Advice on travel system, car seat and cot

[amyyy333]

Hi everyone im 23 weeks pregnant and im starting to look at various pushchairs, car seats and cots. Has anyone brought anyones in particular that you are impressed with

Also do you think its too early for me to start buying these.

I dont really have recommendations as I've bought different with all of mine but its defo not too early to buy. Before you know it baby will be here :) x

We loved our mamas and papas Sola2 travel system. I ordered it when I was about 25 weeks. It arrived when I was about 35 weeks I think.

If there is a mamas and papas near you wait for their expectant parent event as you get 10% or more off. Same with Mothercare if you get a pram from there (or if you buy anything!) shop around and make a list and buy at one of their parent events.

Hey OP ! I'm also looking around. I think the icandy travel system is really good and easy to fold. The bugaboo is too big in my opinion and also not easy to fold.

But my favourite is the egg travel system- as it's the most stylish ! I'm thinking about going for the egg. I'm telling myself I'll start in November when I'm firmly in my third trimester. I'm 27 weeks now.

In terms of crib, I want to get the halo bassinet for the first few months. It looks really convenient, as I'm planning a c-section, I need something super comfy.

Prams it really depends what you want it for. What type of car you have, size of boot, where you’ll be pushing it, how tall you are, do you want to be able to put a car seat on the frame for short journeys, size of basket etc etc.

I have a bugaboo bee and I absolutely love it and never felt the need to swap it when mine became toddlers. It’s lasted. It’s a lovely city pram and folds small, but wouldn’t be good for living in the countryside. The best thing to do with prams is go to somewhere that sells all the makes and have a play.

Car seat we bought maxi cosi. To be honest we went for whatever rated top at the time. The car seats you get with cheap prams are generally rubbish.

Cots, it’s just personal preference and how much you want to spend. Ikea sell cots, you can buy them anywhere. I never saw the point in matching nursery furniture.

OP! I realise that I haven't bought any of these things yet, so I can't really answer your question. If anyone has any insights into the products I mentioned, please share. I hope maybe my post has given you some ideas - but I'm still open to suggestions too.

I learnt that buying a travel system for us was bulky and only ended up buying a stroller once baby grew a bit.

I’d personally look at car seats and strollers (that are from newborn+) separately.

I haven't bought anything yet either, but from looking I have taken note that some items like prams and cots from certain places say approx 12 week delivery time. So I would suggest checking anything you may want in case it has a long wait as you probably want to order those first.

Cot - think we will go IKEA route. Basic cot from beginning. Then buy a decent mattress from 'Natural mat'

Pram - we need terrain/off road, so will get a 3 wheel jogging type. Not sure which yet.

Car seat - decide what you need it for. We won't need it to clip onto pram or leave car, so will probbaly get a 0-4 rear facing type that stays in car.

Most of what we are considering getting should last a fair time for each purchase, as I don't think i could be bothered having to look for the next stage so soon after.

I am 26 weeks and we ordered our travel system from Mamas and Papas last week, just had to pay a small deposit of about £60 and in will be ready for us at the beginning of January (You can tell them when you want it for).

We have an Oyster2 travel system (with maxicosi car seat) & we found it good. I’m not sure exactly what I was looking for in a pram other than it fit in my boot & folded easily! Seemed perfectly pram like, had wheels, pushed along pathments, had a carrycot for newborn & pram seat when older.. Car seat clipped onto isofix & my pram if needed, daughter appeared comfy but you can’t exactly ask them 😂

Cot wise, we have a Mothercare cotbed, bought it cos it looked nice & had a matching set of drawers. Did the job of cot & now a bed..

Don’t over think it I say, set a budget & choose what you like

I have the egg travel system and love it. I rarely used it as a travel system as I don't drive and we were only in our family car every couple of weeks. The actual pyshchair/pram is lovely though. I like that it seems very slimline so I can fit it on the bus easily without taking up a disabled place.
For a cot we went for the comfort baby seven in one. It can be made into a small round cot for the newborn to six month stage and then convert to a larger oval cot. When in newborn stage you can use the spare pieces to make a changing table. I love the cot and have just put it back together into the newborn round cot in preparation for baby 2.

Cosatto prams are fab & lightweight, plus have lovely designs. We have the fox one and the design just fascinates DD when we're out (9 weeks now).

Don't underestimate the usefulness of a car seat that can clip onto your pram frame for quick errands etc, saves waking baby up moving back and forth. Most prams and car seats have adapters quite cheap to enable this so don't necessarily need to be the same brand/bought together.

Try as many out as you can in person to make sure you are happy with the height and weight, putting it up and down, maneuvering it etc.

I'm 23 weeks and I've gone for the egg with the maxi cosi cabriofix car seat and isofix base.

@Lou2120 which colour did you get the egg in ? Also where did you get it if I may ask ? I think the egg is the most stylish pram out there - especially in the cream colour - but I'm afraid it will get dirty.

