in suburbia and never used carriers out and about so you might feel differently since you have different requirements.

I barely used my pram from 10 weeks. Bought a britax travel system (second hand) non of my babies want to be laid down, I just used the sling from 0-6 months and then bought a lightweight umbrella stroller. Mac by mclaren got on sale for £50 had it for years now it still looks new (even after 3 passengers)

Hi there!
We live in London and have the Joolz Hub. It’s small with a seat that baby can face you and the other way. Has an easy carry strap to take upstairs and a tall adjustable handle height! It perfect for park and hilly walks too, without feeling like the wheels are about to fall off. Good luck with your choice.

@Peterslee that's my point, I don't think I will use proper pram enough to spend money on it (even used) plus the fact that there is no space for it in our flat makes it just more complicated.

@MindyStClaire I think in our case we need to do the sacrifice because of often travels (at least 3x per year)

@CarlieRLondon thank you, will look into it!

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I would actually look at the Bugaboo Bee second-hand - that seems to make fewer compromises in terms of things like basket size and it is fairly easy to get hold of second-hand in good condition if you’re in or close to London, in my experience.

@PushkinTheCat I was considering it until I read several discussions about flying with it and how unpractical it can be. There might be times when I will need to travel alone with the baby so carrying big stroller might create more problems.

Hi, so I have a second baby and with the first one went for mamas and papas urbo and boy it was so difficult looking back. Its just not as smooth as some others. So sold it as soon as my first one was one and got mclaren quest which is light folds very small umbrella type and easy to store in our small flat. When I got preganat with the second one I needed sth different and was convinced I'd get bugaboo bee but went to the shop and realised that it just wouldn't work for me as it doesn't stand when you fold it (so how I'd store it in a flat? I know you could drill walls and get hooks and hook it but this seemed so not practical at all). Also after trying it in the shop I realised that I really had an issue with accessing the basket when baby starts sitting facing front and the unfolding is a bit fidly. I decided this would just annoy me too much. They showed us new icandy raspberry (I only bought it at the start of this year) and I loved it. You have two plastic extenders that lifts the seat much higher than other strollers and so lots of space under in a basket. The stroller is so easy you can push with one hand (something I couldn't do with mclaren even though I liked it a lot). It stands hwne you fold it and it's weight is only 6.6kg but you can have child up to 15kg when extenders are on or up to 25 without them so I love it even more as my 3.5 years old occasionally has a nap in it while I take the baby in a sling! The seat can face back or front (which was super important to me and why I never co aider Yoyo) and although they have carrycot I never bothered buying that but only their footmuf and it had worked very well. I understand you don't w at to pay for a brand but my one we got from John Lewis that for some reason discounted one of the colours so from £550 it was £350 (!!!). Os I think it was a brilliant price and maybe if you have time of course just keep an eye out for discounts especially around back friday and then January. I really think this new version of icandy raspberry is fab, we travelled with it and went all over on the tube plus carry up the stairs.
However another option I saw they just release bugaboo Ant and I think this is really impressive. The price is high but as I've learnt it the hard one sometimes its better to spend a little bit more especially that stroller is sth you will use all the time for quite sometime (otherwise you might end up spendimg money twice or like in my case three times ).

Anyway good luck and many congratulations on your pregnancy. Hope you will make a choice that is best for you xxx

Second the bugaboo bee or babyzen. Bee is better for my DH who is quite tall but the yoyo is TINY and amazing for travelling.

@Lovingparenthood I have been checking Bugaboo Ant because it's supposed to be great, parent facing and small enough for the plane BUT TheStrollerWorkshop channel did a massive review on it and its chassis failed greatly

Also to the iCandy Raspberry - found this picture on the website here as a comparison bloggermumofthreeboys.com/2017/06/30/babyzen-yoyo-vs-bugaboo-bee-vs-icandy-raspberry/ and the difference in size is massive.

We had an older version of iCandy Raspberry and I was its biggest fan. Until the seat recliner button broke, 9 months in. Got the seat replaced - ended up with a whole new pushchair for reasons I won’t bore you with. Then 3 months later the brake broke. On a brand new chassis. Got it replaced. It broke again 3 months later. And again 3 months later. At which point John Lewis, to their credit, gave us a full refund. The newer version may be more reliable and I’m willing to believe we were simply unlucky, but oh God, the hassle.

The other thing I would say about the Raspberry is to look carefully at the strap length - it got to the stage where we were struggling to strap my very slim 15 month old into the seat and we didn’t find either iCandy or John Lewis to be very helpful with possible solutions. I’d thought it would be a birth to 3 years pushchair and was overall very disappointed.

We ended up with a Mamas and Papas Armadillo Flip, which wouldn’t meet your criteria at all in terms of the weight and foldability , but at least we could fasten DS into the seat!