Does anyone have any experience with the cream colour ?

I had the cosatto giggle 2 travel system for my first with a maxi cosi car seat, I'd second what a pp said about being able to clip a car seat onto the pram chassis (I had to buy adaptors to fit the maxi Cosi car seat onto the cosatto frame)

I've loved the cosatto, but now that I'm expecting no 2 I wish I'd thought longer term and got something that could convert into a double!

Cot wise, we got ikeas 60 quid one and a decent mattress, it's done the job! Had baby in our room in a smaller crib at first and plan to use a next to me for baby number 2.

Iv got a mamas and papas flip xt3 and it's great. Iv got a joie I size car seat that is compatible with the pram too and it has a huge hood on. Iv got a snuzpod and we love it!

We had a silver cross wayfarer, looked stunning, car seat was good too. But we found the shopping basket was pretty much unusable due to the size, and the wheels used to click into place quite alot.

We used a moses basket then a cot from IKEA but all of my friends have recommended the next2me cribs for when they are newborn which we will definitely invest in this time round.

As for car seats, unless included in the travel system, id go for Joie.

It's definitely not too early to start thinking about it! I'm only going to suggest questions rather than particular systems (not least as my knowledge of them is out of date).

Where will you mainly be using the travel system?

• in town?
• on public transport?
• off tarmac (in woods, parks etc.) How often will your travel system need to fit in a car
• if you have your own car, will it fit?!
• do you want a car seat which will clip onto the chassis? Will you be using public transport much? Do you want a system which will both forward and rear face?
• how easy do you want it to be to switch between the two? Are there any unusual ways you'll want to use it (we have cattle grids nearby which I sometimes needed to get the pram across. I went for big wheels!). What's your budget, and would you consider second hand?

We ended up with an enormous chassis and carry cot (plus push chair seat and car seat), which worked well for us as I only used a bus once, and a car about once a month. I did spend a fair bit of time in parks, and we had plenty of space to store the beast. Friends living in the middle of a city in a small flat (and without a car) made a very different decision. Hope that helps!

@mummytobe2020 I have the Egg travel system in Shadow Black. I love it.

I got mine from The Baby Room. They seemed to have the biggest selection of colours etc.

We have bugaboo buffalo which we love so got bugaboo donkey when our second came along. I'd recommend choosing then look on eBay and Facebook marketplace. Both our prams would be around £1,000 new once you include all the rain covers, cosy toes etc. Second hand they were more like £350. Ditto the running buggy but you can't use that until six months so no point getting one yet (if that's your thing).
Car seat - we had maxi cosy as others have said. I used to take it out if the car a lot with my first and put it on the buggy. You shouldn't carry it though, it's really bad for your back and core which are weakened and recovering from pregnancy and birth.
We have a next2me cot which has been a waste of money. Neither of my babies sleep in it. It'd have been cheaper to get a bed rail. I'm going to pass it on to a relative so hopefully her baby likes it more than mine did.

We got Venicci travel system which I absolute love, can't recommend enough, had so many compliments. Each piece has big hood and can be fitted forward or rear facing. Carry cot can easily be used for months and months, seat unit big enough to use till they couple years old, big wheels easy to maneuver and suspension is absolutely great to push it anywhere, got isofix for car seat which goes straight onto frame as well. Bought silver cross surf as second one but not that keen on this one, nice looking but not too practical.

We got a Venicci travel system and it's amazing! Easy to use and looks very nice too.

On the cot front, aldi actually have a really nice one at the moment available to order online (my friend recently bought!) I think it's around £120 and looks gorgeous. Not cheap and tacky. Definitely sturdy and looks a lot more expensive.

We've got this-

www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/baby/travel-systems/baby-elegance-venti-travel-system-charcoal/p/163644

It suits us nicely. It's lightweight and ideal for around town. If a c section is a possibility you need something light and easy to manoeuvre.

Car seat:
There is an excellent FB group called Car Seat Advice UK. I would advise getting one that is reasonably light (as baby grows it will get heavy to carry them in it) and with a decent amount of growing room, some are more generous than others.

Cot:
I got a bedside crib (there are lots to choose from, if buying again I would get a Cozee) and a cotbed. The bedside crib was so handy in the early stages. And the cot bed lasts for ages (as it's bigger than a cot).
I didn't get a Moses basket, they are outgrown so quickly. Baby had daytime naps in the pram carrycot and slept in the bedside crib at night.

Pushchair / travel cot: impossible to make a recommendation without knowing what you'll use it for (muddy walks in the country v taking it on public transport v navigating small shops and pavements). But I would say get one that's as light and compact as possible. You quickly get sick of lugging the big heavy ones around (and lifting them in and out of the car boot).

Pushchair / travel *system

Uppababy vista heretop marks from me!